The passage describes his impression of the sun as a mix of amazement and jealousy saying, “The golden sun in splendour likest Heaven / Allured his eye” (3.572-573). Since the sun is a metaphor for God, Satan’s jealously is actually of God and he may even regret leaving the comfort of Heaven for the darkness of Hell. The most telling lines, though, appear at the very end of the passage through a description of how the sun benefits the earth. The passage says, “By his magnetic beam, that gently warms / The universe, and to each inward part / With gentle penetration, though unseen, / Shoots invisible virtue even to the deep: / So wondrously was set his station bright” (3.583-587). The words in this quote personify the sun in a way that can be directly correlated with God. As the sun physically warms the earth, God warms the earth with His love. Satan continues to live in the darkness of Hell, as far away as possible from the sun and the
The passage describes his impression of the sun as a mix of amazement and jealousy saying, “The golden sun in splendour likest Heaven / Allured his eye” (3.572-573). Since the sun is a metaphor for God, Satan’s jealously is actually of God and he may even regret leaving the comfort of Heaven for the darkness of Hell. The most telling lines, though, appear at the very end of the passage through a description of how the sun benefits the earth. The passage says, “By his magnetic beam, that gently warms / The universe, and to each inward part / With gentle penetration, though unseen, / Shoots invisible virtue even to the deep: / So wondrously was set his station bright” (3.583-587). The words in this quote personify the sun in a way that can be directly correlated with God. As the sun physically warms the earth, God warms the earth with His love. Satan continues to live in the darkness of Hell, as far away as possible from the sun and the