And, when they list, their lean and flashy songs Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw; The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
But, swoln with wind and the rank mist they
With eager thought warbling his Doric lay t And now the Sun had stretch'd out all the hills, And now was dropt into the western bay: At last he rose, and twitch'd his mantle blue: To morrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread: Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw Daily devours apace, and nothing sed : But that two-handed engine at the door Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more."
ORIGINAL VARIOUS READINGS OF LYCIDAS, From Milton's MS, in his own hand.
Return, Alpheus, the dread voice is past, That shrunk thy streams; return, Sicilian Muse, And call the vales, and bid them hither cast Their bells, and flowerets of a thousand hues. Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers use Of shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks, On whose fresh lap the swart-star sparely looks; Throw hither all your quaint enamell'd eyes, That on the green turf suck the honied showers, And purple all the ground with vernal flowers. Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies, 142 The tufted crow-toe, and pale jessamine,
The white pink, and the pansy freak'd with jet, The glowing violet,
The musk-rose, and the well-attir'd woodbine, With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, And every flower that sad embroidery wears: Bid amaranthus all his beauty shed, And daffadillies fill their cups with tears, To strew the laureat herse where Lycid lies. For, so to interpose a little ease,
Let our frail thoughts dally with false surmise; Ay me! whilst thee the shores and sounding seas Wash far away, where'er thy bones are hurl'd, Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides, Where thou perhaps, under the whelming tide, Visit'st the bottom of the monstrous world; Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied, Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old, 160 Where the great vision of the guarded mount Looks toward Namancos and Bayona's hold; • Look homeward, angel, now, and melt with ruth: And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth.
Ver. 58. What could the golden-hayrd Calliope For her inchaunting son, When she beheld (the gods far-sighted bee)
His goarie scalpe rowle downe the Thra- cian lee.
Here, after inchaunting son, occurs in the margin
Whome universal Nature might lament, And Heaven and Hel deplore,
When his divine head downe the streame was sent.
The line And Heaven, &c. is erased: divine head is also altered to divine visage, and afterwards to goary visage.
Ver. 69. Hid in the tangles, &c. Ver. 85. Oh fountain Arethuse, and, thou smooth.
Weep no more, woful shepherds, weep no
For Lycidas your sorrow is not dead, Sunk though he be beneath the watery floor; So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed,
And yet anon repairs his drooping head,
Ver. 129. Daily devours apace, and little sed. Nothing is erased.
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky:
So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high,
And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore Ver. 138. On whose fresh lap the swart star stint
Through the dear might of him that walk'd the
Where, other groves and other streams along, With nectar pure his oozy locks he laves, And hears the unexpressive nuptial song, In the blest kingdoms meek of joy and love. There entertain him all the saints above, In solemn troops, and sweet societies, That sing, and, singing in their glory, move, And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes. Now, Lycidas, the shepherds weep no more; 180 Henceforth thou art the genius of the shore, In thy large recompense, and shalt be good To all that wander in that perilous flood.
Thus sang the uncouth swain to the oaks and rills,
While the still Morn went out with sandals gray; He touch'd the tender stops of various quills,
Ver. 142. Bring the rathe primrose that unwed
present, altered from garish columbine; and sad embroidery, an alteration of sad escocheon, instead of sorrow's liverie.
Ver. 153. Let our sad thought, &c.
Ver. 154. Ay mee, whilst thee the floods and | sounding seas.
Ver. 160. Sleep'st by the fable of Corineus old. But Bellerus is a correction.'
Ver. 176. Listening the unexpressive nuptial song.
HENCE, loathed Melancholy,
Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born,
In Stygian cave forlorn,
Oft listening how the hounds and horn Cheerly rouse the slumbering Morn, From the side of some hoar hill, Through the high wood echoing shrill : Some time walking, not unseen, By hedge-row elms, on hillocks green, Right against the eastern-gate Where the great Sun begins his state, Rob'd in flames, and amber light, The clouds in thousand liveries dight; While the ploughman, near at hand, Whistles o'er the furrow'd land, And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower whets his sithe, And every shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale.
Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures, Whilst the landscape round it measures; Russet lawns, and fallows gray,
'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights Where the nibbling flocks do stray;
unholy! Find out some uncouth cell,
Mountains, on whose barren breast, The labouring clouds do often rest;
Where brooding Darkness sads his jealous Meadows trim with daisies pide,
And the night-raven sings; There under ebon shades, and low-brow'd
As ragged as thy locks,
In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. But come, thou goddess fair and free, In Heaven yclep'd Euphrosyne, And by men, heart-easing Mirth; Whom lovely Venus, at a birth, With two sister Graces more, To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore: Or whether (as some sager sing) The frolic wind, that breathes the spring, Zephyr, with Aurora playing, As he met her once a-maying; There on beds of violets blue, And fresh-blown roses wash'd in dew, Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair, So buxom, blithe, and debonair.
Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee Jest, and youthful Jollity, Quips, and Cranks, and wanton Wiles, Nods, and Becks, and wreathed Smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek; Sport that wrinkled Care derides, And Laughter holding both his sides, Come, and tripit, as you go,
On the light fantastic toe; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty; And, if I give thee honour due, Mirth, admit me of thy crew, To live with her, and live with thee, In unreproved pleasures free; To hear the lark begin his flight, And singing startle the dull Night, From his watch-tower in the skies, Till the dappled Dawn doth rise; Then to come, in spite of sorrow, And at my window bid good morrow, Through the sweet-briar, or the vine, Or the twisted eglantine: While the cock, with lively din, Scatters the rear of Darkness thin. And to the stack, or the barn-door, Stoutly struts his dames before:
Shallow brooks, and rivers wide: Towers and battlements it sees Bosom'd high in tufted trees, Where perhaps some beauty lies, The Cynosure of neighbouring eyes. Hard by, a cottage chimney smoaks, From betwixt two aged oaks, Where Corydon and Thyrsis, met, Are at their savoury dinner set Of herbs, and other country messes, Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses; And then in haste her bower she leaves, With Thestylis to bind the sheaves ; Or, if the earlier season lead, To the tann'd haycock in the mead.. Sometimes with secure delight The upland hamlets will invite, When the merry bells ring round, And the jocund rebecks sound To many a youth, and many a maid, Dancing in the chequer'd shade; And young and old come forth to play On a sun-shine holy-day, Till the live-long day-light fail: Then to the spicy nut-brown ale, With stories told of many a feat, How faery Mab the junkets eat; She was pinch'd, and pull'd, she sed; And he, by friars lantern led, Tells how the drudging goblin swet, To earn his cream-bowl duly set, When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, His shadowy flail hath thresh'd the corn, That ten day-labourers could not end; Then lies him down the lubbar fiend, And, stretch'd out all the chimney's length, Basks at the fire his hairy strength; And crop-full out of doors he flings, Ere the first cock his matin rings. Thus done the tales, to bed they creep, By whispering winds soon lull'd asleep. Tower'd cities please us then, And the busy hum of men, Where throngs of knights and barons bold, In weeds of peace, high triumphs hold, With store of ladies, whose bright eyes Rain influence, and judge the prize
Of wit, or arms, while both contend To win her grace, whom all commend.
There let Hymen oft appear
In saffron robe, with taper clear, And pomp, and feast, and revelry, With mask, and antique pageantry; Such sights as youthful poets dream On summer eves by haunted stream. Then to the well-trod stage anon, If Jonson's learned sock be on, Or sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child, Warble his native wood-notes wild.
And ever, against eating cares, Lap me in soft Lydian airs, Married to immortal verse; Such as the meeting soul may pierce, In notes, with many a winding bout Of linked sweetness long drawn out, With wanton heed and giddy cunning; The melting voice through mazes running, Untwisting all the chains that tie The hidden soul of harmony; That Orpheus' self may heave his head From golden slumber on a bed
Of heap'd Elysian flowers, and hear Such strains as would have won the ear Of Pluto, to have quite set free His half-regain'd Eurydice.
These delights if thou canst give, Mirth, with thee I mean to live.
IL PENSEROSO.
