What could the Muse herself that Orpheus bore, The Muse herself for her enchanting son, Whom universal Nature did lament, 60 When, by the rout that made the hideous roar, His gory visage down the stream was sent, Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore ! 58-63] A comparison with the various readings of the original MS. will show that this passage is the result of most careful revision. Having first substituted the more poetical description of Calliope as 'the Muse that Orpheus bore' for the direct designation of her by name, and having got rid of the somewhat prosaic parenthesis, 'the gods farsighted bee,' Milton first introduced in the margin the words 'and heaven and hel deplore;' but afterwards erased them. 'Divine head' (of the margin) was then changed to 'goary visage,' suggested by the 'goarie scalp' of the first draft, and a final line was added to close the paragraph and to complete the rime. For the sentiment compare an epitaph by Antipater Sidonius, translated by Major Macgregor from the Greek Anthology'No longer, Orpheus, shalt thou charmed oaks lead; For thou art dead! and much the Muses grieved ; Calliope, thy mother, most bereaved. Why mourn we our dead sons, since e'en their own To save from death no power to gods is known?' 59 enchanting son] Cf. P. L. x. 353, 'his fair enchanting daughter.' For the story see Ov. Met. xi. 1-55, 61. This passage is partly repeated in P. L. vii. 34 foll. Rout = 'company' is a favourite word with Milton (Comus, 542; S. A. 443; P. L. i. 747, &c.). Shakspere has 'rout of rebels,' 'merry rout,' and similar expressions. Cf. Spenser, F. Q. VI. ix. 8, 'the shepheard swaynes sat in a rout.' It is a question whether this word has the same derivation as rout= 'defeat,' which comes from ruptus. The sense of disturbance seems to be later than the other one, and the word may possibly be connected with the Welsh rhawd, which (like turba) has both meanings. H. Wedgwood, according to his favourite theory of derivation from the sound of words (see Introd. to his Dict. of Etymology), refers it to the Swedish rjota, 'to bellow,' comparing the O. E. hrutan, 'to snore;' a suggestion which the critical reader may examine for him self. 63] Milton has been blamed for following the reading 'volucrem Hebrum' in Virg. Æn. i. 317, which was altered to 'Eurum' on the strength of Servius' remark, 'nam quietissimus est (Hebrus).' But Wagner and Forbiger defend the MS. reading, and compare Sil. Ital. ii. 73, 'cursuque fatigant Hebrum.' Conington observes that the same unnecessary alteration of 'Hebro' into 'Euro' was attempted in Hor. Od. I. xxv. 20. The rapidity of this particular river has little to do with the matter; swiftness was a general attribute of rivers, and therefore became a commonplace poetical epithet of them. Thus in Virg. Æn. iii. 76 Myconus Alas! what boots it with incessant care is called 'celsa, but 'humilis' in the Lesbian shore] Ov. Met. xi. 55. l.c., Methymnæi potiuntur litore Lesbi.' According to common tradition the head of Orpheus was carried by the waves to Lesbos, and there buried, for which pious office the Lesbians were rewarded with the gift of preeminence in song. 64-84] The pastoral landscape now disappears, and the shepherd merges into the poet (see Introduction). 'What use is there in all this laborious pursuit of learning, when life is so uncertain?' Phœbus interposes with a strain of higher mood,' reminding the questioner that fame, which is the reward of noble deeds, lives on after death in heaven. The rural muse, though momentarily recalled at 1. 85, does not permanently reappear till 7. 132. what boots it] a frequent expression in Spenser, Shakspere, &c. Cf. Richard II. i. 3; Winter's Tale, iii. 2, &c. 'Boot' is from betan, 'to improve' (see on l. 29). incessant] in ed. 1638 'uncessant.' The two forms seem to have been used indiscriminately about this period; we find ' unexpressive,' 65 1. 176, Od. Nat. 116; 'ingrateful,' P. L. v. 407; 'increate,' ib. iii. 6. Shakspere has 'unpossible,' 'uneffectual,' 'unperfect' (see Bible version of Ps. cxxxix. 16) along with 'ingrateful,' 'infortunate,' &c. 65] Cf. Spenser, Ecl. vi. 67, 'homely shepherd's quill.' 