Read Ebook: The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost' by Orchard Thomas Nathaniel

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stic points in favour of this theory:--

Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter there revolves a remarkable group of small planets or planetoids. On account of the absence of a planet in this region, where, according to the laws of planetary distances, one ought to be found, the existence of those small bodies was suspected for some years prior to their discovery. The first was detected by Piazzi at Palermo in 1801; two others were discovered by Olbers in 1802 and 1807, and one by Harding in 1804. For some time it was believed that no more planetoids existed, but in 1845 a fifth was detected by Hencke, and from that year until now upwards of 300 of those small bodies have been discovered. Their magnitudes are of varied extent; the diameter of the largest is believed not to exceed 450 miles, and that of the smaller ones from twenty to thirty miles. It was surmised at one time, when only a few of those bodies were known, that they were the fragments of a planet which met with some terrible catastrophe; but since the discovery of so many other planetoids this theory cannot be maintained. According to the nebular hypothesis, these bodies are the consolidated portions of a nebulous ring which remained separate instead of having coalesced into one mass so as to form a planet. The uniform condensation of the ring would result in the formation of a multitude of small planets similar to what are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. In Saturn's ring we have a remarkable instance of annular consolidation in which the form of the ring has been preserved. The ring is believed to consist of myriads of minute bodies, each of which travels in an orbit of its own as it pursues its path round the planet; the close approximation and exceeding minuteness of those moving objects create the appearance of a solid continuous ring.

No attempt has been made to supplant the nebular hypothesis by any other theory of cosmical evolution. Modern investigations and discoveries have strengthened its position, and at present it is the only means by which we can account for the existence of the visible material universe by which we are surrounded.

In the days when Milton lived--three hundred years ago--the nocturnal heavens presented the same appearance to an observer as they do at the present time. The stars pursued their identical paths, and looked down upon the Earth with the same aspect of serene tranquillity, regardless of the vicissitudes which affect the inhabitants of this terrestrial sphere. The constellations that adorn the celestial vault duly appeared in their seasons,

and in the ascending scale Of Heaven the stars that usher evening rose.--iv. 354-55.

The winter glories of Orion, the scintillating brilliancy of Sirius, and the spangled firmament, bearing no impress of change or variation which would lead one to conclude that the heavens were other than eternal, attracted then, as now, the admiration of beholders.

Though Milton makes frequent allusion to the magnificence of the starry heavens, we have no evidence that he regarded the stars as suns, nor does he refer to them as such in any part of his poem. What impressed him most was their number and brilliancy, to which reference is made in the following passages:

About him all the Sanctities of Heaven Stood thick as stars.--iii. 60-61.

And sowed with stars the Heavens thick as a field.--vii. 358.

Amongst innumerable stars, that shone Stars distant, but nigh hand seemed other worlds.--iii. 564-65.

her reign With thousand lesser lights dividual holds, With thousand thousand stars, that then appeared Spangling the hemisphere.--vii. 381-84.

Milton describes the number of the fallen angels as

an host Innumerable as the stars of night.--v. 744-45,

and the attention of Satan is directed by the archangel Uriel to the multitude of stars formed from the chaotic elements of matter:

Numberless as thou seest, and how they move; Each had his place appointed, each his course; The rest in circuit walls this universe.--iii. 719-21.

Though Milton was doubtless familiar with the leading orbs of the firmament and knew their names, and the constellations in which they are situated, yet he makes no direct allusion to any of them in his poem. Neither Arcturus, which is mentioned in the Book of Job, nor Sirius, which attracted the attention of Homer, who compared the brightness of Achilles' armour to the dazzling brilliancy of the dog-star, finds a place in 'Paradise Lost.' And yet the superior magnitude and brilliancy of some stars when compared with those of others did not escape Milton's observation when, in describing the lofty eminence of Satan in heaven, prior to his fall, he represents him as

brighter once amidst the host Of angels than that star the stars among.--vii. 132-33.

There is but one star to which Milton makes individual allusion, and, though not of any conspicuous brilliancy, yet it is one of much importance to astronomers--

the fleecy star that bears Andromeda far off Atlantic seas Beyond the horizon.--iii. 558-60.

This is Alpha Arietis, the first point in the constellation of that name, which signifies the Ram, and from which the right ascensions of the stars are measured on the celestial sphere. In the time of Hipparchus the ecliptic intersected the celestial equator in Aries, which indicated the commencement of the astronomical year and the occurrence of the vernal equinox; but, owing to precession, this point is now 30? westward of Aries and in the constellation Pisces. The star was called Hamal by the Arabs, signifying a sheep, and the animal is represented as looking backwards. Manilius writes:--

First Aries, glorious in his golden wool, Looks back and wonders at the mighty Bull.

