path of the Sun in the heavens is described by Milton with marked
precision, and he mentions in regular order the names of the zodiacal
constellations through which the orb travels. Passing through Taurus
with the seven Atlantic Sisters (the Pleiades) and the Spartan Twins
(Gemini), he enters the Tropic Crab (Cancer), in which constellation he
attains his highest northern altitude; thence downwards he travels
through Leo, Virgo, and the Scales (Libra), as deep as Capricornus,
reaching his lowest point of declination at the winter solstice; and
were it not for this alteration of the Sun's path, the poet informs us
that perpetual spring would have reigned upon the Earth.

Milton was evidently well acquainted with the astronomical reasons (the
revolution of the Earth in her orbit and the obliquity of the ecliptic)
by which the occurrence and regular sequence of the seasons can be
explained.

The path of the Sun in the heavens; his upward and downward course from
the equator; the names of the constellations through which the orb
travels, and the periods of the year at which he enters them, were also
familiar to him.

The grateful change of the seasons, and the varied aspects of nature
peculiar to each, which give a charm and freshness to the rolling year,
must have been to Milton a source of pleasure and delight, and have
stimulated his poetic fancy.

His observation of natural phenomena, and his keen perception of the
pleasing changes which accompany them, are described in the following
lines:--

As, when from mountain-tops the dusky clouds
Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o'erspread
Heaven's cheerful face, the louring element
Scowls o'er the darkened landskip snow or shower,
If chance the radiant Sun, with farewell sweet,
Extend his evening beam, the fields revive,
The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds
Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings.--ii. 488-95.

The ancient poets Virgil and Ovid describe the Earth as having been
created in the spring; and associated with this season, which

to the heart inspires
Vernal delight and joy--iv. 154-55,

were the Graces and the Hours, which danced hand in hand as they led on
the eternal Spring.

Milton alludes to the seasons on several occasions throughout his poem,
and to the natural phenomena associated with them:--

As bees
In springtime when the