66 meditate the Muse] a literal translation of Virgil, Ecl. i. 2, 'Musam meditaris' (μελετᾶν). This is one instance among many of Milton's habit of verbally adopting classical phrases (cf. 11, 20 supra). Perhaps the most remarkable cases are the thick drop serene' (P. L. iii. 25), from gutta serena, and the happy-making sight' (Ode on Time, 18), from Visio Beatifica. Virgil meant simply 'compose a song, a meaning which Muse' will not bear in It English, although it cannot go with ، For 67] The reading of 1638, 'do' for 'use,' is merely an error of the press, caused by the word 'done,' just preceding. as others use] alluding to the fashionable erotic poetry of the day, with which Milton's severer taste did not accord. From his 7th Elegy, however, we learn that he had once in his life yielded to a To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, That last infirmity of noble mind softer passion, which the more serious pursuits of college life soon dispelled Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise 70 'Donec Socraticos umbrosa Aca of the common representative names in ancient pastoral song. Cf. Virg. Ecl. i. 31; ii. 14; iii. 3, 81; ix. 22. ̓Αμάρυλλις (ἀμαρύσσω), the 'sparkling beauty,' is the subject of Theocritus' 3rd Idyll. Both names occur together in Ariosto, Orl. Fur. xi. 12. demia rivos Præbuit, admissum dedocuitque jugum.' It has been plausibly argued that there is in the next two lines a special reference to two Latin poems by G. Buchanan (who was one of Milton's favourite authors), addressed to Amaryllis and Neæra respectively. As regards the latter, the allusion seems highly probable; since the poet distinctly describes himself as a prisoner bound by Cupid with a lock of Neæra's hairDeinde unum evellens ex auricomante capillum Vertice captivis vincla dedit manibus.' It is true that the Amaryllis of Buchanan represents the city of Paris, and not an actual lady; but Milton may easily have overlooked or ignored this fact. The probability of, the reference is strengthened by the first MS. reading, 'Hid in the tangles, &c.;' since our poet would hardly have committed the absurdity of representing a lover sporting with one mistress, and at the same time being entangled in the hair of another, er, unless such literary association had confused the two names in his mind. The present passage is imitated by Soame Jenyns in his Immortality of the Soul some Were it not wiser far, supinely laid, To sport with Phyllis in the noontide shade?' 68] Amaryllis and Neæra are two 69] Cf. Lovelace, To Althea, When I lie tangled in her hair.' ' 70] This sentiment is common in the classics. Newton instances Cic. Pro Archia, c. 10, 'trahimur omnes laudis studio, et optimus quisque maxime gloria ducitur. Cf. Spenser, Tears of the Muses, 454, 'due praise that is the spur of doing well.' It is vividly illustrated in the Faery Queene, II. vii. 46 foll., where Philotimè is described as holding a golden chain reaching to heaven, every linck whereof was a step dignity,' and by which the crowd were striving 'to climb aloft.' It reappears in the Paradise Regained, iii. 24 foll., in an enlarged form from the mouth of Satan tempting our Lord to ambition, where the phrase 'erected spirits' (l. 27) may perhaps explain the 'clear spirit' of this passage, i.e. purified by elevation into a clearer atmosphere. Keightley takes it to mean 'illustrious,' It. chiaro. The identical expression 'clear spirit' is cited by Todd from Milton's Prose Works, vol. i. p. 161. Scott (Critical Essays) doubts the correctness of representing Fame 'both as a motive and as a reward.' But surely the desire of Fame acts as a motive during the toil of action, and when realised in attainment becomes its final reward. 71] Athenæus in his Deipnosophista (xi. 15, § 116) represents Plato To scorn delights, and live laborious days; as saying ἔσχατον τὸν τῆς δόξης 73 guerdon] This word is not elsewhere found in Milton's poems, but is common in Spenser (F. Q. I. vii. 15; II. vi. 28, &c.). Though it occurs at least as early as Chaucer, it seems to have become obsolete in the sixteenth century, being explained in the Glossary to the Shepheard's Kalendar (see on l. 2); and even as late as 1730 it was thought to require a note in a poem by West on Education. Most readers will remember the scene in Love's Labour's Lost, iii. 1, where Costard the clown exclaims, 'O sweet guerdon, better than remuneration,' taking each word to mean a sum of money. (For the derivation see Appendix I.). 