Hermes Tris 88. Thrice-great Hermes. megistus, a learned Egyptian. 99. Thebes... Pelops' line . . . Troy. All subjects of Greek tragic poetry. 101. The reference here may be to Shakespeare's tragedies. 102. Buskined. The buskin was the high-heeled boot worn by actors in classical tragedy; opposed to the sock of L'Allegro, l. 132. 104. Musæus. A mythical Greek poet, sometimes called the son of Orpheus. 109. Him that left half-told. The reference is to Chaucer, who left his Squire's Tale unfinished. ear. 120. Where more is meant than meets the Where there is an allegorical meaning. Milton probably had Spenser's Faerie Queene in mind. 122. Civil-suited. Soberly dressed, like a citizen. 124. Attic boy. Cephalus, whom Aurora loved. 134. Sylvan. Sylvanus, one of the woodland deities. 148. His wings. Sleep's wings. 158. Massy proof. Able to support the weight resting on them. 159. Storied. With Biblical stories in stained glass. LYCIDAS Lycidas. A pastoral name, taken from classical poetry. A learned friend. Edward King, a fellow student with Milton at Christ's College, Cambridge. 1. Yet once more. Milton is taking up the writing of poetry after a lapse of a few years since the time Comus was written. 149. 15. Sisters of the sacred well. The Muses; the Pierian spring, on Mount Helicon. 23. Nursed upon the self-same hill. Attended the same university. Milton adopts the poetical convention of representing his characters as shepherds. 36. Damætas. The reference is possibly to Milton's college tutor. 54. Mona. The island of Anglesey. 55. Deva. The river Dee. 58. The Muse. Calliope. 62. His gory visage. Orpheus was slain by Thracian women, and his head cast into the river Hebrus. 149. 65. Shepherd's trade. The art of poetry. 68. Amaryllis . . . Neæra. Conventional -pastoral names for women. 75. Blind Fury. Atropos, not one of the Furies, but the Fate who cuts the thread of life. 150. 77. Phœbus. The god of poetry. 79. Glistering foil. Glittering tinsel; gold leaf. 85. Arethuse. Arethusa, a Sicilian spring, symbolic of Greek pastoral poetry. 86. Mincius. A stream in Italy, near which Virgil was born. Vocal. Used for shepherds' pipes. 88. Oat. Oaten pipe; symbolic of pastoral verse. 66 Triton, son 89. The herald of the sea. 96. Hippotades. Eolus, god of the winds. 103. Camus. 104. Sedge. Coarse grass and reeds along 106. That sanguine flower. The hyacinth, 115. The fold. The church. 119. Blind mouths. For an excellent exposition of the phrase cf. Ruskin's Sesame and Lilies. 126. Wind and rank mist. False teachings of the unprincipled clergy. 128. The grim wolf. The Roman Catho- 130. Two-handed engine. Milton has in 151. 149. Amaranthus. The amaranth, symbolic of immortality. 151. Laureate. Crowned with laurel. 160. Bellerus. The Latin name for 161. The guarded mount. St. Michael's Mount in Cornwall, where the Archangel Michael was said to have appeared. 162. Namancos and Bayona. On the coast of Spain. 184. In thy large recompense. ward. As a re 189. His Doric lay. His pastoral song. ON SHAKESPEARE 152. This (so-called) sonnet was written for the second (1632) folio edition of Shakespeare's works. TO THE LORD GENERAL CROMWELL 7, 8. Darwen stream, Dunbar field. Scenes of two of Cromwell's victories over the Scots. 9. Worcester's laureate wreath. Cromwell won the decisive victory over Charles II and his Scottish allies at Worcester, 3 September, 1651. ON THE LATE MASSACRE IN PIEDMONT The Vaudois, or Waldenses, a Protestant people living in the northwestern part of Italy, were subjected in 1655 to a bloody persecution because they refused to accept Catholicism. 153. 12. The triple tyrant. The Pope, who wears a triple crown. 14. The Babylonian woe. The Puritans frequently applied the name Babylon to Rome, alluding to the scriptural account in Revelation, xvii-xviii. ON HIS DECEASED WIFE This was Milton's second wife, Catherine Woodcock, who died in childbirth in 1658. 2. Like Alcestis. Alcestis, the heroine of Sophocles's drama, offered her life for her husband, but was rescued by Hercules. PARADISE LOST: BOOK I 154. 