And perfect witness of all-judging Jove; Of so much fame in Heaven expect thy meed.' And listens to the herald of the sea, Keightley's explanation, by means of.' 83 lastly] in the somewhat unusual sense of 'finally' or 'decisively;' a literal rendering of ultiтит. Cf. Hor. Od. I. xvi. 19, 'altis urbibus ultima Stetere causæ, &c.,' i.e. the final (ultimate) cause of their ruin. 84 meed] See on l. 14, and cf. Spenser, F. Q. III. x. 31, 'Fame is my meed and glory, virtue's pay.' 85-102] The return after the digression is marked by an invocation of the pastoral fountain Arethusa, and of Virgil's native river, the Mincius a practical recognition of the Sicilian and Roman pastorals as Milton's own originals (see Introduction). For the story of Arethusa see Ovid, Met. v. 579 foll. In Moschus, Epitaphium Bionis, 83, Bion is said to have drunk of Arethusa's fount,' and in Theocr. Id. i. 117 the dying Daphnis exclaims, χαῖρ ̓ Αρέθουσα. Virgil (Ecl. x. 1) invokes her as a Muse inspiring 85 ubi flexibus errat Mincius, et tenera prætexit arundine ripas.' The epithet 'vocal' is best illustrated by the passage in Lucretius, v. 1383 foll., alluded to on l. 33. 87] An apology to the rural muse for departing from the pastoral strain, under the irresistible influence of Phoebus. A similar device is adopted after the next digression (l. 132). mood] (P. L. i. 550; S. A. 661) 'character,' from modus, signifying a particular arrangement of intervals in the musical scale, the study of which formed so important an element in the Greek system of education (Plato, Republic, B. iii.; Aristotle, Politics, B. viii.). The word has nothing to do with a 'mood' or state of mind, which is from the German muth, 'impulse,' though the similarity of meaning might easily cause confusion. F 'com 88] See on l. 33. Here the instrument, of course, stands for the poem. A still bolder expression occurs in the 6th Elegy, l. 89, where patriis meditata cicutis means posed in my native tongue.' In Landor's Imaginary Conversations (Southey and Landor) this line is curiously misquoted, 'now my oar proceeds;' upon which Southey is supposed to remark, 'Does the oar listen?' 89 listens] i.e. like a pupil (akpоarns), to learn what he is to say That came in Neptune's plea. He asked the waves, and asked the felon winds, And sage Hippotades their answer brings, upon the subject. The 'herald' is Triton, the son of Neptune; his instrument was the concha or spiral shell (Virg. Æn. vi. 171; x. 209), and his office of herald is illustrated in Ovid, Met. i. 333 foll., where he is ordered to sound a retreat for the waters of the deluge ('cecinit jussos receptus'). 90] Keightley understands 'Neptune's plea to mean the judicial enquiry which Neptune deputed Triton to hold; and he instances theCourt of Common Pleas,' &c., as examples of the word in this signification. But it seems better to take it in its usual sense of a statement made by the defendant to satisfy (placere) the court; here the excuse offered by Neptune and conveyed by Triton. Milton probably intended to represent Neptune himself as involved in the blame, and desirous to clear himself by a strict enquiry applied to his subordinates. Plumptre adopts this view when he translates Ποσειδάωνος ἀμυντήρ. = 91 felon] (MS. 'fellon ') 'cruel,' from fell, with the additional sense of 'criminal,' the winds being introduced as culprits about to be tried. For the etymology see Appendix I. 93 wings] misprinted winds' in Tonson's edition of 1705, and in Newton's of 1785, probably on account of winds in l. 91. 'Gust of wings' is the gen. of quality = 'winged gusts,' and rugged 'ragged,' i.e. broken by intervening , = 90 95 obstacles. Rugged and ragged seem to have been used indiscriminately about this period (L'Allegro, 9; Isaiah ii. 21), but they are distinct words, the former being the O.E. hruh, 'rough,' the latter from racian, 'to tear,' akin to pákos. 