ad ftrictly meditate the thanklefs Mufe? ere it not better done as others use, fport with Amaryllis in the fhade, with the tangles of Neæra's hair? me is the fpur that the clear fpi'rit doth raife 70 That last infirmity of noble mind) o fcorn delights, and live laborious days; ut the fair guerdon when we hope to find, and think to burft out into fudden blaze, Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorred fhears, 75 And flits the thin fpun life. But not the praise, Γ Phœbus the third book of Paradise Regain'd, and confirm'd by numerous quotations from the Heathen philofophers in a note by Mr. Jortin. reward, recompenfe. A word from To gain fo goodly guerdon- That glory does to them for guer 75. Comes the blind Fury &c] Of the three fatal fifters, the first prepar'd the flax upon the diftaff, the ftamen of human life; the fecond fpun it; and the third cut it off with her fhears, when the deftin'd hour Phœbus reply'd, and touch'd my trembling ears; Set off to th' world, nor in broad rumor lies, Of so much fame in Heav'n expect thy meed. 80 O fountain Arethufe, and thou honor'd flood, 85 Smooth-fliding Mincius, crown'd with vocal reeds, That ftrain I heard was of a higher mood: But now my oat proceeds, hour was come. These were diftin&t from the Furies, but Milton calls the laft a blind Fury in his indignation for her cutting his friend's untimely and undeferv'd. Richardfon. Milton here has made the Fates the fame with the Furies; which is not quite deftitute of authority, for fo Orpheus in his hymns, two of which are addrefs'd to thefe Goddeffes, files them, Αλλά θεαι μαξαι εφιοπλοκάμοι πολυμορφοι. Sympfon. 77. Phabus reply'd, and touch'd my trembling cars ;] Virgil Ecl. VI. 3. Cynthius aurem Vellit et admonuit. With golden foil doth finely overfpread Some bafer metal &c. 85. O fountain Arethufe, &c.] Now Phoebus, whofe ftrain was of a higher mood, has done fpeak And liftens to the herald of the fea That came in Neptune's plea ; He afk'd the waves, and afk'd the fellon winds, That blows from off each beaked promontory; And fage Hippotades their anfwer brings, That not a blaft was from his dungeon ftray'd, 95 100 Built Built in th' eclipfe, and rigg'd with curses dark, Next Camus, reverend fire, went footing flow, 101. Built in th'eclipfe, &c.] Horace fpeaks much in the fame fpirit concerning the tree by whofe fall he was in danger of being kill'd. Od. II. XIII. 1. Ille et nefafto te pofuit die &c. To this fhip may be justly applied that which Horace fays of another. Epod. X. 1. Mala foluta navis exit alite. And the misfortune is afcribed to the hip according to the Latin infcription at the beginning of the poem, →→→→→ navi in fcopulum allifa, et rimis et ictu fatifcente 103. Next Camus, reverend fire, &c] The river Cam is fitly introduc'd upon this occafion, and is called reverend fire, as both Mr. King and Milton were educated at Cambridge; and is defcribed according to the nature of that river. Went footing flow, as it is a gentle wincing fream, according to Cam The den, who fays the British word Cam fignifies crooked. It abounds too with reeds and fedge, for which reason his mantle is hairy, and his bonnet fedge, which as a teftimony of his grief and mourning was inwrought with figures dim, and on the edge like to a hyacinth, that fanguin flow'r as it fprung according to the poets from the blood of the boy Hyacinthus or of Ajax, inferib'd with woe as the leaves were imagin'd to be mark'd with the mournful letters A A. For thefe particulars you may confult the poets, and especially Ovid, who thus defcribes the form of the flower. Met. X. 210. Ecce cruor, qui fufus humi fig. Flos oritur, formamque capit, Non The pilot of the Galilean lake, Two maffy keys he bore of metals twain, (The golden opes, the iron fhuts amain) He fhook his miter'd locks, and ftern befpake, How well could I have fpar'd for thee, young fwain, Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold? 115 Than have allow'd him a very few years afterwards. See his treatife of Prelatical Epifcopacy. Richardson. It feems fomewhat extraordinary to introduce St Peter after Apollo, Triton &c, a Chriftian bishop among Heathen deities; but here Milton's imagination was dazled, his tafte corrupted, and his judg ment perverted by reading the Italian poets. 112. He shook his miter'd locks, ] It is much that this inveterate enemy of prelacy would allow Peter to be a bishop. But the whole circumftance is taken from the Italian fatirifts. Befides I suppose he thought it fharpen'd his fatire to have the prelacy condemn'd by one of their own order. Warburten. 114. Enow of fuch &c] As Milton has frequently imitated his mafter Spenfer in this poem, fo in this place particularly he has had an eye to Spenfer's invectives againit the corruptions of the clergy in his fifth, seventh, and ninth Eclogues. 119. Blind 0 3 |