When I was reading the description of Satan rising from the sea of fire, I did not see the volcano imagery at all in lines 220-237. However after reading it a second time, Milton uses words corresponding with eruptions as the "land that ever burn'd with solid" and "whose combustible and fewel'd entrals thence conceiving Fired sublinm'd with Mineral fury." Milton's punctuation here is interesting because he capitalizes Fire and Mineral. Why?
Another interesting part in the third reading was lines 212-218 where Milton imposes god's ever present power in the middle of all this evil. It's almost like a side thought and an interjection. While Milton was getting so fired up about hell, he had to remember his original intent to justify the way's of god to man. Milton explains that Satan was allowed to rise up from the fiery sea only because god allowed him. For what reasons? Milton says that god hopes to see after Satan is left to his own evil design to bring evil onto man, Satan will eventually see all the "Treble confusion, wrath and vengeance pour'd." So far from our reading, I don't think this transformation is going to happen anytime soon. God might just be wrong. At this point, Satan is all about fighting god with vigor. Satan just got the knockout punch, but he gets right back up with his army of feigns and says "let's make some hell."
Not sure about the reasons for Milton's random capitalization. Does it seem like God has a mean side, wants to mess with Satan a little?
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