The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost'   By: Thomas Nathaniel Orchard

Greek letters used to identify stars (Bayer designation), are replaced with the full name of the Greek letter, e.g. Alpha Centauri.

The single Greek word in the text is transliterated within braces, {komê}.

Minor punctuation and hyphenation inconsistencies have been corrected.

The spelling "Bernices" for "Berenices" has been retained throughout.

The following minor typographical errors have been corrected: p75: "establish" changed to "established" p99: "Firmanent" changed to "Firmament" p111: "they thoughts" changed to "thy thoughts" p120: "suen" changed to "seuen" p134: "consequenc" changed to "consequence" p146: "geographieal" changed to "geographical" p167: "Lyrae" changed to "Lyræ" for consistency p286: Removed redundant word "degrees" following the degree symbol

THE ASTRONOMY OF MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'

[Illustration: A TYPICAL SUN SPOT]

THE ASTRONOMY OF MILTON'S 'PARADISE LOST'

BY

THOMAS N. ORCHARD, M.D.

MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION

These are thy glorious works, Parent of good, Almighty! thine this universal frame, Thus wondrous fair: Thyself how wondrous then! Unspeakable.

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY 1896

All rights reserved

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE I. A Short Historical Sketch of Astronomy 1 II. Astronomy in the Seventeenth Century 45 III. Milton's Astronomical Knowledge 81 IV. Milton and Galileo 113 V. The Seasons 140 VI. The Starry Heavens 152 VII. The Starry Heavens 200 VIII. Description of Celestial Objects Mentioned in 'Paradise Lost' 244 IX. Milton's Imaginative and Descriptive Astronomy 306

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATES

A Typical Sun spot Frontispiece Venus on the Sun's Disc To face page 66 Cluster in Hercules " 218 Great Nebula in Orion " 230 A Portion of the Moon's Surface " 268

IN TEXT

FIG. PAGE 1. The Ptolemaic System of the Universe 86 2. Milton's Division of Universal Space 96 3. A Binary Star System 70 Ophiuchi 184 4. The Orbits of the Components of Gamma Virginis 189 5. Apparent Orbit of the Companion of Sirius 190 6. A Sun spot Magnified 247 7. The Corona during the Eclipse of May 1883 254 8. A Portion of the Milky Way 289

PREFACE

Many able and cultured writers have delighted to expatiate on the beauties of Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' and to linger with admiration over the lofty utterances expressed in his poem. Though conscious of his inability to do justice to the sublimest of poets and the noblest of sciences, the author has ventured to contribute to Miltonic literature a work which he hopes will prove to be of an interesting and instructive character. Perhaps the choicest passages in the poem are associated with astronomical allusion, and it is chiefly to the exposition and illustration of these that this volume is devoted.