And it may be that the heaven in that part is more dense, and therefore retains and reflects that light; and this opinion seems to have been entertained by Aristotle, Avicenna, and Ptolemy.” Milton, Paradise Lost , VII 577:⁠— “A broad and ample road, whose dust is gold, And pavement stars, as stars to thec appear, Seen in the Galaxy, that Milky Way, Which nightly, as a circling zone, thou seest Powdered with stars.” ↩