6. Heavenly Muse. Milton is inventing a Muse of Hebrew poetry, and appealing to her for aid in accordance with the classical epic formula. 15. The Aonian mount. Mount Helicon, here symbolizing Greek poetry. 155. 74. As from the center thrice to the utmost pole. The distance between Heaven and Hell was three times the radius of the world. The diagram opposite represents approximately Milton's conception of the universe. 156. 129. Seraphim. Plural form; the seraphim were supposed to be the highest in rank of all the angels. 167. If I fail not. Unless I am mistaken. 197-201. The fables, etc. According to Greek mythology the Titans warred on Saturn, and the giants rebelled against Jove. Briareos, according to one legend, was a giant; Typhon, son of Tartarus and Gaea, was a Titan. Leviathan, the sea monster of the Bible, was identified with the whale. 158. 288. The Tuscan artist. Galileo, whom Milton met while travelling in Italy. 289. Fesole. Fiesole, a hill near Florence. 290. Valdarno. The valley of the Arno. 303. Vallombrosa. Near Florence, in Tuscany, the ancient Etruria. 305. Orion. The constellation Orion, or the Huntsman, supposed to bring foul weather. 307. Busiris. Here meaning the Pharaoh of the exodus. Memphian. Memphis was the ancient capital of Egypt. 309. Goshen. The portion of Egypt in which the Jews resided before the exodus. 159. 341. Warping. Usually explained as flying with a bending motion, twisting from side to side. Perhaps, however, it describes a progress by short stages, instead of continuous flight, as a ship is warped into harbor: the locusts advance a short distance, then settle down, and after devouring everything green, fly on to the next vegetation, and so on. 351. A multitude like which the populous north. Referring to the various invasions of the Roman Empire by the barbarians" from the north. 392. Moloch. Human sacrifice, particularly of children, played an important part in the worship of Moloch. 397-9. Rabba. The capital of Ammon. Argob, Basan, Arnon. The first two, districts east of Palestine; the third, a river emptying into the Dead Sea from the east. Heaven Chaos Before the fall of the Angels Heaven Chaos Hell After the fall of the Angels Heaven The World Chaos Hell After the creation of the World 519. Doric. Greek. 520. Adria. The Adriatic Sea. Hesperian. Western; i. e., of Italy. 550. Dorian mood. Martial music like that of the Spartans. 162. 573. Since created man. Since man was created. 575, 6. That small infantry Warred on by cranes. The battle between the pygmies and the cranes, to which Homer refers at the beginning of the third book of the Iliad. 577. Phlegra. On the west coast of Italy, where gods and giants fought a great battle. 580. Uther's son. King Arthur, hero of many romances. 583-7. Aspramont Fontarabbia. The names are those of places mentioned in medieval romances describing conflicts between Christians and Saracens. Charlemain and all his peerage. Charlemagne and his twelve knights are the heroes of the Chanson de Roland, which gives an account of their defeat in the pass of Roncesvalles, not far from Fontarabbia. 163. 674. The work of sulphur. It was formerly believed that ores could not exist independent of sulphur. 678. Mammon. God of riches. 164. 720. Belus, Serapis. The first an Assyrian god, the second an Egyptian. 728. Cressets. Hanging iron vessels, open at the top, containing a burning illuminant. 737. Orders. The nine ranks of angels in the celestial hierarchy. 738. His name. Hephæstus, the Greek god of fire; analogous to the Latin Vulcan. 739. Ausonian land. Italy. 165. 756. Pandemonium. The hall of all the devils." Milton coined the word on the analogy of Pantheon, "the hall of all the gods." 769. The Sun with Taurus rides. The sun is in the sign of Taurus, or the Bull, from the middle of April till the middle of May. Cf. Chaucer's Prologue, 1. 7. the gryphons for the gold which the monsters guarded. 180. 