94] Warton compares P. L. xi. 746; Drayton, Polyolbion, 1st Song, 'the utmost end of Cornwal's furrowing beak. Pliny, Nat. Hist. x. 49, uses 'rostrum' for the promontory of an island in the Nile. 95 his story] i.e. how to give any account of him. 96] Warton observes that Hippotades is not a common name of Eolus, and does not occur in Virgil. He quotes Homer, Od. x. 2; Ovid, Met. iv. 661; xiv. 86, &c., and passages from the Argonautica of Apoll. Rhodius and Val. Flaccus. The epithet 'sage' implies authority and responsibility. Dunster thinks there is a special allusion to 'sciret' in Virg. Æn. i. 63, which is however there qualified by the addition of 'jussus' and of foedere certo.' Homer, Od. X. 21, represents Æolus as acting by his own discretion (πανέμεναι ἤδ ̓ ὀρνύμεν ὅν κ ̓ ἐθέλῃσι). Richardson understands 'sage' of his foreknowledge of the weather; but this is a later and rationalised form of the story, and one which Milton as a poet is not likely to have chosen, since even when writing history he professes himself unwilling to give up the myths entirely, rejecting only those That not a blast was from his dungeon strayed; Built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark, which are 'impossible and absurd' 98 level brine] imitated by J. Warton in his Enthusiast (1740), 'the dolphin dancing o'er the level brine.' 99 Panope] one of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris (Hesiod, Theog. 250 foll.). The name Пavón, denoting a wide view over a calm expanse of water, is significant here, as also in Virg. Georg. i. 437, Æn. v. 240, 823. Spenser (apparently on his own authority) introduces her as an 'old nymph' who kept the house of Proteus (F. Q. III. viii. 37). 100] See the inscription prefixed to the Cambridge Verses of 1638, 'navi in scopulum allisa, et rimis et ictu fatiscente.' IOI] Warton comp. Shaksp. Macbeth, iv. 1— 'slips of yew, Slivered (cut) in the moon's eclipse,' used by the witches for their incantations. The superstition about eclipses as portents of impending calamity is an old one (Virg. Georg. i. 465 foll., and cf. P. L. i. 597 foll.); hence might naturally arise the belief that work done during an eclipse was likely to fail of success; but there seems to be no evidence to show that the ancients actually so regarded it. 100 102 sacred] consecrated by friendship, and therefore inviolable. Cf. Tennyson, In Memoriam, xiv. 10, 'the man I held as half divine.' 103 Camus] So in Spenser's Pastorall Eglogue the Thames, Humber, Severn, and other rivers mourn for their favourite bard Phillisides. Cowley, Complaint, l. 6, speaks of reverend Cam.' 'Sire' is the usual mythological designation of a river, as a presiding and protecting power. Cf. Livy, ii. 10, 'Tiberine pater;' Virg. Æn. viii. 31. What follows is an adaptation of the natural features of the locality to the circumstances of mourning, but without the unpleasant associations which appear in the 'nuda arva' and 'juncosas Cami paludes' of the 1st Elegy, l. 13, 89. That Milton had no great affection for Cambridge is clear (see on l. 34, 36), but this was not a fit occasion for expressing any such feeling. With 'footing slow' Keightley compares F. Q. I. iii. 10, 'A damsel spied slow footing her before.' Cf. Duncombe, Ode to C. P. 'where sedgy Cam Bathes with slow pace his academic grove.' Those who are acquainted with the locality will recognise the appropriateness of these descriptions; it may not be out of place to mention the fact, that in a report addressed Inwrought with figures dim, and on the edge Like to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe. Last came, and last did go, to the Cambridge Improvement Commissioners (Oct. 1871) by Mr. J. B. Denton, 'the sluggish nature of the river' is expressly noted as one of the main difficulties in the way of the proposed operations. 105] In the figures dim' Warburton sees a reference to the 'fabulous traditions of the high antiquity of Cambridge.' Perhaps we need hardly look for any such precise application of the expression, which may very well be a part of the general picture of desolation. Dunster's remark that 'on sedge-leaves, when dried, there are certain dim, indistinct, and dusky streaks on the edge,' is worth noticing, and the original reading 'scrauled ore' seems to favour the probability of such an allusion. 