Till fancy had her fill; but, ere a close," A musical close on his pipe. • But ere a close. As in Shakspeare, " K. Rich. II.” a. ii. s. 1. The setting sun, and music at the close; As the last taste of sweets is sweetest last.-T. WARTON. P The drowsy frighted steeds, &c. 550 555 560 I read, according to Milton's manuscript, "drowsy-flighted:" and this genuine reading Dr. Dalton has also preserved in "Comus." "Drowsy frighted" is nonsense, and manifestly an error of the press in all the editions. There can be no doubt, that in this passage Milton had his eye upon the description of night, in "K. Hen. VI.” p. ii. a. iv. s. 1. And now loud-howling wolves arouse the jades Who with their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings The idea and the expression of "drowsie-flighted" in the one, are plainly copied from their drowsy, slow, and flagging wings in the other.-NEWTON. It must be allowed, that "drowsie-flighted" is a very harsh combination. Notwithstanding the Cambridge manuscript exhibits "drowsie-flighted," yet" drowsie frighted" without a composition, is a more rational and easy reading, and invariably occurs ir the editions 1637, 1645, and 1673. That is "the drowsy steeds of Night, who were affrighted on this occasion, at the barbarous dissonance of Comus's nocturnal revelry." Milton made the emendation after he had forgot his first idea.-T. WARTON. q Close-curtain'd sleep. Perhaps from Shakspeare, "Macbeth," a. ii. s. 1. And wicked dreams abuse The curtain'd sleep.-THYER. At last a soft and solemn-breathing sound, &c. Shakspeare's "Twelfth Night," at the beginning, has here been alleged by Mr. Thyer. The idea is strongly implied in the following lines from Jonson's "Vision of Delight," a Mask presented at Court in the Christmas of 1617. Yet let it like an odour rise To all the senses here; And fall like sleep upon their eyes, Or musicke in their eare. But the thought appeared before, where it is exquisitely expressed, in Bacon's "Essays:" -"And because the breath of flowers is farre sweeter in the aire, where it comes and goes like the warbling of musicke." Of Gardens, Ess. xlvi.-T. WARTON. s That even Silence, &c. Silence was pleased at the nightingale's song, "Par. Lost," b. iv. 604. The conceit in both passages is unworthy the poet.-T. WARTON. t I was all ear. So Catullus of a rich perfume, "Carm." xiii. 13. Quod tu cum olfacies, Deos rogabis So Shakspeare, "Winter's Tale,” a. iv. s. 3 :—“All their other senses stuck in their And took in strains that might create a soul El. Br. Yes, and keep it still; Shall be unsaid for me: against the threats Which erring men call chance, this I hold firm ;- Surprised by unjust force, but not enthrall'd; Yea, even that, which mischief meant most harm, ears" and, in the "Tempest," Prospero says, "No tongues; all eyes; be silent."T. WARTON. 505 570 575 580 585 590 The general image of creating a soul by harmony is again from Shakspeare: but the particular one of "a soul under the ribs of death," which is extremely grotesque, is taken from a picture in Alciat's "Emblems," where a soul in the figure of an infant is represented within the ribs of a skeleton, as in its prison. This curious picture is presented by Quarles.-WARBURTON. The picture alluded to is not taken from Alciat's "Emblems," but from Herman Hugo's "Pia Desideria;" and is the eighth; "Suspirium animæ amantis."-TODD. ▾ Harrow'd with grief and fear. To "harrow" is to conquer, to subdue. The word is of Saxon origin. Thus Shakspeare, "Hamlet," a. i. s. 1. "It harrows me with fear and wonder."-STEEVENS. w Yes, and keep it still, &c. This confidence of the Elder Brother in favour of the final efficacy of virtue, holds forth a very high strain of philosophy, delivered in as high strains of eloquence and poetry.-T. WARTON. It exhibits the sublimer sentiments of the Christian. Religion here gave energy to the poet's strains.-TODD. But evil on itself shall back recoil, And mix no more with goodness; when at last, It shall be in eternal restless change 595 Self-fed and self-consumed: if this fail, The pillar'd firmament is rottenness, Against the opposing will and arm of Heaven And earth's base built on stubble.-But come; let's on. May never this just sword be lifted up! But for that damn'd magician, let him be girt Harpies and hydras, or all the monstrous forms Spir. Alas! good venturous youth, I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise; Be those, that quell the might of hellish charms: Self-fed and self-consumed. 600 605 610 This image is wonderfully fine. It is taken from the conjectures of astronomers concerning the dark spots which from time to time appear on the surface of the sun's body, and after a while disappear again; which they suppose to be the scum of that fiery matter, which first breeds it, and then breaks through and consumes it.-Warburton. This is Shakspeare's thought, but in more exalted language, "Wint. Tale,” a. ii. s. 1. If I mistake In those foundations which I build upon, A schoolboy's top.-STEEVENS. z The sooty flag of Acheron. Compare P. Fletcher's "Locusts," 1627, p. 58. All hell run out, and sooty flagges display.