And Twede the limit betwixt Locris land And Albany. Type, That by which fomething future is prefigured. Typhon, One of the giants who warred against heaven. Tyrannous, Tyrannical, arbitrary, defpotick, fevere. UL U. LYSSES, The fon of Laertes and Antielea, king of the island of Ithaca and Dulichium. An eloquent and politic commander at the fiege of Troy; who, after the fiege of that city was ended, was driven into many dangers, and put upon several adventures, for the space of ten years, before he returned to his own country. Umbrage, Shade, fkreen of trees. J. Umbrageous, Shady, yielding fhade. Unblenched, Not difgraced, not injured by any foil. Underflood, Not expreffed, not openly declared and yet implied, as when we say that a fubftantive or verb is underflood in a fentence. Par. Loft, B. i. 662. Uneffential, Having no being. Unifon, Sounding alone. Unweeting, Ignorant, unknowing. Urania, Gr. heavenly, The daughter of Jupiter and Mnemofyne, the goddefs who prefideth in aftronomy, one of the nine muses. Uriel, Heb. God is my light. He is mentioned as a good angel in the second book of Efdras, chap. iv. and v. The Jews and fome Chriftians conceive him to be an angel of light according to his name: and therefore Milton properly gives him his ftation in the fun. Urim and Thummim, were fomething in Aaron's breastplate what they were critics and commentators are by no means agreed. But the word urim fignifies light, and thummim perfection: and therefore Milton very very properly gives the epithet radiant to urim, Par Loft, B. vi. 761. It is moft probable, that urim and thummim were only names given to fignify the clear-, nefs and certainty of the divine anfwers which were obtained by the high prieft confulting God with his breastplate on, in contradiftinction to the obfcure, enigmatical, uncertain and imperfect answers of the Heathen oracles. Uther's Son, i. e. King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, whofe exploits are romanticly extolled by Geoffry of Monmouth. Uxorious, Submiffively fond of a wife. J. Uzziel, The next commanding angel to Gabriel; his name in Hebrew is the ftrength of Ged, as all God's mighty angels are. V. 7Acuous, Empty, unfilled. Vagaries, Wild freaks, capricious frolicks. 7. Valdamo, i. e. The valley of Arno, a valley near Ferole a city in Tuscany. Vallombrofa, A famous valley in Etruria or Tuscany, fo named of valis, a valley, and umbra, fhade; remarkable for the continual cool fhades, which the vaft number of trees that overspread it afford. Vanguard, The front or first line of the army. Vafalage, The ftate of a vaffal, tenure at will, fervitude, flavery. Venial, Permitted, allowed. Verdant, Green. Verdurous, Green, covered with green, decked with green. Vernal, Belonging to spring. Vernant, Flourishing as in fpring. Vertumnus, A god among the Romans, who loving a nymph, changed himself into all shapes to get her, but prevailing prevailing nothing, at length he turned himself into the fhape of a beautiful young man, and then offer. ing her violence, she easily condefcended to him. Vefta. Thee bright hair'd Vefla, &c. (Il Penferofs z3.) As Milton is here fpeaking of one of the goddesses of the ancients, he very judiciously adopts their manner of defcribing them by fome epithet distinguishing their eyes, hair, &c. as κρυσοκόμης, γλαυκώπις, &c. The allegory contained under this defcription is no lefs beautiful than that he had before given us in his account of the birth of Euphrofyne from Zephyrus and Aurora. Saturn was always confidered by thofe philofophers who embraced the opinion of planetary influences as prefiding over perfons of a gloomy, thoughtful turn; and this caft of mind, tempered and refined with a proper mixture of fire, which the ancients worshipped under the name of Vefta, is the best adapted to relish fuch pleasures as the poet is here defcribing. What gives an additional beauty ftill, is the fuppofing melancholy begot in fecret fhades of woody Ida's inmoft bower. Viands, Food, meat dreffed. Vicegerent, Having a delegated power, acting by fubftitution. Vigil, P. R. i. 182. the hours of reft; watch. Watch, devotions performed in fongs fung while the angels kept Villatic, Belonging to villages. Villify, To defame, to debafe, to make contemptible. Vifitant, One who goes to fee another. Vitiate, To deprave, to fpoil, to make lefs pure. Volant, Nimble, active. Volatil, Having the power to pafs off by evaporation. J. Volley, A flight of fhot. Voluble, Rolling, having quick motion. Vulture, A large bird remarkable for voracity. WARBLE, WAR ARBLE, To quaver any found, to cause to quaver. Warping, Working themselves forward. A fea term. Waffailer, A toper, drunkard. Hail or heil was in fuch continual ufe among the good-fellows of ancient times, that a drinker was called a was-heiler, or wisher of health; and the liquor was called was-heil, becaufe health was fo often wifhed over it. Weal, Happiness, profperity, flourishing state. J. Welkin, Firmament or sky. Well. Begin then fifters of the facred well. (Lycidas 15) Our poet means Hippocrene, a fountain confecrated to the mufes on Mount Helicon, on the fide of which was an altar of Heliconian Jove, as Hefiod fays in the invocation for his poem on the generation of the gods. Begin we from the mufes ftill to fing, That haunt high Helicon and the pure fpring, Weftring, Drawing towards the west. Whilome, Formerly. Whirlpool, A place where the water moves circularly, and draws whatever comes within the center of its circle; a vortex. 7. Whirlwind, A ftormy wind moving circularly. Wight, A perfon, a being. Won, An old Saxon word fignifying to dwell or inhabit. Worm, Is ufed by Milton as a general name for all the reptil kind; and Satan (Par. Loft, B. x. 68.) is cal- led falfe worm. XERXES, ERXES, A king of Perfia, son of Darius, and nephew to Cyrus; who after five years preparations, came against the free ftates of Greece (to revenge his father's difgraceful repulfe by Miltiades) with fo innumerable an army, that his men and cattle drank up rivers and building a bridge over the Hellefpont, where he fcourged the fea for the lofs of fome of his fhips. He was fo fhamefully defeated in a fea-fight, that he hardly efcaped himself in a little fisher's boat. Y. YAwning, Yell, To cry out with horror and agony. Yonder, At a distance within view. Ycleaped, Called, termed, named. 7. Z. Z Zephon, Heb. Jecret or fearcher of fecrets. An ENITH, The point over-head, oppofite the nadir. angel whofe name is an indication of his office. Zephyr, The weft wind, poetically any soft, calm wind. Zodiac, The tract of the fun through the twelve figns; a great circle of the sphere containing the twelve figns. J. Zone, A girdle, a divifion of the earth. The earth is divided into five zones, one torrid, two temperate, and two frigid. Circuit, circumference. Zophiel, Heb. The fpy of God. A cherub. |