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Mean, or in her fumm'd up, in her contain'd
And in her looks, which from that time infus'd
Sweetness into my heart, unfelt before,

And into all things from her air inspir'd
The spirit of love and amorous delight.

She disappear'd, and left me dark; I wak'd
To find her, or for ever to deplore

475

Her lofs, and other pleasures all abjure:

480

When out of hope, behold her, not far off,
Such as I faw her in my dream, adorn'd
With what all Earth or Heaven could bestow
To make her amiable: On she came,

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The very fame compliment Marino
pays to the three Goddeffes, when
they defcended upon mount Ida to
present themselves before Paris,

Ne prefente vi fu crearà cofa,
Che non fentafe in sè forza amorofa.

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478. She disappear'd, and left me

dark, Sue that was my light vanish'd, and left me dark and comfortiefs. For light is in almoft all languages a metaphor for joy and comfort, and darkness for the contrary. As Dr. Pearce obferves, it is fomething of the fame way of thinking that Milton ufes in his having defcribed her as appearing to Sonnet on his deceas'd wife; after him, he fays.

Adone. Cant. 2 St. 125 The l'alian poet, with a furprifing redundancy of fancy and beauty of expreflion, carries on and explains the fame thought for fix flanzes together, but the graver turn of our 48: Led by her beav'nly Maker,] author's poem, and the divine cha- For the Scripture fays, Gen. II. 22.

She fled, and day brought back my night.

that

Led by her heav'nly Maker, though unseen,
And guided by his voice, nor uninform'd
Of nuptial fanctity and marriage rites:

Grace was in all her steps, Heav'n in her eye,
In every gefture dignity and love.

I overjoy'd could not forbear aloud.

485

490

This turn hath made amends; thou haft fulfill'd

i Thy words, Creator bounteous and benign,
Giver of all things fair, but faireft this

Of all thy gifts, nor envieft. I now see
Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, myself
Before me; Woman is her name, of Man

that the Lord God brought her unto the Man; and our author still allud ing to this text fays afterwards, ver. 500. that he was divinely brought.

488. — Heav'n in her eye,] Give me leave to quote a paffage from Shakefpear's Troilus, which feems to have been in our author's view. A& IV.

Diom Lady Creffid, So please you, fave the thanks this prince expects: The luftre in your eye, Heav'n in your cheek, Pleads your fair usage.

494- nor envieft.] The verb enviet is join'd in conftruction to tbou baft fulfill'd: There is then no fuch loofe fyntax here, as Dr. Bent ley imagins: nor will the words nor

495

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Extracted; for this cause he shall forgo

Father and mother, and to' his wife adhere;
And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one soul.
She heard me thus, and though divinely brought,
Yet innocence and virgin modefty,

Her virtue and the confcience of her worth,

501

That would be woo'd, and not unfought be won, Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retir'd,

The more defirable, or to say all,

that he was not only afleep, but intranc'd too, by which he faw all that was done to him, and underfood the mystery of it, God informing his understanding in his ecftafy. Hume.

498 and to his wife adhere:] Adhærebit uxori fuæ, as it is in the vulgar Latin; fhall cleave unto his wife, fays the English Bible But we will fet down the whole paffage in Genefis at length, that the reader may compare it with our author. Gen. II. 23, 24. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and fief of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because he was taken out of Man. Therefore fhall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto bis wife; and they shall be one fefb. How has Milton improv'd upon the laft words, and they shall be one flesh;

and what an admirable climax has he form'd ?

And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one foul.

505 Nature

And by the way we may observe, that there may be great force and beauty in a verfe, that confifls all of monofyllables. It is true indeed that

ten low words oft creep in one dull line:

but there are feveral monofyllable verfes in Milton as ftrong and fublime, as beautiful and harmonious, as can poffibly be written. No number of fyllables can equal the force of these monofyllables, II. 621. and 950.

Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and fhades of death. And swims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.

And abundance of other inftances might eafily be cited. And certainly much to the ftrength and concifenefs monofyllables ufed properly add of our language.

502. Her virtue and the confcience of her worth,] Dr. Bentley

proposes to read,

Her

Nature herself, though pure of finful thought,
Wrought in her fo, that feeing me, she turn'd;
I follow'd her, the what was honor knew,
And with obfequious majesty approv'd
My pleaded reason. To the nuptial bower

I led her blushing like the morn: all Heaven,
And happy conftellations on that hour
Shed their selecteft influence; the earth
: Gave fign of gratulation, and each hill;

510

Joyous

Her virtue and her consciousness of nature. We mention this because

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Joyous the birds; fresh gales and gentle airs
Whisper'd it to the woods, and from their wings
Flung rofe, flung odors from the spicy shrub,
Difporting, till the amorous bird of night
Sung fpoufal, and bid haste the evening star
On his hill top, to light the bridal lamp.
Thus have I told thee all my state, and brought
My story to the fum of earthly blifs

-Glad earth perceives, and from her bofom pours

Unbidden herbs, and voluntary
flow'rs

There golden clouds conceal the
heav'nly pair,
Steep'd in foft joys, and circumfus'd

with air;

Celestial dews, defcending o'er the ground,

Perfume the mount, and breathe

Ambrofia round. Pope. But Milton has greatly improv'd this, as he improves every thing, in the imitation. In all his copies of the beautiful paffages of other authors he fudioully varies and difguiles them, the better to give himself the air of an original, and to make by his additions and improvements what he borrowed the more fairly his own; the only regular wey of acquiring a property in thoughts taken from other writers, if we may believe Horace, whofe laws in poetry are of undoubted authority. De Art.

Poet. 131

Publica materies privati juris erit, fi

515

520

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519. and bid hafte the evening ftar

On his bill top, to light the bridal

to light the bridal lamp, as it was lamp. The evening far is faid the fignal among the ancients to light their lamps and torches in or

der

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