Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/429

 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

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��88-91. Nor of less faith = as faithful in ser- vice as he is skilful in song. " lu this office, etc., means, " by reason of his office as guardian of the mountain he is the most likely person to be at hand in the present emergency.

93-99. The time indicated seems to be mid- night, but the details are not easy to explain. If the "folding-star" is Vesper, the evening- star, it would not " hold the top of heaven," but be below the horizon. The " car of day " would not be just queuching its axle in the At- lantic, but would be at the antipodes. Perhaps the folding-star is merely the first star seen in the east, which would be in the zenith at mid- night. ''The slope sun," etc., refers to the cone of shadow which the earth throws outward from the sun ; at midnight the point of this cone would be in the zenith.

116. Wavering morrice ; the morrice or morris was a very popular old dance brought from Spain ; the word is a corruption of " Moorish."

12! i. Dark-veiled Cotytto; a Thracian god- dess, whose worship was introduced into several Greek states. Her rites were celebrated with great licentiousness.

l.'U, 135. The connection of Cotytto with Hec- ate Milton makes on his own responsibility. The masque-writers allowed themselves great liberties in dealing with the classical mythol- ogy.

139. Nice; over-fastidious, squeamish.

140. Cabined loop-hole ; the first rift in the clouds, through which the dawn-light streams.

151. Trains; tricks, allurements.

154. Spongy air; spongy, as soaking up the spells.

157. Quaint habits ; fantastic garments. This is one of the few cases in Milton where "quaint " has almost its modern meaning.

167. Gear = business ; originally, tackle.

189. Sad votarist in palmer's weed. Votarist = one who has taken a vow to go on pilgrim- age ; palmer's weed the long dark robe of the pilgrim to the Holy Land, who, after accom- plishing his pilgrimage, might bear a palm- branch as a token. ''Sad " = serious, solemn.

231. Airy shell; the surrounding air, con- ceived of as a hollow containing vessel.

_'"'_'. Mmnder's^ margent green; Keightley suggests that this river of Asia Minor was se- lected as a haunt for Echo because of its wind- ings, which would correspond to the replications of echoing sound.

-'<~. Narcissus; Echo, in love with Narcis- sus, pined away until only her voice was left ; in punishment of his hard-heartedness, he was made to fall in love with his own reflection in a brook.

241. Daughter of the Sphere; cf. At a Solemn Music, " sphere-born harmonious Sisters, Voice and Verse.''

251, 252. A forced and rather tasteless figure, which has been nevertheless much admired.

5J '. Milton mixes mythological personages here with a reckless hand. The island of the Sirens Odysseus passed after leaving Circe. Be- ing previously warned by her, he bade his sailors

��put wax in their ears so that they might not hear the singing: he himself listened, bound to the mast. Scylla and Charybdis were much too far away from the Sirens' Isle to hear their singing. Although Circe has in Homer nothing to do with the Sirens, Veritv notes that they are associated in the Inner Temple Masque of William Browne, which Milton had read. In the Odyssey, Circe is waited upon by four nymphs of wood and water.

277-21H). This kind of dialogue, called in Greek cm.xoii.v0ia., is employed by all the Greek dramatists, especially Sophocles.

2^7. Imports their loss, etc. ; i. e., Is their loss of importance to you, aside from your pre- sent need of them ?

293. ^irinfced ; wearied, from Anglo-Saxon sirincan. to labor.

_'!>"- .'><>4. A compliment to the two boys, Lord Brackley and Mr. Thomas Egerton, who were about to enter. One of the chief duties of the masque-writer was to bestow compliments upon the distinguished personages who took part in the presentation.

31 '.'>. Bosky bourn = burn, or brook, with banks covered with bushes and trees. Bourn, mean- ing limits or boundary, is another word.

315. Stray attendance ; strayed attendants.

329. 330. Square my trial, etc. ; i. e. make my trial proportionate to my strength.

332. Benison = benediction, blessing; hence, welfare.

341-342.

star of Arcady, Or Tyrian Cynosure.

Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, after being transformed to a she-bear by the jealousy of Juno, was placed by Jupiter in the sky as the constellation of the Great Bear (star of Arcady) ; Areas, her son, became the Lesser Bear. The Greek sailors steered by the first constellation, the Phoenicians by the second, whence it is called "Tyrian Cynosure." For Cynosure, see note to L' Allegro, 80. It there means " something gazed at by many people ; " here it has its original meaning.

349. Innumerous ; innumerable.

359. Over-exquisite ; super-subtle.

360. A metaphor from casting the horoscope in astrology.

369. Single want ; mere want.

375-380. Pattison calls attention to these lines as a description of Milton's life at Horton.

376. Seeks to ; resorts to.

378. Plumes = prunes.

380. The prefix in " to-ruffled " is intensive.

393-395. One of the labors of Hercules was to fetch the golden apples from the tree in the garden of the Hesperides, guarded by the dra- gon Ladon. Unenchanted = not to be en- chanted, proof against enchantment.

401. Danger will wink on Opportunity; " wink on " = shut the eye to, fail to see. We would look for some such word as "desire" in the place of " danger."

423. Unharbored ; offering no shelter or har- bor.

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