Page images
PDF
EPUB

Et tum forte novis admoram labra cicutis,
Dissiluere tamen rupta compage, nec ultra
Ferre graves potuere sonos: dubito quoque ne sim
Turgidulus, tamen et referam; vos cedite silvæ.

160

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.
Ipse ego Dardanias Rutupina per æquora puppes
Dicam, et Pandrasidos regnum vetus Imogeniæ,
Brennumque Arviragumque duces, priscumque Belinum,
Et tandem Armoricos Britonum sub lege colonos;
Tum gravidam Arturo fatali fraude Iogernen,
Mendaces vultus assumptaque Gorlois arma,

165

remarks that the twelfth, and not the thirteenth, is meant, according to the 'inclusive mode of counting.'

159 graves] applied both literally to the low tones of the pipe, and metaphorically to the dignity of the subject. Cowper's translation, 'the deep-toned music of the solemn strain,' well expresses both these ideas.

160 turgidulus] inflated with pride; but this use of the word is barely classical, though 'turgida oratio' is said of a 'bombastic speech.'

cedite silvæ] Cf. Virg. E. x. 63, where Gallus bids farewell to a woodland life, because it cannot cure his passion, with the words

'concedite silvæ.'

162 foll.] For the legends connected with each of these names, see Milton's History of Britain, B. i. ii., and Geoffrey of Monmouth, whence he derived the account. Brutus the Trojan, having rescued his countrymen from their servile condition under the Grecian prince Pandrasus, marries his daughter Imogen, and sets sail with his followers towards the west. He finally lands in Britain, on what is now the Kentish coast (Rutupina æquora), and establishes a kingdom. Bren

nus and Belinus are the sons of Dunwallo Molmutius, king of Cornwall. Some twenty generations after Brutus, Arviragus, son of Cunobelin (Cymbeline), by personating his slain brother Guiderius, is said to have gained a victory over the Roman emperor Claudius. The 'Armorici coloni' were Britons who fled from the Saxon invaders in the time of Vortigern to Armorica, now Bretagne. The last legend (found in Geoffrey of Monmouth, but not told by Milton in his own History) is that of Uther Pendragon, who by Merlin's magic art assumed the form of Gorlois, king of Cornwall, and thus obtained access to his wife Iogerne at Tintagel Castle, by whom he became the father of the famous Arthur.

165] Cf. P. L. i. 581. Armorica was peopled in the fourth century by a Welsh colony, under the Roman general Maximus and Carron, prince of Meiriadoc or Denbighland. Thierry (Norman Conquest, B. i. p. 16) says: 'They found people of their own stock there, and this agglomeration of branches of the Keltic race and language preserved that western nook of France from the irruption of the Roman tongue.'

Merlini dolus. O mihi tum si vita supersit,
Tu procul annosa pendebis, fistula, pinu,
Multum oblita mihi; aut patriis mutata Camenis
Brittonicum strides, quid enim? omnia non licet uni,
Non sperasse uni licet omnia, mi satis ampla
Merces, et mihi grande decus (sim ignotus in ævum
Tum licet, externo penitusque inglorius orbi,)
Si me flava comas legat Usa et potor Alauni,
Vorticibusque frequens Abra et nemus omne Treantæ,
Et Thamesis meus ante omnes et fusca metallis
Tamara, et extremis me discant Orcades undis.

Ite domum impasti, domino jam non vacat, agni.

169] Virg. E. vii. 24, 'Hic arguta sacra pendebis fistula pinu,' a sign that he intended to sing no more. The sense should therefore be, Either I will abandon poetry altogether, or else change it from Latin verse into English. But if Prof. Masson is right in exp explaining 'fistula' of Latın poetry in particular, the alternative 'aut-aut' is merely formal, the real meaning being this: 'I will abandon Latin verse for English.' 'Patriis Camenis' will then signify its native Muse,' i.e. the Latin.

171 strides] in reference to the rougher warlike themes he was about to celebrate. See Masson's translation, 'the British warscreech,' and compare the lines prefixed to Virgil's Æneid, 'Ille ego at nunc horrentia Martis.' 'Strides' is the future of strido, a form which occurs in Virg. Æn. iv. 689; viii. 420; Ovid, Met. ix. 171, &c.