Aries is associated with the legend of the Golden Fleece, in quest of which Jason and his valiant crew sailed in the ship 'Argo.' In the autumn, Andromeda is situated above Aries, and would seem to be borne by the latter, which accounts for Milton's description of the relative positions of those two constellations.

Milton alludes to the starry sphere in several passages in his poem, and also mentions the starry pole above which he soared in imagination up to the Empyrean or Heaven of Heavens. His contemplation of the Galaxy must have impressed his mind with the magnitude and extent of the sidereal universe, for he was aware that this luminous zone which encircles the heavens consists of myriads of stars, so remote as to be incapable of definition by unaided vision. Milton's description of this vast assemblage of stars is worthy of its magnificence, and the purpose with which he poetically associates this glorified highway testifies to the sublimity of his thoughts and to the originality of his genius. In those parts of his poem in which he describes the glories of the celestial regions, and instances the beautiful phenomena associated with the individual orbs of the firmament, we are able to perceive with what exquisite delight he beheld them all.

The invention of the telescope, and the important discoveries made by Kepler, Galileo, and Newton in the seventeenth century, were the means of effecting a rapid advance in the science of astronomy; but that branch of it known as sidereal astronomy was not then in existence. The star depths, owing to inadequate telescopic power, remained unexplored, and the secrets associated with those distant regions were inviolable, and lay beyond the reach of human knowledge. The physical constitution of the stars was unknown, nor was it ascertained with any degree of certainty that they were suns. The knowledge possessed by astronomers in those days was but meagre compared with what is now known of the sidereal heavens. Milton's astronomical knowledge, we find, was commensurate with what was known of the stellar universe, and this he has conspicuously displayed in his poem.

DESCRIPTION OF CELESTIAL OBJECTS MENTIONED IN 'PARADISE LOST'

THE SUN

The surpassing splendour of the Sun, as compared with that of any of the other orbs of the firmament, is not more impressive than his stupendous magnitude, and the important functions which it is his prerogative to fulfil. Situated at the centre of our system--of which he may be regarded as 'both eye and soul'--the orb has a diameter approaching 1,000,000 miles, and a mass 750 times greater than that of all the planets combined. These, by his attractive power, he retains in their several paths and orbits, and even far distant Neptune acknowledges his potent sway. With prodigal liberality he dispenses his vast stores of light and heat, which illumine and vivify the worlds circling around him, and upon the constant supply of which all animated beings depend for their existence. Deprived of the light of the Sun, this world would be enveloped in perpetual darkness, and we should all miserably perish.

The Sun is distant from the Earth about 93,000,000 miles. His diameter is 867,000 miles, or nearly four times the extent of the radius of the Moon's orbit. The mass of the orb exceeds that of the Earth 330,000 times, and in volume 1,305,000 times. The Sun is a sphere, and rotates on his axis from west to east in 25 days 8 hours. The velocity of a point at the solar equator is 4,407 miles an hour. The density of the Sun is only one-fourth that of the Earth, or, in other words, bulk for bulk, the Earth is four times heavier than the Sun. The force of gravity at the Sun's surface is twenty-seven times greater than it is on the Earth; it would therefore be impossible for beings constituted as we are to exist on the solar surface.

Sun-spots usually appear in groups; large isolated spots are of rare occurrence, and are generally accompanied by several smaller ones of less perfect formation. The exact moment of the origin of a sun-spot cannot be ascertained, because it arises from an imperceptible point; it grows very rapidly, and often attains its full size in a day.

Sun-spots vary very much in size--some are only a few hundred miles in width, whilst others have a diameter of 40,000 or 50,000 miles or upwards. In some instances the umbra alone has a breadth of 20,000 or 30,000 miles--three times the extent of the diameter of the Earth. Spots of this size are visible to the naked eye when the Sun is partially obscured by fog, or when his brilliancy is diminished by vapours near the horizon. A year seldom passes without the occurrence of several of such spots being recorded. The largest sun-spot ever observed had a diameter of about 150,000 miles. A group of spots, including their penumbrae, will occupy an area of many millions of square miles.

These outbursts, bending over like the jets from a fountain, and descending in graceful curves of flame, ascend from the surface of the chromosphere with a velocity often exceeding 100 miles in a second, and frequently reach an enormous height, but are of transient duration. They are closely connected with sun-spots, and are evidence of the tremendous forces that are in action on the surface of the Sun.

