Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/435

 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

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��of a dry and learned kind, always with refer- ences to his authorities running down the mar- gins of the pages. Prynne's want of ears and the labored margins of his pamphlets were subjects of popular jest ; but Milton had a spe- cial grudge against him on account of a refer- ence to himself in one of the ' marginal ' oddi- ties. It was clearly in good taste, however, to erase the allusion in the Sonnet, referring as it did to a cruelty unjustly endured, under a tyran- nical Government, by a brave, though thick- headed, man."

17. Baulk; pass over, spare ; an allusion to the punishment inflicted upon Prynne.

19. In your charge ; in the charge which will be brought against you.

20. New Presbyter is but old Priest writ large ; it is so etymologically, since " priest" is a con- traction of the Greek presbyteros.

Page 75. To MR. H. LAWES ON HIS AIRS.

Title. For an account of Lawes, see opening note to Comus.

1-4. A very precise and musicianly descrip- tion of Lawes's songs. He was content to make his music subordinate to the words, preserving their rhythm and accent with fidelity ; so that the poetry, not the music (very often a kind of recitative), was the chief element. This quality explains his great popularity with the poets of the period, many of whom, e. g. Herrick, Cart- wright, and Waller, had songs set to music by him.

4. Midas' 1 ears; Midas, king of Phrygia, serv- ing as judge between Apollo and Pan as to which were the better musician, gave the verdict to Pan, whereupon his ears were changed by Apollo into asses' ears.

4. Committing; matching.

11. Story; there is a specific reference here to a poem of Cartwright s. entitled The Cpm- plainte of Ariadne, which Lawes set to music.

12-14. " Dante, on his arrival in Purgatory, sees a vessel approaching the shore, freighted with souls under the conduct of an angel, to be cleansed from their sins and made fit for Para- dise. When they are disembarked the poet recognizes in the crowd his old friend Casella, the musician. In the course of an affectionate dialogue, the poet requests a soothing air ; and Casella sings Dante's second canzone [in the] Convito. . . . The Italian commentators say that Casella, Dante's friend, was a musician of distinguished excellence. He must have died a little before the year 1300." WARTON.

" ' If a new law takes not away from thee memory or use in the amorous chant which was wont to quiet all my wishes, let it please thee therewith to comfort somewhat my soul, which coming here with its body is so wearied.' Love, which discourses in my mind to me, then began he so sweetly, that the sweetness yet sounds within me. My Master [Virgil], and I, and that folk who were with him appeared so con- tent, as though naught else touched the minds of any. We were all fixed and intent on his notes." Purgatorio, Butler's version.

14. Milder shades ; i. e. milder than those of

��the Inferno, through which Dante and Virgil had just passed.

Page 76. ON THE RELIGIOUS MEMORY OF MRS. CATHERINE THOMSON.

Title. About 1650 Milton lived for a time at the house of a Mr. Thomson, near Charing Cross ; it has been conjectured that the subject of the present sonnet was a member of this family.

10. Purple ; a word of wide application when Milton wrote ; any rich or lustrous color.

Page 76. ON THE LORD GENERAL FAIR- FAX.

The sonnet was written in 1648, between June 13, when Fairfax laid siege to Colchester, and August 17, when Cromwell defeated the Scottish army; see note on line 8. In 1648 the Royalists made a fresh and final effort. There were " new rebellions " (line 6) in the king's be- half in Kent, the west of England and Wales, and Scotland sent an army to his aid. Defeated by Fairfax at Maidstone, the surviving leaders of the Royalists in the east retreated to Colches- ter, which was besieged from June 13 to August 27. This poem therefore was prompted by, and surely breathes the spirit of, a national crisis.

It is addressed to the commander-in-chief of the Parliamentary forces Thomas, the third Lord Fairfax; born 1612, died 1671. Milton and he were contemporaries at Cambridge, Fairfax being of St. John's College.

Fairfax was distinguished by extreme per- sonal courage ; several of his contemporaries make mention of it ; Cromwell (Letter xxix.) specially commended his brave_ry at the battle of Naseby. Compare, too, Milton's words in the Second Defence, where, enumerating the great leaders on the side of the Commonwealth, he says : " Nor would it be right to pass over the name of Fairfax, who united the utmost fortitude with the utmost courage ; and the spotless innocence of whose life seemed to point him out as the peculiar favourite of Heaven." Prose Works, i. 286, 287. VERITY.

7. Hydra heads ; to slay the Lernean Hydra was one of the labors of Hercules. As soon as he cut off one head another grew in its place.

7, 8. False North displays her broken League ; the Scottish army under Hamilton was at this moment entering England to support the king, in contravention of the Solemn League and Covenant.

9. Imp; a hawking term, i. e. to put new feathers in.

Page 76. To THE LORD GENERAL CROM- WELL.

This sonnet and the preceding one were for obvious political reasons not printed in the edi- tion of Milton's poems issued in 1673. They first appeared, inaccurately printed, in Edward Phillips's Life of Milton, 1694.

Title. " The committee for the propagation of the gospel was a committee of the Rump Parlia- ment. It consisted of fourteen members, and had general administrative duties in church af- fairs, specially that of supplying spiritual desti-

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