170

175

The

here intended is uncertain.
former supposition is slightly sup-
ported by the fact of Milton's resi-
dence in Buckinghamshire; while
on the other hand the names of the
rivers immediately following seem
to point to a northern locality.
Keightley, who adopts the latter
view, refers to the Vacation Exer-
cise, l. 92, where the Ouse is men-
tioned in company with the Tweed,
Don, and Trent. The epithet
'flava comas, which applies gene-
rally to the Saxon race, does not
help towards deciding the question.
The other rivers are the Alan in
Northumberland, the Humber (pro-
perly 'Abus'), Trent, Thames,
and Tamar in Cornwall, hence
'fusca metallis.' With
potor
Alauni' cf. Hor. Od. II. XX. 20,
'Rhodanique potor,' also IV. xv.
21, 'qui Tanain bibunt.'

[ocr errors]

172] Virg. E. vii. 23, 'non omnia possumus omnes.'

173 in ævum] 'for all time,' Hor. Od. IV. xiv. 3.

175 Usa] the Ouse; but whether the Bucks or the Yorkshire river is

176] 'Treanta' seems to be formed from the modern name of the river; the Romans called it Trivona.

177 Thamesis meus] Keightley compares Spenser, F. Q. IV. xi. 41, 'And Mulla mine whose waves I whilom taught to weep.'.

Hæc tibi servabam lenta sub cortice lauri,
Hæc et plura simul; tum quæ mihi pocula Mansus,
Mansus Chalcidicæ non ultima gloria ripæ,

Bina dedit, mirum artis opus, mirandus et ipse,

180 hæc] probably refers to the British poem, which when completed he intended to submit to his friend for criticism. Thus in the 6th Elegy (ll. 79 foll.) he tells Diodati that he has been writing a hymn upon the Nativity, upon which he will ask his opinion

'Te quoque pressa manent patriis meditata cicutis;

Tu mihi cui recitem judicis instar eris.'

See also his letter of Sept. 23, 1637, containing an account of the studies in which he was then engaged.

181-197] On the strength of this passage, Prof. Masson (adopting a suggestion of Warton's) asserts that Manso had actually given Milton a pair of chased goblets. Keightley on the other hand considers it to be merely a poetical description after Theocritus (Id. i. 27 foll.) and Virgil (E. iii. 36 foll.) of some other tokens of Manso's esteem. All we know for certain is that he had sent Milton a complimentary elegiac couplet

'Ut mens forma decor facies mos, si pietas sic,

Non Anglus, verum hercle Angelus ipse fores.'

Also in the account of his travels, to which we have before referred, Milton says that Manso 'gave him singular proofs of his regard,' which may reasonably be supposed to have taken some tangible form; the more so, because it is further stated that Manso had excused himself for not paying him greater personal attention, on account of his

180

free speaking on religious matters. With all due deference to Mr. Keightley's opinion, as to the inherent improbability of the matter, we should be disposed to say that a pair of silver cups would be a very likely present from a wealthy Neapolitan virtuoso to his English friend; nor is this likelihood really diminished by the mere fact of similar representations in Theocritus and Virgil, especially when we bear in mind that no part of the details of Milton's description is in any way borrowed from theirs. And when we proceed to examine these details further, both the singularity of the subjects chosen and the minuteness of each point in the picture render it almost impossible to suppose that we have here a mere invention of the poet, and not an actual thing described. It is of course barely possible that such may have been the case, but the probability seems to lie very strongly the other way.

182] Naples (Neapolis) was founded by the Cumæans, who were originally colonists from Chalcis in Euboea. Cf. Livy, viii. 22, 'Cumani ab Chalcide Euboica originem trahunt.' Hence the rock of Cumæ is called 'Chalcidica arx' in Virg. Æn. vi. 17. Milton may have purposely used the older name in recognition of the antiquity of Manso's family. Cf. Lydoru ydorum sanguinis ambo,' 1. 138 supra. Warton curiously quotes 'Chalcidico versu,' Virg. E. x. 50, which alludes to Euphorion, a poet of Chalcis, but has nothing to do either with Cumæ or with Naples.

Et circum gemino cælaverat argumento :

In medio rubri maris unda et odoriferum ver,
Littora longa Arabum et sudantes balsama silvæ;
Has inter Phœnix, divina avis, unica terris,

185

Cæruleum fulgens diversicoloribus alis,

Auroram vitreis surgentem respicit undis;

Parte alia polus omnipatens et magnus Olympus :
Quis putet? hic quoque Amor pictæque in nube pharetræ,

190

Arma corusca faces, et spicula tincta pyropo;

Nec tenues animas pectusque ignobile vulgi,
Hinc ferit; at circum flammantia lumina torquens

Semper in erectum spargit sua tela per orbes

195

Impiger, et pronos nunquam collimat ad ictus :

argumento]

184 cælaverat Ovid, Met. xiii. 685.

