Page:The Complete Poetical Works of John Milton.djvu/445

 NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS

��43

��Page 191, lines 416, 417. Not so is Man, but in degree, etc.

The meaning seems to be, that Man is not per- fect, but stands in a scale, with creatures above and below him.

Page 192, line 540.

Milton's doctrine of the essential inferiority of woman to man here finds its most open ex- pression.

Page 192, line 556. Occasionally.

In response to an occasion.

Page 193, lines 608-610.

The meaning seems to be "I am not foiled (i. e. unbalanced, robbed of judgment) by the objects which my senses present to me under various forms."

Page 194, line 645. Since to part.

Condensed phrase for " Since it is necessary for you to depart."

Page 194. BOOK IX.

Page 194, lines 14-19. Argument not less but more heroic than the wrath, etc.

Milton refers to the three great epics of an- tiquity : the wrath of Achilles, as sung in the Iliad ; Neptune's ire against Odysseus, as sung in the Odyssey : Juno's ire against ^Eneas, son of Cytherea or Venus, and the rage of Turnus because Lavinia was promised to ^Eneas, as celebrated in the ^Eneid.

Page 194, lines 27, 28. Not sedulous. . . to indite wars.

Nevertheless, Milton had long pondered the wars of Arthur as an epic subject.

Page 194, line 35. Impreses.

Devices on a knight's shield or trappings.

Page 194, line 36. Bases.

Kilts or lower garments worn by a mediasval warrior.

Page 195, lines 64-66. Thrice the equinoctial line he circled.

The picture of Satan " riding with darkness," i.e. following the shadow of the earth through space, for seven nights, is one of the most sim- ply majestic in the poem. To circle the equi- noctial line he flew around the earth three times parallel with the equator. He then flew four times from pole to pole, along the great circles (colures) drawn from the poles through the sol- stices and the equinoxes.

Page 195, lines 71, 72.

The existence of this stream flowing beneath the garden of Paradise has already mentioned ; see note. Book IV. line 223,

Page 195, lines 77-S-J.

Satan had first flown north from Eden to the Pool Mceotis ; i. e. the sea of Azof in Russia ; then northeast to Of, a river of Siberia. His westward journey had been from Orontes, a river of Asia Minor, across the Mediterranean and the Atlantic to the Isthmus of Darien, and on- ward across the Pacific to India.

Page 196, line 170. Obnoxious to.

Open to harm or indignity from.

Page 197, line 245. Wilderness.

Wildness.

Page 197, line 249.

An Alexandrine, unless we count the last two

��short syllables as extra-metrical. Cf. Book VIII. line 216.

Page 199, line 384. So bent.

I. e. but if he be bent on tempting the weaker of us.

Page 199, line 387. Delia.

Diana.

Page 199, lines 393-395.

Pales, goddess of pastures ; Pomona, goddess of fruits ; Ceres, goddess of husbandry.

Page 199, line 396. Virgin of Proserpina.

Not yet having borne Proserpina to Jove.

Page 199, line 438. Hand of Eve.

I. e. the work of Eve's hand, in apposition with preceding nouns.

Page 199, lines 439-443. Those gardens feigned.

The gardens of Adonis, though not mentioned by classic writers (with the exception of a dubi- ous reference by Pliny), are spoken of by Spen- ser and Shakespeare. These, as well as the gar- dens of the Phseacian king Alcinous, the host of " Laertes's son " Odysseus, Milton speaks of as fabulous in contrast with the real garden of Solomon, where he entertained the daughter of Pharaoh.

Page 200, line 450. Tedded grass.

Mown and spread out to dry. The passage has a pathetic side, as a reminiscence of Milton's youth at Horton.

Page 200, line 506. Sermione and Cadmus.

Hermione, or Hannonia, and Cadmus, her husband, were at their own request changed into serpents, to escape the miseries of life. "Changed" is used in the difficult sense of " took the place of."

Page 200, line 507. The god in Epidaurus.

The god in Epidaurus is ^Esculapius, who came to Rome in the form of one of the ser- pents sacred to his worship. Ammonian Jove or Jupiter Ammon was seen transformed to a serpent in company with Olympias, of whom he was enamored. Capitoline Jove was also seen in serpent shape with the woman who bore him Scipio Africanus, here called the "height of Rome."

Page 201, line 522. Than at Circean call the herd disguised.

Circe is fabled to have changed men into beasts by her enchantments, and kept the fan- tastic herd at her beck and call.

Page 201, line 549. Glazed.

Flattered.

Page 202, line 649. The credit of whose virtue rest with thee.

Rest is hortative. The meaning ie\ let it rest with thee, I will not put it to proof.

Page 202, line 668. Fluctuates.

Literal, bends or waves to and fro.

Page 204, line 815. Safe.

As regards any danger from him (Browne).

Page 205, line 845. Divine of.

Divining, being prescient of.

Page 215, line 846. Faltering measure.

I. e. the faltering beats of his heart in anxiety.

Page 206, line 945. Not well conceived of God.

I. e. it is not easy to conceive that God should lose his own labor.

�� �