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.