HENCE, vain deluding Joys, The brood of Folly without father bred ! How little you bested,
Or fill the fixed mind with all your toys! Dwell in some idle brain,
And fancies fond with gaudy shapes possess, As thick and numberless
As the gay motes that people the sun-beams; Or likest hovering dreams,
The fickle pensioners of Morpheus' train. But hail, thou goddess, sage and holy, Hail, divinest Melancholy! Whose saintly visage is too bright To hit the sense of human sight, And therefore to our weaker view O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue; Black, but such as ir esteem Prince Memnon's sister might beseem, Or that starr'd Ethiop queen that strove To set her beauty's praise above
The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended: Yet thou art higher far descended: Thee bright-hair'd Vesta, long of yore, To solitary Saturn bore;
His daughter she; in Saturn's reign, Such mixture was not held a stain: Oft in glimmering bowers and glades He met her, and in secret shades Of woody Ida's inmost grove, Whilst yet there was no fear of Jove. Come, pensive Nun, devout and pure, Sober, stedfast, and demure, All in a robe of darkest grain, Flowing with majestic train,
And sable stole of Cyprus lawn, Over thy decent shoulders drawn. Come, but keep thy wonted state, With even step, and musing gait; And looks commércing with the skies, Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes: There, held in holy passion still, Forget thyself to marble, till With a sad leaden downward cast Thou fix them on the earth as fast: And join with thee calm Peace, and Quiet, Spare Fast, that oft with gods doth diet, And hears the Muses in a ring Aye round about Jove's altar sing: And add to these retired Leisure, That in trim gardens takes his pleasure: But first, and chiefest, with thee bring, Him that yon soars on golden wing, Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne, The cherub Contemplation; And the mute Silence hist along, '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 accustom'd 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 bow'd, Stooping through a fleecy cloud. Oft, on a plat of rising ground, I hear the far-off Curfeu sound, Over some wide-water'd shore, Swinging slow with sullen roar: Or, if the air will not permit, Some still removed place will fit, Where glowing embers through theroom Teach light to counterfeit a gloom; Far from all resort of mirth, Save the cricket on the hearth, Or the belman'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 out-watch 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 scepter'd pall come sweeping by, Presenting Thebes, or Pelops' line, Or the tale of Troy divine; Or what (though rare) of later age Ennobled hath the buskin'd 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 Canace to wife,
That own'd the virtuous ring and glass; And of the wonderous 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 turneys, 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 trick'd and frounc'd as she was wont With the Attic boy to hunt, But kercheft in a comely cloud, While rocking winds are piping loud, Or usher'd with a shower still, When the gust hath blown his fill, Ending on the russling leaves, With minute drops from off the eaves. And, when the Sun begins to fling His flaring beams, me, goddess, bring To arched walks of twilight groves, And shadows brown, that Sylvan loves, Of pine, or monumental oak,
Where the rude axe, with heaved stroke, Was never heard the nymphs to daunt, Or fright them from their hallow'd 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 honied thigh, That at her flowery work doth sing, And the waters murmuring,
With such consort as they keep, Entice the dewy feather'd Sleep; And let some strange mysterious dream Wave at his wings in aery stream Of lively portraiture display'd, Softly on my eye-lids laid. And, as I wake, sweet music breathe Above, about, or underneath, Sent by some spirit to mortal good, Or the unseen genius of the wood.
But let my due feet never fail To walk the studious cloysters pale, And love the high-embowed roof, With antic pillars massy proof, And storied windows richly dight, Casting a dim religious light: There let the pealing organ blow, To the full-voic'd quire below,
In service high and anthems clear, As may with sweetness, through mine ear, Dissolve me into ecstasies,
And bring all Heaven before mine eyes.
And may at last my weary age Find out the peaceful hermitage, The hairy gown and mossy cell, Where I may sit and rightly spell Of every star that Heaven doth shew, And every herb that sips the dew; Till old experience do attain To something like prophetic strain.
These pleasures, Melancholy, give, And I with thee will choose to live.
Entertainment presented to the countess Dowager of Derby at Harefield, by some noble persons of her family; who appear on the scene in pastoral habit, moving toward the seat of state, with this song.
[UNQUESTIONABLY this mask was a much longer performance. Milton seems only to have written the poetical part, consisting of these three songs and the recitative soliloquy of the Genius. The rest was probably prose and machinery. In many of Jonson's masques, the poet but rarely appears, amidst a cumbersome exhibition of heathen gods and mythology.
Alice, countess dowager of Derby, married Ferdinando lord Strange; who on the death of his father Henry, in 1594, became earl of Derby, but died the next year. She was the sixth daughter of sir John Spenser of Althorpe in Northamptonshire. She was afterwards married (in 1600) to lord chancellor Egerton, who died in 1617. She died Jan. 26, 1635-6, and was buried at Harefield.]