1029. The utmost orb. The outermost of the ten concentric spheres which, according to Ptolemaic astronomy, constituted the universe; at the center was the earth. BOOK XII 604. He ended. The archangel Michael, who had been sent to drive Adam and Eve out of Paradise. AREOPAGITICA 181. "I wrote my Areopagitica," said Milton in his Defensio Secunda, "in order to deliver the press from the restraints with which it was encumbered; that the power of determining what was true and what was false, what ought to be published and what to be suppressed, might no longer be entrusted to a few illiterate and illiberal individuals, who refused their sanction to any work which contained views or sentiments at all above the level of the vulgar superstition." The treatise appeared in November, 1644, four months after the defeat of Rupert at Marston Moor, and when Milton felt confident that the Parliamentary cause would prosper. The immediate occasion was the enactment, in June, 1643, of an order forbidding the printing or sale of any book that had not been properly licensed. 14. Those fabulous dragon's teeth. The dragon's teeth, sown by Jason, sprang up armed men. 46. The thing. The custom of requiring a license. 182. 58. Lullius. Raymond Lully, a scientist of the thirteenth century. Sublimate. extract. 67. That unapocryphal vision. See Acts, x: 9-16. 85. Mr. Selden. John Selden (15841654), a writer on law and constitutional history and member of Parliament for Oxford University. 107. Omer. A measure, mentioned in Exodus, xvi: 18. It was between half and four-fifths of a gallon. 128. Seeds which were imposed on Psyche. The story, told in Apuleius's Golden Ass, pictures Venus as punishing Psyche for winning the love of Cupid by forcing her to arrange in proper piles all the seeds of a vast heap of mixed grain. The ants, taking pity on Psyche, performed the labor for her. 164. Scotus; Aquinas. Duns Scotus, (1265-1308), a famous mathematician; Thomas Aquinas (1224?-1274), the "angelic doctor" of the scholastic philosophers. 183. 166. Guyon. The knight of temperance, hero of Book II of the Faerie Queene. 181. It. The licensing act. 183. 187. Pluralities. The churchman who was the possessor of several benefices was said to hold a plurality. 219. Ferular. Rod. Fescu. Pointer. 220. Imprimatur. Let it be printed; the word signifying that the book had been licensed for publication. 247. Palladian. Pertaining to Pallas Athene, goddess of wisdom. 184. 359. Pyrrhus. After the battle of Heraclea (280 B. C.) Pyrrhus declared that if he had Roman soldiers the control of the world would be easy. 185. 412. Janus. The two-faced god of the Romans, whose temple doors were opened only in war-time. 426. Beyond the discipline of Geneva. Beyond what seems proper to the Presbyterians. 459. The old Proteus. Proteus, the sea god, whose power of assuming many forms has given its significance to the adjective Protean, prophesied when bound in chains. 464. Micaiah before Ahab. See 1 Kings, xxii: 13-15. 186. 502. Many subdichotomies. Many minor subdivisions. 187. 613. She is now fallen from the stars. The Star-chamber court was abolished in 1641. 620. These sophisms and elenchs of merchandise. False arguments used by the bookselling trade. PEPYS THE DIARY 23. The Covenant. The Scottish Covenant, or agreement for the conduct of the church, was promulgated in 1638; in 1643 the "Solemn League and Covenant between the Parliamentary forces and Scotland was signed, providing for the abolition in England of Popery and Prelacy. In 1662 Charles abrogated the covenants. 34. My Lord. Sir Edward Montagu, to whom Pepys was secretary, and who afterwards secured Pepys's appointment as Clerk of the Acts in the Navy Office. 39. The Long Reach. The part of the river between Erith and Gravesend. 188. 73. Trimmed in the morning. Thus Pepys records his visits to the barber. 108. His escape from Worcester. 1651 Cromwe won what he called the 'crowning mercy at Worcester, when he defeated Charles II and his army of Scottish supporters. In 143. Wide canons. Ornaments attached to the legs of a pair of breeches. 