74] Cf. P. R. iii. 47, l. c.; Chapman's Homer's Il. xvii. 177, 'that frail blaze of excellence that neighbours death.' Pindar (Nem. x. 4) uses φλέγεσθαι in the same sense. 75 blind Fury] Cf. Spenser, Ruines of Rome, st. 24. Milton here purposely in indignation calls Atropos a Fury, and not without 75 classical authority; for in an Orphic Hymn (quoted by Sympson) the θεαὶ μοῖραι are styled ὀφιοπλόκαμοι, which is a proper epithet of the Furies. Langhorne in his Elegy on the Death of Handel speaks of 'the grim fury's breast. Cf. Lloyd, Tears and Triumph of Parnassus Where were ye Muses (1. 50 supra) when the fatal shears The Fury raised to close his reve- For the 'shears of destiny' see 76] According to the old verse'Clotho colum retinet, Lachesis net, et Atropos occat.' For 'slit' in the sense of cutting across, instead of lengthwise, Keightley cites Golding's Ovid. Met. xii. 248 'Like one that with an ax doth slit An ox's neck in sacrifice.' But not the praise] i.e. 'the praise is not intercepted' (Warton). This is a kind of zeugma, the verb 'slits' being strictly applicable to the thread alone, but suggesting another verb of similar meaning to govern 'praise.' 77] From Virg. Ecl. vi. 3, where Conington remarks that touching the ear was a symbolical act, the ear being the seat of memory. 78] Cf. Pindar, Nem. vii. 45, τιμὰ δὲ γίγνεται, &c., i.e. 'true honour is theirs whose glorious fame Set off to the world, nor in broad rumour lies, Nor in the glistering foil But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes the god exalteth, an aid to their memory after death' (τεθνακότων βοαθόον). 79, 80] Thus translated by Plumptre (1797) οὐδ ̓ ἐνὶ κιβδήλοις ἀρετᾶν ζαλώμασι κεῖται ἅντινα τῶν πολλῶν θάμβει καὶ ἀγάζεται ὄχλος. And by Mathias (see note on 1. 19) 'Non mai d' orpel fallace Con mentito splendor sfavilla al mondo, Dello spanto romor nemica, Fama.' is it (Fame) set off to the world in (i.e. by) the glistering foil, nor does it lie (consist) in a wide reputation.' In this case 'foil' must be understood in a sense which it often bears elsewhere, of a dark substance (originally a thin leaf of metal), in which jewels were placed to 'set off' their lustre. Cf. Shaksp. Rich. II. i. 3 'a foil wherein thou art to set The precious jewel of thy home return;' 1 Hen. IV. i. 2 (quoted by Warton), 'And like bright metal on a sullen ground, &c.' In Rich. III. v. 3 the stone of Scone set in the oak chair of Edward I. is called 'a base foul stone, Made precious by the foil of England's chair.' Chr. Brook in an Epithalamium (speaking of a newly wedded bride) says Then let the dark foyle of the geniall bed 80 Extend her brightness to his inward sight.' The But this mode of taking the words fails to give a suitable meaning to the passage. It is not Fame itself which is set off to the world,' but the life and actions of the man, the display of which before the eyes of the public constitutes fame at least according to the vulgar notion which Milton is here combating. true sense seems to be this: 'Nor does it (true Fame) consist in the specious appearance which is displayed to the world, nor in a widespread renown.' Fame will then be the subject of the verb lies, and set off a participle agreeing with foil ; the preposition in before 'glistering foil' will have the same construction and sense as the in before 'broad rumour,' both phrases being constructed after lies. And the meaning of 'foil' will be, not exactly leaf-gold,' as Newton takes it (comparing the 'golden foile' of Spenser, F. Q. I. iv. 4), but tinsel, i.e. some baser metal which glitters like gold, and makes a fair show to the eye. Scott doubts 'whether the metaphor of "plant" is continued to this line or not,' and imagines 'a plant with leaves artificially gilded. Perhaps the idea of 'foil' (folium) was suggested by the word 'plant, but the metaphor itself is not resumed till 1. 81 in the words 'lives and spreads,' which describe the growth of a tree. 81 by] probably == 'near,' i.e. 'in presence of.' Shaksp. Twelfth Night, iii. 1, 'Thou mayest say the king lives by a beggar, if a beggar dwell near him.' So we still say 'hard by. This seems better than |