[Milton-L] snags

[jfleming at sfu.ca]

"with right aspect / Against the eastern gate of paradise / ... it was a
rock / Of alablaster, piled up to the Clouds / Conspicuous far" (4.541-545)

The sense seems to be that the sun shines against the inside of the high
gate -- eastern only in the sense that it is at the eastern end of paradise
(there is no western gate, as Satan discovers at 4.178-79) -- where the
narrator is about to find Gabriel sitting. 

As for Satan's knowledge about the tree, he seems to get it partly by
eavesdropping (4.411-439), partly by inference (4.194-195; 219-221). JDF

On Tue, 4 Nov 2008 21:32:34 +0000 milton-l at lists.richmond.edu wrote:
> 
> Hello all, hoping some one can lift the veil. Two questions ( I'm new
> to this): In book IV the setting sun "Against the eastern gate of
> Paradise levelled his evening rays" Am I missing something here, as
> the sun always sets in the West?  Also, how does Satan know which is
> the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil: where did he get this
> information from: I mean about this particular tree, which happens to
> be the very tree Eve recognises as the tree of prohibition in book IX ?
> What in me is dark illumine, please
> Regards,
> Christy
> 
> 
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James Dougal Fleming
Associate Professor
Department of English
Simon Fraser University
778-782-4713
cell: 604-290-1637

Nicht deines, einer Welt.