167. General Monk. Cromwell's old companion-in-arms, whose decision to welcome Charles II was largely influential in bringing about the Restoration. 190. 301. The Three Cranes. A tavern on upper Thames Street. 190. 379. The Custom of the Country. A tragi-comedy by Fletcher; printed in the 1647 edition of Beaumont and Fletcher. 191. 391. By link. By the light of a torch, or link. 407. Sir Martin Mar-all. A comedy adapted for the stage by Dryden, from a translation by the Duke of Newcastle. 445. The Indian Emperor. Dryden's heroic drama dealing with the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. The play was a brilliant success. Nell. Nell Gwynn, the most popular actress of the day; a favorite of Charles II. 459. The Black Prince. Roger Boyle, Earl of Orrery (1621-1679), won a considerable success with Mustapha; The Black Prince was a comparative failure. LOYALIST STALL-BALLADS The long struggle to dispossess the House of Stuart, beginning in the first quarter of the seventeenth century, was not finally ended until Prince Charles Stuart, "the Young Pretender," grandson of James II, had been defeated at Culloden, in 1746, by the Duke of Cumberland. As the fortunes of the Stuarts waned, their attacks on their opponents-Parliamentarians, Whigs, Hanoverians-became more bitter. During the Civil War, and again at the time of the Revolution of 1688, the flood of satire of which these street songs are typical examples, was of almost unbelievable magnitude. The six ballads here printed are from the time of the Civil War and the Commonwealth. THE PROTECTING BREWER 193. The legend that Cromwell was a brewer by trade appears in many of the songs and satires of the period. THE LAWYERS' LAMENTATION Charing Cross had been torn down by Parliament along with many other insignia of royalty and ecclesiasticism. DRYDEN ABSALOM AND ACHITOPHEL 195. The poem appeared in 1681, when the question of the successor to Charles II, in the event of the King's death, was agitating all England. The heir-apparent was the King's brother James, the Duke of York, who was generally unpopular on account of his Catholicism. James, Duke of Monmouth, the Absalom of the poem, an illegitimate son of Charles, was a Protestant, and in general favor with the Whig and anti-Catholic parties. Despite the stain on his birth his friends, led by Anthony Ashley Cooper, first earl of Shaftesbury (Achitophel) planned to set aside tradition and present Monmouth as a sort of people's candidate in opposition to the Duke of York. For many years Shaftesbury had been the virtual leader of the Whigs and Protestants. During the "Popish Plot " he had been Titus Oates's most prominent supporter; he championed the Exclusion Bill, and was accused of fomenting a rebellion in Scotland. In July, 1681, he was imprisoned in the Tower on charge of high treason; but when his case came before the grand jury at the end of November, he was released through an ignoramus verdict. In November, 1682, he fled to Holland, where in 1683 he died. The Duke of Monmouth made his ill-fated attempt to win the crown in 1685, but his followers were dispersed at the battle of Sedgemoor, and he himself was soon afterwards beheaded. Dryden undertook in Absalom and Achitophel to influence public opinion against Shaftesbury, and timed its publication so that it appeared only two weeks before the earl's trial was to begin. For the Biblical account of the revolt of Absalom see 2 Samuel, xiii-xviii. 7. Israel's monarch. David of the poem. Charles II, the 23. In foreign fields he won renown. Monmouth had won something of a reputation as a soldier during three campaigns on the continent. 34. The charming Annabel. Anne Scott, 39. Amnon's murder. It is uncertain 45. The Jews. The English. 196. 82. The good old cause. The cause of the Commonwealth; the phrase was 197. 150. Achitophel. Shaftesbury. The 175. The triple bond. An alliance formed in 1668 between England, Sweden, and the Dutch Republic. |