The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost' by Thomas Nathaniel Orchard (read along books .TXT) 📖
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Rivers, or mountains, in her spotty globe.—i. 286-91.
Galileo is described as having observed the Moon from the heights of Fesolé, which formed part of the suburbs of Florence, or from Valdarno, the valley of the Arno, in which the city is situated. The belief that Galileo had discovered continents and seas on the Moon justified Milton in imagining the existence of rivers and mountains on the lunar surface. The expression ‘spotty globe’ is more descriptive of the appearance of our satellite when observed with the telescope, than when seen with the naked eye. Galileo’s attention was attracted by the freckled aspect of the Moon—a visual effect created by the number of extinct volcanoes scattered over the surface of the orb.
In his next allusion to the telescope Milton associates Galileo’s name with the instrument:—
Of Galileo, less assured, observes
Imagined lands and regions in the Moon.—v. 261-63.
In these lines Milton describes with accuracy the extent of Galileo’s knowledge of our satellite. The conclusions which the Italian astronomer arrived at with regard to its habitability were not supported by telescopic evidence sufficient to justify such a belief. Galileo writes: ‘Had its surface been absolutely smooth it would have been but a vast, unblessed desert, void of animals, of plants, of cities and men; the abode of silence and inaction—senseless, lifeless, soulless, and stripped of all those ornaments which now render it so variable and so beautiful:’—
Astronomer in the Sun’s lucent orb
Through his glazed optic tube yet never saw.—iii. 588-90.
Milton may have remembered that Galileo was the first astronomer who directed a telescope to the Sun; and that he discovered the dark spots frequently seen on the solar disc.
Anyone who has read a history of the life of Galileo, and contemplated the career of this remarkable man, his ardent struggles in the cause of freedom and philosophic truth, his victories and reverses, his brilliant astronomical discoveries, and his investigation of the laws of motion, and other natural phenomena, will arrive at the conclusion that he merited the distinction conferred upon him by our great English poet, when he included him among the renowned few whose names are found in the pages of ‘Paradise Lost.’
CHAPTER V THE SEASONSThe great path of the Sun among the constellations as seen from the Earth is called the Ecliptic. It is divided into 360°, and again into twelve equal parts of 30°, called Signs. As one half of the ecliptic is north, and the other half south, of the equator, the line of intersection of their planes is at two points which are known as the equinoctial points, because, when the Sun on his upward and downward journey arrives at either of them the days and nights are of equal length all over the world. The equinoctial points are not stationary, but have a westerly motion of 50'' annually along the ecliptic; at this rate they will require a period of 25,868 years to complete an entire circuit of the heavens.
Milton alludes to the ecliptic when he mentions the arrival of Satan upon the Earth:—
Throws his steep flight in many an airy wheel,
Nor staid till on Niphates top he lights.—iii. 740-42.
Extending for 9° on each side of the ecliptic is a zone or belt called the Zodiac, the mesial line of which is occupied by the Sun, and within this space the principal planets perform their annual revolutions. It was for long believed that the paths of all the planets lay within the zodiac, but on the discovery of the minor planets, Ceres, Pallas, and Juno, it was ascertained that they travelled beyond this zone. The stars situated within the zodiac are divided into twelve groups or constellations, which correspond with the twelve signs, and each is named after an animal or some figure which it is supposed to resemble. The zodiac is of great antiquity; the ancient Egyptians and Hindoos made use of it, and there are allusions to it in the earliest astronomical records. The twelve constellations of the zodiac bear the following names:—
Aries the Ram Taurus the Bull Gemini the Twins Cancer the Crab Leo the Lion Virgo the Virgin Libra the Balance Scorpio the Scorpion Sagittarius the Archer Capricornus the Goat Aquarius the Water-bearer Pisces the FishesIn close association with the Sun’s annual journey are the seasons, upon the regular sequence of which mankind depend for the various products of the soil essential for the maintenance and enjoyment of life. The revolution of the Earth in her orbit, and the inclination of her axis to her annual path, causing the plane of the equator to be inclined 23½° to that of the ecliptic, are the reasons which account for the succession of the seasons—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Owing to the position of the Earth’s axis with regard to her orbit, the Sun appears to travel 23½° north and 23½° south of the equator. When, on June 21, the orb attains his highest northern altitude, we have the summer solstice and the longest days; when, by retracing his steps, he declines 23½° below the equator, at which point he arrives on December 21, we have the winter solstice and the shortest days. Intermediate between those two seasons are spring and autumn. When the Sun, on his journey northward, reaches the equator, we have the vernal equinox, and at this period of the year the days and nights are of equal length all over the globe. In a similar manner, when, on his return journey, the Sun is again on the equator, the autumnal equinox occurs. In summer the North Pole is inclined towards the Sun, consequently his rays fall more direct and impart much more heat to the northern hemisphere than in winter, when the Pole is turned away from the Sun. This difference in the incidence of the solar rays upon the surface of the globe, along with the increased length of the day, mainly accounts for the high temperature of summer as compared with that of winter.