The CORONA is an aureole of light which is seen to surround the Sun during a total eclipse. It is an impressive and beautiful phenomenon, and is only visible when the Sun is concealed behind the dark body of the Moon. Professor Young gives the following graphic description of the corona: 'From behind it stream out on all sides radiant filaments, beams, and sheets of pearly light, which reach to a distance sometimes of several degrees from the solar surface, forming an irregular stellate halo, with the black globe of the Moon in its apparent centre. The portion nearest the Sun is of dazzling brightness, but still less brilliant than the prominences, which blaze through it like carbuncles. Generally this inner corona has a pretty uniform height, forming a ring three or four minutes of arc in width, separated by a somewhat definite outline from the outer corona, which reaches to a much greater distance and is far more irregular in form. Usually there are several "rifts," as they have been called, like narrow beams of darkness, extending from the very edge of the Sun to the outer night, and much resembling the cloud shadows which radiate from the Sun before a thundershower. But the edges of these rifts are frequently curved, showing them to be something else than real shadows. Sometimes there are narrow bright streamers as long as the rifts, or longer. These are often inclined, or occasionally even nearly tangential to the solar surface, and frequently are curved. On the whole, the corona is usually less extensive and brilliant over the solar poles, and there is a recognisable tendency to accumulation above the middle latitudes, or spot zones; so that, speaking roughly, the corona shows a disposition to assume the form of a quadrilateral or four-rayed star, though in almost every individual case this form is greatly modified by abnormal streamers at some point or other.' The corona surrounds the Sun and its other envelopes to a depth of many thousands of miles. It consists of various elements which exist in a condition of extreme tenuity; hydrogen, helium, and a substance called coronium appear to predominate, whilst finely divided shining particles of matter and electrical discharges resembling those of an aurora assist in its illumination.

We possess no knowledge of the physical structure of the interior of the Sun, nor have we any terrestrial analogy to guide us as to how matter would behave when subjected to such conditions of extreme temperature and pressure as exist in the interior of the orb. Yet we are justified in concluding that the Sun is mainly a gaseous sphere which is slowly contracting, and that the energy expended in this process is being transformed into heat so extreme as to render the orb a great fountain of light.

Milton in his poem makes more frequent allusion to the Sun than to any of the other orbs of the firmament, and, in all his references to the great luminary, describes him in a manner worthy of his unrivalled splendour, and of his supreme importance in the system which he upholds and governs. After having alighted on Mount Niphates, Satan is described as looking

Sometimes towards Heaven and the full-blazing Sun, Which now sat high in his meridian tower.--iv. 29-30.

He then addresses him thus:--

O thou that with surpassing glory crowned, Look'st from thy sole dominion like the god Of this new World--at whose sight all the stars Hide their diminished heads--to thee I call, But with no friendly voice, and add thy name, O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams, That bring to my remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere.--iv. 32-39.

On another occasion:--

The golden Sun in splendour likest Heaven Allured his eye.--iii. 572-73.

In describing the different periods of the day, Milton seldom fails to associate the Sun with these times, and rightly so, since they are brought about by the apparent diurnal journey of the orb across the heavens. Commencing with morning, he says:--

Meanwhile, To re-salute the world with sacred light, Leucothea waked, and with fresh dews embalmed The Earth.--xi. 133-36.

Soon as they forth were come to open sight Of day-spring, and the Sun--who, scarce up-risen, With wheels yet hovering o'er the ocean-brim, Shot parallel to the Earth his dewy ray, Discovering in wide landskip all the east Of Paradise and Eden's happy plains.--v. 138-43

or some renowned metropolis With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned, Which now the rising Sun gilds with his beams.--iii. 549-51.

while now the mounted Sun Shot down direct his fervid rays, to warm Earth's inmost womb.--v. 300-302.

for scarce the Sun Hath finished half his journey, and scarce begins His other half in the great zone of Heaven.--v. 558-60.

To sit and taste, till this meridian heat Be over, and the Sun more cool decline.--v. 369-70.

And the great Light of Day yet wants to run Much of his race, though steep. Suspense in Heaven, Held by thy voice, thy potent voice he hears, And longer will delay, to hear thee tell His generation, and the rising birth Of Nature from the unapparent deep.--vii. 98-103.

The declining day and approach of evening are described as follows:--

Meanwhile in utmost longitude, where Heaven With Earth and Ocean meets, the setting Sun Slowly descended, and with right aspect Against the eastern gate of Paradise Levelled his evening rays.--iv. 539-43.

the parting Sun Beyond the Earth's green Cape and verdant Isles Hesperian sets, my signal to depart.--viii. 630-32.

Now was the Sun in western cadence low From noon, and gentle airs due at their hour To fan the Earth now waked, and usher in The evening cool.--x. 92-95.

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