And sullen Moloch, fled, Hath left in shadows dred{57} His burning idol all of blackest hue; In vain with cymbals ring They call the grisly{58} King In dismall dance about the furnace blue; The brutish{59} gods of Nile as fast, Isis, and Orus, and the dog Anubis last. XXIV. Nor is Osiris seen In Memphian grove or green Trampling the unshowr'd grass{60} with lowings loud, Nor can he be at rest Within his sacred chest; Naught but profoundest hell can be his shroud; In vain with timbrel'd anthems dark The sable-stoled sorcerers bear his worshipt ark. XXV. He feels from Judas land The dredded Infants hand; The rayes of Bethlehem blind his dusky eyn;{61} Nor all the gods beside Longer dare abide, Not Typhon huge ending in snaky twine: Our Babe, to show his Godhead true, Can in his swaddling bands controul the damned crew. XXVI. So, when the Sun in bed,{62} Curtain'd with cloudy red Pillows his chin upon an orient wave, The flocking shadows pale Troop to th' infernal jail; Each fetter'd ghost slips to his severall grave; And the yellow-skirted Fayes Fly after the night-steeds, leaving their moon-lov'd maze. XXVII. But see the Virgin blest Hath laid her Babe to rest; Time is our tedious song should here have ending; Heav'ns youngest teemed{63} star Hath fixt her polish'd car, Her sleeping Lord with handmaid lamp attending; And all about the courtly stable Bright-harness'd angels sit in order serviceable.{64} NOTES. This poem was begun by Milton on Christmas day, 1629. He had then just completed his twenty-first year, and was still an undergraduate at Christ's College, Cambridge. From certain fragments and other evidence, it is believed that he contemplated writing a series of poems on great Christian events in a similar way. This is the first poem of importance which he wrote. Hallam speaks of it as perhaps the finest lyric of its kind in the English language. "A grandeur, a simplicity, a breadth of manner, an imagination at once elevated and restrained by the subject, reign throughout it. If Pindar is a model of lyric poetry, it would be hard to name any other ode so truly Pindaric; but more has naturally been derived from the Scriptures." 1. =our deadly forfeit should release.= Should remit the penalty of death pronounced against us. Shakespeare has a similar use of the word "forfeit." "Thy slanders I forgive, and therewithal Remit thy other forfeits." --_Measure for Measure_, Act v, sc. 1. 2. =wont.= The past tense of the A.-S. verb _wunian_, to persist, to continue, to be accustomed. Now used only in connection with some form of the auxiliary verb _be_.