But in most of these cases it seems likely that he believed in an etymological relation between the two words, and so fancied that he was drawing attention to an original unity of meaning. Some such hypothesis is needful to mitigate the atrocity of his worst pun, in Paradise Regained, where he describes
The ravens with their horny beaks
Food to Elijah bringing even and morn--
Though ravenous, taught to abstain from what they brought.
Milton was no philologist, and we may be permitted in charity to suppose that he derived "raven" and "ravenous" from the same root.
Some of his puns are to be justified for another reason--that they are made the weapons of mockery. So when Satan rails against Abdiel he says--
Thou shalt behold
Whether by supplication we intend
Address, and to begirt the Almighty Throne
Beseeching or besieging.