-TODD. a Harpies and hydras, &c. Harpies and hydras are a combination in an enumeration of monsters, in Sylvester's "Du. Bart." p. 206, fol. And the ugly Gorgons, and the sphinxes fell, b The might of hellish charms. Compare Shakspeare's "King Richard III." a. iii. s. 4. With devilish plots Of damned witchcraft; and that have prevail'd He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints, So, in Prospero's commands to Ariel, "Tempest," a. iv. s. ult. Go, charge my goblins, that they grind their joints With dry convulsions, shorten up their sinews El. Br. Why, pr'ythee, shepherd, Spir. Care, and utmost shifts, How to secure the Lady from surprisal, Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this soil: Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this soil: 615 620 625 630 Doctor Newton says, that "redundant verses sometimes occur in Milton." True: but the redundant syllable is never, I think, found in the second, third, or fourth foot. His instance of v. 605, in this poem, Harpies and hydras, or all the monstrous forms where the redundancy is in the third foot, and forms an anapest, does not prove his point. The passage before us is certainly corrupt, or, at least, inaccurate; and had better, I think, been given thus : But in another country, as he said, Seward proposed to read, but in this soil Unknown and light esteem'd. The emendation is very plausible and ingenious. But to say nothing of the editions under Milton's own inspection, I must object, that, if an argument be here drawn for the alteration from roughness or redundancy of verse, innumerable instances of the kind occur in our author. Milton, notwithstanding his singular skill in music, appears to have had a very bad ear; and it is hard to say on what principle he modulated his lines.-T. WARTON. By another accomplished writer the passage before us is considered as one of those licenses, which are not disagreeable in dramatic, although they would certainly displease in heroic verse: Bore a bright gol | den flower, | but not in | this soil. See Mitford's "Essay upon the Harmony of Language," first ed. p. 129. To the remark on "Milton's ear," the niceness of which more conspicuously displays itself in "Comus," the following observation, or general rule, may be safely opposed:-"There is no kind or degree of harmony, of which our language is capable, which may not be found in numberless instances in Milton's writings; the excellency of whose ear seems to have been equal to that of his imagination and learning." See Foster's "Essay on Accent," second ed. p. 67.-Тond. The line I am astonished at Warton's observation, that Milton had a very bad ear. ought to be scanned thus: Bore ǎ bright | gölděn | flöwer, but | not în | this soil. Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon : 'Gainst all enchantments, mildew, blast, or damp, I pursed it up, but little reckoning made, Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood, And brandish'd blade, rush on him; break his glass, See "Cymbeline," a. iv. s. 2: e Clouted shoon. I thought he slept, and put My clouted brogues from off my feet, whose rudeness 635 640 645 650 Clouts are thin and narrow plates of iron affixed with hobnails to the soles of the shoes of rustics. These made too much noise. The word "brogues" is still used for shoes among the peasantry of Ireland.-T. WARTON. The expression occurs in the present version of our Bible, Joshua ix. 5.-TODD. Drayton introduces a shepherd "his sundry simples sorting," who, among other rare plants, produces moly, "Mus. Elys. Nymph." v. vol. iv. p. 1489: Here is my moly of much fame, In magics often used. It is not agreed, whether Milton's hæmony is a real or poetical plant.-T. WARTON. Or ghastly furies' apparition. Peck supposes, that the furies were never believed to appear, and proposes to read "fairies' apparition:" but Milton means any frightful appearance raised by magic. Among the spectres which surrounded our Saviour in the wilderness, and which the fiend had raised, are furies, "Par. Reg." b. iv. 422.-T. WARTON. h I pursed it up. It was customary in families to have herbs in store, not only for medical and culinary, but for superstitious purposes. In some houses rue and rosemary were constantly kept for good luck. Among the plants to which preternatural qualities were ascribed, Perdita in the "Winter's Tale" mentions rue as the herb of grace, and rosemary as the emblem of remembrance, a. iv. s. 3.-T. WARTON. i If you have this about you, &c. The notion of facing danger, and conquering an enemy by carrying a charm, which was often an herb, is not uncommon in romance. Hence in "Samson Agon." v. 1130, &c., and v. 1149, Milton's idea is immediately and particularly taken from the ritual of the combat in chivalry. When two champions entered the lists, each took an oath that he had no charm, herb, or any enchantment about him: and I think it is clear, that Milton, in furnishing the Elder Brother with the plant hæmony, notwithstanding the idea is originally founded in Homer's moly, when like a knight he is to attack the necromancer Comus, and even to assail his hall, alluded to the charming herb of the romantic combat.-T. WArton. j And brandish'd blade, rush on him. Thus Ulysses assaults Circe, offering her cup, with a drawn sword, Ovid, "Metam." xiii. 293: |