187] For the fable of the Phoenix see Ovid, Met. xv. 391 foll.; Amor. II. vi. 54; Pliny, Nat. Hist. X. ii. 2.

unica terris] Cf. P. L. v. 272, 'that sole bird.'

188] Diversicolor' is post-classical; the regular word is versicolor, Virg. Æn. x. 181; Livy, XXXIV. i. 3, &c.

190 omnipatens] seems to be a word of Milton's own coining.

191 Quis putet?] expressing admiration; something like the Greek πῶς δοκεῖς ; as in Aristoph. Nubes, 881. ἐκ τῶν σιδίων βατράχους ἐποίει, πῶς δοκεῖς;

192] If 'arma corusca faces' is the right reading, it can only mean 'arms gleaming with [the light of] his torches. But this is a very bold use of the so-called Greek accusative, and one which no existing expression in any Latin writer seems to justify. Perhaps the nearest approach to it is to be found in Hor. Ep. 1. vi. 74, 'Pueri suspensi loculos tabulamque;' but this may be

explained as a mere variety of the ordinary phrases indutus vestem,' &c., which will hardly include the instance before us. The insertion of a comma after 'corusca,' thus making 'faces' the nominative, would remove the difficulty; but I have not ventured to introduce this change of punctuation into the text.

pyropo] a kind of bronze, of a fiery red colour, named from πύρωπος, which is an epithet of the lightning-bolt in Æsch. Prom. 667. Cf. Ovid, Met. ii. 2, 'flammas imitante pyropo.' In Met. i. 469 Cupid is described with two darts, one tipped with gold, the other with lead

'fugat hoc, facit illud amorem. Quod facit auratum est, et cuspide fulget acuta;

Quod fugat obtusum est, et habet sub arundine plumbum.'

195 in erectum] the neuter adj. used substantively, 'into an elevated region.' Cf. 'per arduum,' Hor. Od. II. xix. 21.

per orbes] 'among the stars' (Warton).

Hinc mentes ardere sacræ formæque deorum.

Tu quoque in his, nec me fallit spes lubrica, Damon,
Tu quoque in his certe es, nam quo tua dulcis abiret
Sanctaque simplicitas, nam quo tua candida virtus?
Nec te Lethæo fas quæsivisse sub orco,
Nec tibi conveniunt lacrymæ, nec flebimus ultra :
Ite procul, lacrymæ; purum colit æthera Damon,
Æthera purus habet, pluvium pede reppulit arcum ;
Heroumque animas inter divosque perennes
Æthereos haurit latices, et gaudia potat

Ore sacro.

Quin tu, cœli post jura recepta, Dexter ades placidusque fave quicunque vocaris,

Seu tu noster eris Damon, sive æquior audis

196 collimat] 'takes aim.' The word collimare is now understood not to exist; it was formerly found in editions of Cicero, Gellius, &c., the supposed meaning being 'to look sidelong at anything' (as if from the adj. limus), but it has been expunged everywhere as a mistake for collineare, 'to aim in a straight line.'

200

205

expected from the form of the poem and the language in which it is written. The apotheosis of Daphnis in Virgil's 5th Eclogue seems to have been chiefly before Milton's mind on both occasions.

Cf.

200 sancta simplicitas]

197] Keightley remarks that 'divine, not sensual love is here spoken of.' See P. L. viii. 592; Comus, 1004; Quarles, Emblems, ii. 8. Milton was doubtless familiar with the magnificent description of Celestial Love in Plato's Symposium (c. 8) and Phædrus (c. 30 foll.).

198-219] The mention of 'sacred minds and forms divine' leads the poet to describe that state of heavenly bliss which he is assured that the soul of his friend is now enjoying. This passage will bear a close comparison with that in Lycidas, 165 foll., both as regards the general sentiment and some particular expressions; there is the same juxtaposition of classical and Scriptural imagery, only here the former largely predominates, as might be

1. 33.

201 quæsivisse] The perfect tense has great force here. The first impulse of grief was to mourn the departed one as lost and gone, but it is presently rejected for an expression of belief in his immortality. See Lycidas, 165, 166, 204; Virg. E.v.56, 57. The fine idea of springing upwards from the arc of the rainbow is partly due to Virgil, G. iv. 233, where the rising Pleiad is said to 'spurn with her foot the Ocean stream' ('Oceani spretos pede reppulit amnes').

205] Keightley comp. Hor. Od. III. iii. II, 'Quos inter Augustus recumbens Purpureo bibit ore nectar.'

208] See note and reff. on Lycidas, 184.

209 audis] as in Hor. Sat. 11. vi. 20, 'seu Iane libentius audis.' Different names of a god implied

« EelmineJätka »