106] For the legend of Hyacinthus (to which Milton also alludes in the Ode on the Death of a Fair Infant, 25 foll.) see Ovid, Met. X. 210 foll. 'Ipse suos gemitus foliis inscribit et Ai Ai Flos habet inscriptum' (ib. 215). Hence Theocritus, x. 28, calls the flower å Yражтà váкivos, and Moschus, Epit. Bion. I. 6, exclaims νῦν ὑάκινθε λάλει τὰ σὰ γράμματα. Cf. Drummond, Epit. on Prince Henry- 'that sweet flower that bears In sanguine spots the tenour of our = 105 leigh, Cynthia, says of the moon, Nor did she crown our mutual With pledges dear. and with a father's tender name.' 108] Neve in his Cursory Remarks on some English Poets (1789) observes that as Dante has made Cato of Utica keeper of the gates of Purgatorio, Milton has here in return placed St. Peter in company with Apollo, Triton, &c.,' and that 'for the intrusion respecting the clergy of his time the earliest Italians have set plentiful example.' See for instance St. Peter's animadversions upon the degeneracy of his successors in Paradiso, Canto 27, which closely resembles the present passage. Dante does not however make Cato the 'keeper of the gates' (that office being given to an angel, Purgat. ix. 78, 105), but the guardian of certain wandering spirits outside the place itself. For the charge of irreverence urged against Milton for his alleged confusion of things sacred and profane see Introduction. The pilot of the Galilean lake; Two massy keys he bore of metals twain- He shook his mitred locks, and stern bespake : 109 Pilot] is an addition to the gospel narrative (Luke v. 3), where there is no intimation that Peter acted in that capacity towards the others. He was doubtless the steersman of his own ship, a sense in which 'pilot' is often used (P. L. i. 204; S. A. 198). In l. 1044 of the latter poem the 'pilot' and steersmate' are distinguished. 6 110] Originally from Matt. xvi. 19, where the number of keys is not mentioned. From the earliest times St. Peter was represented with two keys; hence P. Fletcher in his Locusts (quoted by Todd) says of the Pope In his hand two golden keys he beares, To open heaven and hell and shut againe ;' and in the Purple Island, vii. 421, Dichostasis (Schism) is invested with the same authority. Dante (Inferno, xxvii.) makes Pope Boniface say'Lo ciel poss' io serrare e disser rare, Come tu sai; però son due le chiavi.' In the ode In Quintum Novembris Milton speaks merely of Apostolicæ custodia clavis.' The distinction between the two metalsone denoting the value of the benefits secured by admission, the other stern severity in exclusion-is our poet's own; in the parallel passage of Dante, Purg. ix. 120 foll., both a golden and a silver key are used by the angel to open the gate. The Italian proverb quoted by Mr. Bowles, Con le chiavi d' oro s' apre ogna porta,' alludes to the influence of money, and has therefore nothing to do with the 'power of the keys.' III amain]= 'firmly,' lit. ' with might,' from O. E. magan, 'to be strong.' For the prefix a see on 1. 27. 112] It would be unfair to construe this admission of the mitre into a precise statement of Milton's religious views at this period, or to suppose with Warburton that it sharpened his satire to have the prelacy condemned by one of their own order.' As St. Peter here speaks with episcopal authority, he is made to wear the distinctive dress of his order. So in the 3rd Elegy (1626) on the Bishop of Winchester, the glorified prelate is represented with the infula' or mitre upon his head (7. 56). In the Reason of Church Government, c. vi. (1641) Milton indeed uses very different language, when he speaks of 'the haughty prelates with their forked mitres, the badge of schism;' but the events of the three intervening years had produced a considerable change in his attitude towards the clergy, or at least had emboldened him in the expression of opinions, which had been long lurking in his mind, and of which the present invective is perhaps the earliest intimation. bespake] here used absolutely, as in P. R. i. 43; Ode Nat. 76. Cf. Spens. F. Q. I. ii. 32, 'he thus bespake.' The prefix be- is the same as by (='near' or 'to'), with the addition of the person addressed. P. L. iv. 1005, 'Gabriel |