Pellegrina bellezza che'l cuor bea, Portamenti alti honesti, e nelle ciglia And On the Death of a fair Infant, v. 5. "that lovely dye "That did thy cheek envermeil.” T. WARTON. But Milton's expression in the text is probably from Tasso's Aminta, A. i. S. ii. "A le guancie di Fillide volando, "A le guancie vermiglie, come rosa.' Compare also ibid. A. i. S. i. "E così vermigliuzza havea la bocca." TODD. Ver. 8. Portamenti alti honesti,] So before, Son. iii. 8. "Vezzosamente altera." Portamento expresses the lofty dignified deportment, by which the Italian poets constantly describe female beauty; and which is strikingly characteristick of the composed majestick carriage of the Italian Ladies, either as contrasted with the liveliness of the French, or the timid delicacy of the English. Compare Petrarch's first Sonnet on the Death of Laura, Sonn. ccxxix. "Ohime, il bel viso! Ohime, il soave sgardo! "Ohime, il portamento leggiadro altiero !" Our author appears to have applied this Italian idea of a graceful solemnity in his description of Eve. Milton, as it may be seen from these Sonnets, appears to have been struck, on going into Italy, with a new idea of foreign beauty, sotto novo idea pellegrina bellezza. He is now no longer captivated with the treccie d'oro, nor the bloom so conspicuous in the fair-haired complexions, guancia vermiglia; but with the nelle ciglia, quel sereno d'amabil nero, the degli occhi si gran fuoco. I would add the e'l cantar, unless that was a particular compliment to his Leonora. The dark hair and eye of Italy are now become his new favourites. When a youth of nineteen, in his general description of the English Fair, he celebrates Cupid's golden nets of hair, L. i. El. i. 60. And, in Comus, beauty is characterised by vermeil-tinctured cheeks, and tresses like the morn. T. WARTON. Quel sereno fulgor d'amabil nero, V.. fuoco PER certo i bei vostr' occhi, Donna mia 10 la faticosa Luna,] As in Par. Lost, "the labouring moon Eclipses at their charms." TODD. SONNET V. Ver. 2. non sian lo mio sole Si mi percuoton forte,] To the Italian and Latin instances of this expression, cited by Mr. Thyer, and Mr. Bowle in the Note on Par. Lost, B. iv. 244, Mr. Warton adds Shakspeare, Love's Lab. Lost, A. iv, S. iii. "As thy eyebeams when their fresh rays have smote And Virgil, of light, En. viii. 25, "summíque ferit laquearia tecti." And Statius, Theb. vi. 666. "Qualis Bistoniis clypeus Mavortis in agris "Luce mala Pangea ferit." And a parallel from Prudentius, which illustrates another passage of Milton, Hymn ii. 6. Caligo terræ scinditur "Solis percussa spiculo." Per l'arene di Libia chi s' invia, Mentre un caldo vapor (ne sentì pria) Da quel lato si spinge ove mi duole, Che forse amanti nelle lor parole Chiaman sospir; io non so che si sia: Parte rinchiusa, e turbida si cela Scosso mi il petto, e poi n'uscendo poco Quivi d' attorno o s' agghiaccia, o s' ingiela ; Ma quanto a gli occi giunge a trovar loco Tutte le notti a me suol far piovose Finche mia Alba rivien colma di rose *. He cites also Buchanan, Silv. iv. p. 53. Opp. edit. 1715. Cuspide jucundæ lucis percussa renident "Arva." 5 10 and refers to pp. 116, 119, 130, 132, ibid. And other places. And adds Fletcher, of the sun, Purp. Isl. C. xii. st. 25. "And with his arrowes th' idle fogge doth chase.” As in Par. Lost, B. vi. 15, of morning. "From before her vanish'd Night, "Shot through with orient beams." With which compare also Fletcher's Purp. Isl. C. i. st. 40. "First stepp'd the Light, and spread his chearfull rayes "Through all the chaos; Darknesse headlong fell, 66 Frighted with suddain beams, &c." TODD. * The forced thoughts at the close of this Sonnet are intolerable. But he was now in the land of conceit, and was infected by writing in its language. He had changed his native Thames for Arno, Sonn. iii. 9. "Canto, dal mio buon popol non inteso, "E'l bel Tamigi cangio col bel Arno." T. WARTon. VI. GIOVANE piano, e semplicette amante De pensieri leggiadro, accorto, e buono ; Di timori, e speranze, al popol use, E di cetra sonora, e delle muse: Sol troverete in tal parte men duro, Ove Amor mise l' insanabil ago *. Ver. 4. 5 10 io certo a prove tante &c.] This passage, I find, has been thus corrected by Rolli, Baretti, and Mr. Hay ley : "io certo a prove tante "L'hebbi fidele, intrepido, costante, "De pensieri leggiadri accorto, e buono." And Cowper translates the last of these lines, "Good, and addicted to conceptions high." Richardson, however, who has translated part of this Sonnet in his Life of Milton, conforms to the poet's own reading and pointing : "De pensieri leggiadro, accorto, e buono." ""Tis honest, steady, and not soon afraid, "Genteel of thought, but knows no cunning art." Todd. * Milton had a natural severity of mind. For love-verses, his Italian Sonnets have a remarkable air of gravity and dignity. They are free from the metaphysicks of Petrarch, and are more in VII. On his being arrived to the age of 23*. How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, Stoln on his wing my three and twentieth year! the manner of Dante. Yet he calls his seventh Sonnet, in a Letter printed from the Cambridge manuscript by Birch, a composition in the Petrarchian stanza. In 1762, the late Mr. Thomas Hollis examined the Laurentian library at Florence, for six Italian Sonnets of Milton, addressed to his friend Chimentelli ; and for other Italian and Latin compositions and various original letters, said to be remaining in manuscript at Florence. He searched also for an original bust in marble of Milton, supposed to be somewhere in that city. But he was unsuccessful in his curious inquiries. T. WARTON. Mr. Hayley justly considers this Sonnet as a very spirited and singular sketch of the poet's own character. ToDD. SONNET VII. Written at Cambridge in 1631, and sent in a letter to a friend, who had importuned our author to take orders. Of this letter there are two draughts in the Trinity manuscript. He there says, you object" that I have given up myself to dream away my years in the arms of studious retirement, like Endymion with the moon on Latmus hill." He calls this Sonnet, “my nightward thoughts some time since, made up in a Petrarchian stanza." T. WARTON. Ver. 1. How soon hath Time, &c.] Robert Baron, who, in his Cyprian Academy, has made very free with Milton's early poems, transfers the expression in this and the next line into his Pocula Castalia, 1650, p. 27. "Thercutus, when bald Time upon his wing TODD. Ver. 2. Stoln on his wing &c.] Mr. Bowle here cites All's well that ends well, A. v S. iii. |