 Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
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Support the Monkey! Tell All your Friends and Teachers |
| Table of Contents LINES 630-742. THE DECEPTION OF THE ANGEL URIEL Satan is always daring and always deceitful. It seems no problem for him to change himself into a young angel or cherub with curling hair, gold- sprinkled wings, and a wand in his hand. He approaches the angel, who proves to be Uriel, one of the seven around God's throne, and addresses him.
Satan gives the flimsiest excuse for his presence: he has a great desire to see God's new creation, man, so much talked of in Heaven. Will Uriel kindly point out on which of the circling spheres Man is to be found? Uriel suspects nothing. In fact, Milton tells us that only God can know the truth hidden by hypocrisy; not even angels can penetrate a lying appearance, especially when they are so good that suspicion is not part of their nature. Uriel praises the little cherub for his desire to see God's works and tells him with pride that he was present when the World was made. The globe down there at the center, the one half lit by the sun and half by the moon reflecting the sun's light, is earth. Uriel even points his finger directly at Paradise and tells Satan that he can't miss the way. Satan bows respectfully, as a cherub would to a senior angel, and swoops down from the sun to the earth, landing on the top of Niphates, a mountain in the Armenian Taurus range.
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