Which God hath in his mighty angels placed !) Of pleasure, situate in hill and dale), Light as the lightning glimpse they ran, they flew ; 640 645 When, coming towards them, so dread they saw Till on those cursèd engines' triple row 650 They saw them whelmed, and all their confidence Under the weight of mountains buried deep, Themselves invaded next, and on their heads 654 Came shadowing, and oppressed whole legions armed. Their armour helped their harm, crushed in and bruised, Into their substance pent, which wrought them pain Implacable, and many a dolorous groan, Long struggling underneath, ere they could wind 660 Betook them, and the neighbouring hills uptore: Hurled to and fro with jaculation dire, 665 That underground they fought in dismal shade: M 670 675 Upon his enemies, and to declare All power on him transferred. [The Son of God now goes forth and drives the enemy out of heaven.] 641. Situate. Cf. 'uplift' (i. 193). 642. Cf. Ezekiel i. 14. ... ... NOTES. their. 643-4. Their they The same pron. has two distinct references here, and also further down. See Bain's Companion to the Higher Grammar, pages 50-1. 651. Whelmed, thrown so as to over whelm.Confidence. Abstract for concrete: 'the engines that they confided in.' Cf. 'weight of mountains' (652). 653. Invaded, lit. gone towards or against; hence, assailed. 654. Main, mighty; promontories in their whole mass or bulk. 655. Oppressed, lit. pressed upon or down. 656. Armour ... harm. Cf. Par. Re gained, iv. 434, note. And Spenser, Faery Queen, I. xi. 27: "That erst him goodly armed, now most of all him harmed.' 665. Jaculation, throwing, darting, hurling. Lat. jaculationem, from jaculor (throw the javelin-jaculum), from jacio (throw). 666. That so that.Underground, under the hills that were hurled through the air. Cf. 'infernal noise' (667). 668. Confusion, Lat. con-fusionem (pour ing together), from fusum (to pour). 669. And now &c. Cf. Hom. II. viii. 130. 674. Advised, resolved after due consideration, with deliberate intention. A FOUL NIGHT. (From Paradise Regained, Book IV.) [Satan has shewn the Son of God all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them-in vain; and has taken him back to the wilderness. The Saviour is wearied, hungry, and cold; and when he tries to sleep, the tempter disturbs him with ugly dreams.] And either tropic now 'Gan thunder, and both ends of heaven; the clouds, 411 Within their stony caves, but rushed abroad 415 420 Unshaken! Nor yet stayed the terror there : Environed thee; some howled, some yelled, some shrieked, NOTES. 409-425. One may compare this passage, without fear of ridicule or reprehension, to the noblest in the nobler poem' (Paradise Lost). 'No such poetry as this has been written since, and little at any time before' (Landor), 409. Either, the one and the other, separately regarded; each of two: not, as usual, one to the exclusion of the other. Cf. Paradise Lost, ii. 648-9: 'Before the gates there sat On either side a formidable shape.' Either tropic generally both north and south. The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are two lines parallel to the (celestial) equator, the first very nearly 23 deg. N. of it, the second very nearly 231 deg. S. of it. "Tropic' is from Gr. tropikos (belonging to a turn or turning): the lines mark the (apparent) turningpoints of the sun; in his (apparent) course, he is never right above the earth at any point beyond them. The Tropics take name from the constellations, Cancer and Capricornus, in which the sun is when he appears to turn in his course. 410. Both ends of heaven, both east and west. 411. Rift, fissure, cleft, opening made by riving or splitting.- -Abortive, lit. born prematurely. Lat. abortivus, from ab (from) and ortus (rising, born); arising from its source, and always 'too soon; hence premature, and not effective. Here the ideas * 425 of suddenness, unpreparedness, and confusion are prominent. 413. Ruin. See iv. 436, note. 414. Caves. In Homer, Æŏlus is king of an island-Lipăra (mod. Lipari), or Strongyle (mod. Stromboli), N.E. of Sicily-with dominion over the winds. In later times, he is god and king of the winds, which he keeps confined in a mountain, in the Æolian (or Lipari) Islands. Cf. Vergil, Æn. i. 52 and foll. 415. Hinges, cardinal (or principal) points of the compass-N., E., S., W. 'Cardinal' is Lat. cardinalis, from cardo (gen. cardinis), a hinge-what a door (or any matter) turns on. 417. Deep as high. Here is 'attributed to the pine what belongs to the oak. The tallest pines have superficial roots; they certainly are never deep as high: oaks are said to be; and if the saying is not phytologically true, it is poetically' (Landor). The poet may have had his eye on Vergil, Æn. iv. 445. 