Fame, that, her high worth to raise, Seem'd erst so lavish and profuse, We may justly now accuse Of detraction from her praise;
Less than half we find exprest, Envy bid conceal the rest.
Mark, what radiant state she spreads, In circle round her shining throne, Shooting her beams like silver threads ; This, this is she alone,
Sitting like a goddess bright, In the centre of her light.
Might she the wise Latona be, Or the tower'd Cybele
Mother of a hundred gods > Juno dares not give her odds:
Who had thought this clime had held
A deity so unparallel'd?
As they come forward the Genius of the wood ap
pears, and turning towards them speaks.
Stay, gentle swains; for, though in this disguise,
I see bright honour sparkle through your eyes;
I will bring you where she sits;
30 Clad in splendour as befits
Of famous Arcardy ye are, and sprung Of that renowned flood, so often sung, Divine Alphéus, who by secret sluce Stole under seas to meet his Arethuse; And ye, the breathing roses of the wood, Fair silver-buskin'd nymphs, as great and good; I know, this quest of yours, and free intent, Was all in honour and devotion meant To the great mistress of yon princely shrine, Whom with low reverence I adore as mine; And, with all helpful service, will comply To further this night's glad solemnity; And lead ye, where ye may more near behold 40 What shallow-searching Fame hath left untold; Which I full oft, amidst these shades alone, Have sat to wonder at, and gaze upon: For know, by lot from Jove I am the power Of this fair wood, and live in oaken bower, To nurse the sapplings tall, and curl the grove With ringlets quaint, and wanton windings wove. And all my plants I save from nightly ill Of noisome winds, and blasting vapours chill : And from the boughs brush off the evil dew, 50 And heal the harms of thwarting thunder blue, Or what the cross dire-looking planet smites, Or hurtful worm with canker'd venom bites. When Evening grey doth rise, I fetch my round Over the mount, and all this hallow'd ground; And early, ere the odorous breath of Morn Awakes the slumbering leaves, or tassel'd horn Shakes the high thicket, haste I all about, Number my ranks, and visit every sprout With puissant words, and murmurs made to
But else in deep of night, when drowsiness Hath lock'd up mortal sense, then listen I To the celestial Syrens' harmony, That sit upon the nine infolded spheres, And sing to those that hold the vital shears, And turn the adamantine spindle round, On which the fate of gods and men is wound. Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie, To lull the daughters of Necessity, And keep unsteady Nature to her law, And the low world in measur'd motion draw After the heavenly tune, which none can hear, Of human mould, with gross unpurged ear; And yet such music worthiest were to blaze The peerless height of her immortal praise, Whose lustre leads us, and for her most fit, If my inferior hand or voice could hit Inimitable sounds: yet, as we go, Whate'er the skill of lesser gods can show, I will assay, her worth to celebrate, And so attend ye toward her glittering state; Where ye may all, that are of noble stem, Approach, and kiss her sacred vesture's hem.
O'er the smooth enamell'd green Where no print of step hath been, Follow me, as I sing And touch the warbled string,
Under the shady roof
Of branching elm star-proof.
Now seems guiltie of abuse And detraction from her praise, Lesse than halfe she hath exprest: Envie bid her hide the rest.
is erased, and conceale written over it. Seated like a goddess bright. also expunged, and sitting supplied.
Ver. 23. Ceres dares not give her odds: Who would have thought, &c. Both these readings are erased, and Juno and had, as the printed copies now read, are written over them.
Ver. 41. Those virtues which dull Fame, &c. This likewise is expunged, and What shallow is
Ver. 44. For know, by lot from Jove I have the power.
Here again the pen is drawn through have, and am is written over it.
Ver. 47. In ringlets quaint.
But With is Ver. 49. pours chill.
placed over In expunged.
Of noisome winds, or blasting va
Ver. 50. And from the leaves brush off, &c. 80 So it was at first. But the pen is drawn through leaves, and bowės supplied.
Ver. 52. Or what the crosse, &c. It was at first And, as in the printed copies; but that is erased, and Or substituted.
Ver. 59. And number all my ranks, and every sprout.
Here And and all are expunged with the pen, and visit, as in the printed copies, completes the line.
Ver. 62. Hath chain'd mortalitie.
This also is erased, and lockt up mortal sense writ ten over it. Ver. 81. Ver 91 I will bring ye where she sits.
And so attend you toward &c.
« PreviousContinue » |