Astronomically, the seasons commence at the periods of the equinoxes and solstices. Spring begins on March 21, the time of the vernal equinox; summer on June 21, at the summer solstice; autumn on September 22, at the autumnal equinox; and winter on December 21, at the winter solstice. This conventional division of the year is not equally applicable to all parts of the globe. In the arctic and antarctic regions spring and autumn are very brief, the summer is short and the winter of long duration. In the tropics, owing to the comparatively slight difference in the obliquity of the Sun’s rays, one season is, as regards temperature, not much different from the other; but in the temperate regions of the Earth the vicissitudes of the seasons are more perceptible and can be best distinguished by the growth of vegetation, and the changes observable in the foliage of shrubs and trees. In spring there is the budding, in summer the blossom, in autumn the fruit-bearing, and in winter the leafless condition of deciduous trees, and the repose of vegetable life.
The legendary belief that before the Fall there reigned on the Earth a perpetual spring, is introduced by Milton in his poem when he describes the pleasant surroundings associated with the happy conditions of life that existed in Paradise:—
A happy rural seat of various view:
Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm;
Others whose fruit, burnished with golden rind,
Hung amiable—Hesperian fables true,
If true here only—and of delicious taste.
Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks
Grazing the tender herb, were interposed,
Or palmy hillock; or the flowery lap
Of some irriguous valley spread her store,
Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose.
Another side, umbrageous grots and caves
Of cool recess, o’er which the mantling vine
Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps
Luxuriant; meanwhile murmuring waters fall
Down the slope hill dispersed, or in a lake
That to the fringèd bank with myrtle crowned
Her crystal mirror holds, unite their streams.
The birds their quire apply; airs, vernal airs,
Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune
The trembling leaves, while universal Pan,
Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
Led on the eternal Spring.—iv. 246-68.
In sad contrast with this charming sylvan scene, we turn to the unhappy consequences which ensued as a result of the first act of transgression. Milton describes a change of climate characterised by extremes of heat and cold which succeeded the perpetual spring. The Sun was made to shine so that the Earth should be exposed to torrid heat and icy cold unpleasant to endure. The pale Moon and the planets were given power to combine with noxious effect, and the fixed stars to shed their malignant influences:—
Had first his precept so to move, so shine,
As might affect the Earth with cold and heat
Scarce tolerable, and from the north to call
Decrepit winter, from the south to bring
Solstitial summer’s heat. To the blanc Moon
Her office they prescribed; to the other five
Their planetary motions and aspects,
In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite,
Of noxious efficacy, and when to join
In synod unbenign; and taught the fixed
Their influence malignant when to shower—
Which of them rising with the Sun or falling,
Should prove tempestuous. To the winds they set
Their corners, when with bluster to confound
Sea, air, and shore; the thunder when to roll
With terror through the dark aerial hall.—x. 651-67.
We are here afforded an opportunity of learning that Milton possessed some knowledge of astrology, to which he makes allusion in other parts of his poem besides. In his time, astrology was believed in by many persons, and there were few learned men but who knew something of that occult science. Milton may be included among those who devoted some attention to astrology. Of this there is ample evidence, by the manner in which he expresses himself in words and phrases in common use among astrologers.
The professors of this art recognised five planetary aspects, viz., opposition, conjunction, sextile, square, and trine, each possessing its peculiar kind of influence on events. The Moon, the planets, and the constellations in their conjunctions and configurations, were believed to reveal to those who could understand the significance of their aspects, the destiny of individuals and the occurrence of future events. The inauspicious influences of the heavenly bodies are described by Milton as contributing to the general disarrangement of the happy condition of things that existed before the Fall.
After having described the adverse physical changes which occurred in Nature as a consequence of the Fall, Milton makes use of his astronomical knowledge in explaining how they were brought about, and suggests two hypotheses: (1) a change of position of the Earth’s axis; (2) an alteration of the Sun’s path from the equinoctial road:—
The poles of Earth twice ten degrees and more
From the Sun’s axle; they with labour pushed
Oblique the centric globe: some say the Sun
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