419. Sheer, straight, right up. Shrouded, sheltered, protected. In old English, 'shrouds' are rough clothes. Cf. Langley, Piers the Plowman, Prol. 2-3: 'I shope* me in shroudës, ast I a shepet werë, In habite as an heremite,ll unholy of workës.' The 'shrouds' of old St Paul's Cathedral sheltered Paul's Cross preachers and hearers in bad weather; they were awnings cr Shaped, put, arrayed. † As (if). Sheep. Habit, dress. Hermit, eremite. coverings by the side of the building. 420. Only. In prose, one would prefer 'alone.' It is an adjunct to 'thou,' 'thou only,' 'thou alone.'-Stood'st. In 425 is 'sat'st.' Landor calls this 'a small oversight.' 423. Environed,' surrounded, encompassed. Fr. environ (about, around), from en (in), and O. Fr. viron, a noun from virer (to veer, turn about). 425. Fine contrast. A FAIR MORNING. (From Paradise Regained, Book IV.) Thus passed the night so foul, till Morning fair up Cleared their choicest notes in bush and spray, NOTES. 427. Pilgrim steps. The progress of day is represented as a pilgrimage. 'Pilgrim' is Fr. pélerin, from Lat. peregrinus (foreigner), from per (through) and ager (territory).Amice, an oblong cloth tied about the neck of a Roman Catholic priest, and hanging down behind. From Lat. amictus (outer garment), from amicio (to wrap about), probably from am (about) and jacio (to throw). 428. Radiant finger, streaks of dawn. 'Radiant,' sending forth rays or beams of light: Lat. radiantem, participle of radio, from radius (staff, rod, ray); 'whence Fr. raie and our ray. Cf. Homer's 'rosyfingered morn.' 430. Grisly, frightful, hideous: from old agrisan (to agrise, to dread or 430 435 frighten greatly).-Spectres, appa ritions, phantoms: Lat. spectrum, from specio (to see). Fiend, old feond, foe, hater: from old feon, fian, to hate. Cf. 'friend,' old freond, from freon, to love. The Fiend is the universal foe and archhater, Satan. 432-8. Cf. Spenser, Sonnet xl. (p 107). 434. Drooping and dropping. Milton has also 'beseeching or besieging,'' at one slight bound high overleapt all bound,' 'and brought into the world a world of woe,' 'lest I should be condemned of introducing license, while I oppose Licensing' (Areop.), &c. Addison (Spectator, No. 297) notes it as 'a fault in his language,' 'that he often affects a kind of jingle in his words'-as in these examples. In the face of high authority, Addison thinks 'it is in itself poor and trifling.' 435. Who. Observe the relative: 'the birds, who' 436. Ruinous, lit. tending to ruin, falling headlong. 'Ruin' is Fr. ruine, Lat. ruina, from ruo (to rush or tumble down). The reference here is to the wild downpour during the night. (See lines 410-3). When Satan was hurled headlong down from heaven, it was said to be 'with hideous ruin' (Par. Lost, i. 46). 438. Gratulate, congratulate, greet with joy, manifest gladness at: Lat. gratulor, from gratus (causing or feeling joy). Write in prose the contrast in these last two extracts. ABRAHAM COWLEY.-1618-1667. ABRAHAM COWLEY was born in London, and educated at Westminster School, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. Driven from Cambridge by the Puritan visitors in 1643, he took refuge in Oxford; and 'when Oxford was surrendered to the Parliament, he followed the queen to Paris, where he became secretary to the Lord Jermyn, afterwards Earl of St Albans, and was employed in such correspondence as the royal cause required, and particularly in ciphering and deciphering the letters that passed between the king and queen." After being twelve years abroad, he returned (1656), and took to studying medicine. At the Restoration (1660), he was rewarded with the free lease of lands yielding three hundred pounds a year, and retired to live at Chertsey. His early 'prophecy against himself,' which he calls 'a shrewd' one, was tolerably obvious and safe: 'Thou neither great at court, nor in the war, Nor at the exchange shalt be, nor at the wrangling bar.' The Davideis, an epic poem, was almost finished while he was yet a student at Cambridge. The Anacreontics, free translations from the Greek of Anacreon, shew some of his finest work. The Pindaric Odes are the most important of his other pieces in verse. Dr Johnson considers him undoubtedly the best' of the 'metaphysical' or 'fantastic' poets. (See, below, Samuel Johnson.) The chief part of his prose is contained in about a dozen Essays, which are interspersed with verse. 'A little tomb of marble' seemed to him a better monument than a vast heap of stones and rubbish.' 'Forgot his Epic, nay Pindaric, art; But still I love the language of his heart.' (Pope.) LOT'S WIFE. (From the Davideis, Book III.) Afar old Lot toward little Zoar hies, And dares not move (goo1 man!) his weeping eyes. |