ould regard it as equivalent to
"there is little loss in losing."

273. ~extreme shift~; last resource. Comp. l. 617.

274. ~my severed company~: a condensed expression = the companions
separated from me. Comp. l. 315: this figure of speech is called
Synecdoche.

277. ~What chance~, etc. In lines 277-290 we have a reproduction of that
form of dialogue employed in Greek tragedy in which question and answer
occupy alternate lines: it is called _stichomythia_, and is admirable
when there is a gradual rise in excitement towards the end (as in the
_Supplices_ of Euripides). In _Samson Agonistes_, which is modelled on
the Greek pattern, Milton did not employ it.

278. An alliterative line.

279. ~near ushering~, closely attending. To usher is to introduce (Lat.
_ostium_, a door).

284. ~twain~: thus frequently used as a predicate. It is also used after
its substantive as in _Lyc._ 110, "of metals _twain_," and as a
substantive.

285. ~forestalling~, anticipating. 'Forestall,' originally a marketing
term, is to buy up goods before they have been displayed at a _stall_ in
the market in order to sell them again at a higher price: hence 'to
anticipate.' ~prevented~. 'Prevent,' now used in the sense of 'hinder,'
seems in this line to have something of its older meaning, viz., to
anticipate (in which case 'forestalling' would be proleptic). Comp. l.
362; _Par. Lost_, vi. 129, "half-way he met His daring foe, at this
_prevention_ more Incensed."

286. ~to hit~. This is the gerundial infinitive after an adjective: comp.
"good to eat," "deadly to hear," etc.

287. ~Imports their loss~, etc.: 'Apart from the present emergency, is the
loss of them important?'

289. ~manly prime~, etc.: 'Were they in the prime of manhood, or were they
merely youths?' With Milton the 'prime of manhood' is where 'youth'
ends: comp. _Par. Lost_, xi. 245, "_prime_ in manhood where youth
ended"; iii. 636, "a stripling Cherub he appears, Not of the prime, yet
such as in his face Youth smiled celestial." Spenser has 'prime' =
Spring.

290. ~Hebe~, the goddess of youth. "The down of manhood" had not appeared
on the lips of the brothers.

291. ~what time~: common in poetry for 'when' (Lat. _quo tempore_).
Compare Horace, _Od._ iii. 6: "what time the sun shifted the shadows of
the mountains, and took the yokes from the wearied oxen." ~laboured~:
wearied with labour.

292. ~loose traces~. Because no longer taut from the draught of the
plough.