22. nun.

The word is here used in- | 27. decent, becoming (because cov

definitely to denote a pious re

cluse.

23. demure, grave.

24. grain, a shade of purple.

26. stole, veil or hood; not the stola proper, or long robe, of the Roman matrons.-Cypres (= Cyprus) lawn was a thin transparent texture of fine linen.1

1

Cypres is defined in an old English dictionary as a "fine linen, crespé;" and from crespé (= curled, crisped) come our crape and crêpe.

'Less Philomel will deign a song,
In her sweetest, saddest plight,

Smoothing the rugged brow of night,
While Cynthia checks her dragon yoke
Gently o'er the accustomed oak:

Sweet bird, that shunn'st the noise of folly,
Most musical, most melancholy!

Thee, chantress, oft, the woods among,

I woo, to hear thy even-song;

And, missing thee, I walk unseen
On the dry smooth-shaven green,
To behold the wandering moon
Riding near her highest noon,
Like one that had been led astray

Through the heaven's wide pathless way;
And oft, as if her head she bowed,
Stooping through a fleecy cloud.
Oft, on a plat of rising ground,
I hear the far-off curfew* sound
Over some wide-watered shore,
Swinging slow with sullen roar.
Or, if the air will not permit,
Some still, removéd place will fit,

Where glowing embers through the room

Teach light to counterfeit a gloom;

Far from all resort of mirth,

Save the cricket on the hearth,

47. 'Less unless ; Philomel, the 64. plat, plot; compare grass-plat.

nightingale.

50. Cynthia, the moon goddess; her dragon yoke: that is, her train drawn by dragons.

51. the accustomed oak. This seems

to refer to a particular land-
scape which Milton had in his
mind.

65. curfew, the curfew bell. See Glos-
sary, and compare with Gray's
Elegy, page 196 of this book.
66. Over some wide-watered shore: that
is, over some shore and the
wide piece of water (river or
lake) that borders it.

69. removéd, sequestered.

59. near her highest noon: that is, near- 73. save, except. This word is originally

ly full.

the imperative of the verb to save.

Or the bellman's drowsy charm,*
To bless the doors from nightly harm.
Or let my lamp, at midnight hour,
Be seen in some high lonely tower,
Where I may oft outwatch the Bear,
With thrice-great Hermes, or unsphere
The spirit of Plato to unfold

What worlds or what vast regions hold
The immortal mind, that hath forsook
Her mansion in this fleshly nook;
And of those demons that are found
In fire, air, flood, or under ground,
Whose power hath a true consent
With planet or with element.
Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy
In sceptred pall come sweeping by,
Presenting Thebes' or Pelops' line,
Or the tale of Troy divine;

75

80

85

90

74. bellman's drowsy charm: that is, the

watchman's drowsy song or

philosophers, was born B.C.

429.

chant. In the olden times in 86. consent, in the literal sense = sym

England, the watchmen, on their

rounds, called out the hours and

a blessing on the houses.

75. nightly by night.

pathy. The reference is to the mediæval doctrine of astrology.

89. In sceptred pall: that is, in royal robe.

78. outwatch the Bear. This would be 90. Thebes. By two Greek dramatists

all night, as the constellation of
the Bear never sets.

79. thrice-great Her'mes. Hermes, a
reputed divine personage, the
god Thoth of the Egyptians;
he was the author of the most
ancient Egyptian lore. "Thrice
great" as king, priest, and philos-

Thebes was made the scene of some of their most famous tragedies. The reference in "Pelops' line" is to the murder of Agamemnon, who was reputed a descendant of the mythic hero Pelops, and hence who was of Pelops' line," or race.

66

opher.unsphere, draw down: 91. the tale of Troy divine. The ref

the passage is metaphorical,
and means communion with the
spirit of Plato through the study
of his writings.

80. Plato, the sublimest of the Greek

erence here is not, as might be supposed, to Homer's Iliad, but to the various Greek dramas written on episodes in the "tale of Troy."

Or what (though rare) of later age
Ennobled hath the buskined stage.

But, O sad Virgin, that thy power
Might raise Musæus from his bower;
Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing

Such notes as, warbled to the string,
Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek,
And made Hell grant what love did seek;
Or call up him that left half told

The story of Cambuscan bold,
Of Camball, and of Algarsife,
And who had Canacé to wife,

That owned the virtuous ring and glass,
And of the wondrous horse of brass,
On which the Tartar king did ride;
And if aught else great bards beside
In sage and solemn tunes have sung,
Of tourneys and of trophies hung,
Of forests, and enchantments drear-
Where more is meant than meets the ear.

Thus, Night, oft see me in thy pale career,
Till civil-suited Morn appear;

Not tricked and frounced,* as she was wont
With the Attic boy to hunt,

93. the buskined stage: that is, Trage

dy's stage. The tragic actor

finished-not even "half told," for it is little more than begun.

wore a buskin, or high-heeled 106. the Tartar king: namely, Cambus. shoe. Contrast with "Jonson's

can (Cambus khan).

learned sock" in L'Allegro, line 107. great bards: to wit, poets of ro-
124.
The allusion in 92 and
mance, as Spenser, Tasso, Ari-
93 is thought to be to the trag-
osto, etc.
edies of Shakespeare.

95. Musse'us, a mythical Greek poet,

109. tourneys, tournaments.
III. Where: that is, in "the sage and
solemn tunes," or poems, of the
bards.

said to be the son of Orpheus. 96. Orpheus. See L'Allegro, line 137. 100. Or call up him that left half told. By "him" is meant Chaucer (A.D. 1328-1400). The Squire's Tale, in which figure Cambus- 115. the Attic boy. The allusion is to

can and the other personages
named, is left by Chaucer un-

113. civil-suited, sober-hued.
114. tricked, dressed out; frounced,
frizzled and curled.

Ceph'alus, who was beloved by
Eos, the goddess of the dawn.

ตะ

:00

105

110

115

But kerchiefed* in a comely cloud,
While rocking winds are piping loud;
Or ushered with a shower still,
When the gust hath blown his fill,
Ending on the rustling leaves,
With minute-drops from off the eaves.
And when the sun begins to fling
His flaring beams,* me, Goddess, bring
To archéd walks of twilight groves,
And shadows brown, that Sylvan loves,
Of pine, or monumental oak,

Where the rude axe, with heavéd stroke,
Was never heard the Nymphs to daunt,
Or fright them from their hallowed haunt.
There, in close covert by some brook,
Where no profaner eye may look,
Hide me from day's garish eye,
While the bee with honeyed thigh,
That at her flowery work doth sing,
And the waters murmuring,

With such consort as they keep,
Entice the dewy-feathered Sleep;

And let some strange mysterious dream
Wave at his wings in airy stream

Of lively portraiture displayed,
Softly on my eyelids laid.

120

125

130

135

140