"a
place of tarrying," which might be for a longer or a shorter time: hence
'a resting-place.' Comp. _John_, xiv. 2, "In my Father's house are many
_mansions_"; and _Il Pens._ 93, "Her _mansion_ in this fleshly nook."
The word has now lost the notion of tarrying, and is applied to a large
and important dwelling-house. ~where~, in which: the antecedent is
separated from the relative, a frequent construction in Milton (comp.
lines 66, 821, etc.). So in Latin, where the grammatical connection
would generally be sufficiently indicated by the inflection. ~shapes ...
spirits~. An instance of the manner in which Milton endows spiritual
beings with personality without making them too distinct. "Of all the
poets who have introduced into their works the agency of supernatural
beings Milton has succeeded best" (Macaulay). We see this in _Par. Lost_
(_e.g._ ii. 666). Compare the use of the word 'shape' (Lat. _umbra_) in
l. 207: also _L'Alleg._ 4, "horrid _shapes_ and shrieks"; and _Il Pens._
6, "fancies fond with gaudy _shapes_ possess." Milton's use of the
demonstrative ~those~ in this line is noteworthy; comp. "_that_ last
infirmity of noble mind," _Lyc._ 71: it implies that the reference is to
something well known, and that further particularisation is needless.

3. ~insphered~. 'Sphere,' with its derivatives 'sphery,' 'insphere,' and
'unsphere' (_Il Pens._ 88), is used by Milton with a literal reference
to the cosmical framework as a whole (see _Hymn Nat._ 48) or to some
portion of it. In Shakespeare 'sphere' occurs in the wider sense of 'the
path in which anything moves,' and it is to this metaphorical use of the
word that we owe such phrases as 'a person's sphere of life,' 'sphere of
action,' etc. See also _Comus_, 112-4, 241-3, 1021; _Arc._ 62-7; _Par.
Lost_, v. 618; where there are references to the music of the spheres.

4. ~mild~: an attributive of the whole clause, 'regions of calm and serene
air.' ~calm and serene~. These are not mere synonyms: the Lat. _serenus_ =
bright or unclouded, so that the two epithets are to be respectively
contrasted with 'smoke' and 'stir' (line 5); 'calm' being opposed to
'stir' and 'serene' to 'smoke.' Compare Homer's description of the seat
of the gods: "Not by wind is it shaken, nor ever wet with rain, nor doth
the snow come nigh thereto, but _most clear_ air is spread about it
_cloudless_, and the white light floats over it," _Odyssey_, vi.: comp.
note, l. 977.

5. ~this dim spot~. Th