(Milton: Paradise Lost, iii. 418 to the end). He starts from Hell, and wanders a long time about the confines of the Universe, where he sees Chaos and Limbo. The Universe is a vast extended plain, fortified by part of the ethereal quintessence out of which the stars were created. There is a gap in the fortification, through which angels pass when they visit our earth. Being weary, Satan rests awhile at this gap, and contemplates the vast Universe. He then transforms himself into an angel of light and visits Uriel, whom he finds in the Sun. He asks Uriel the way to Paradise, and Uriel points out to him our earth. Then plunging through the starry vault, the waters above the firmament, and the firmament itself, he alights safely on Mount Niphates, in Armenia.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
