NOTES PSALM CXIV. 1624. This and the following paraphrase are interesting chiefly because they are the work of the boy Milton. They show the good workmanship of the young versifier,-good rhetoric rather than good poetry; his natural leaning toward scriptural subjects; and something of his tastes in reading. The influence of Sylvester, the translator of Du Bartas, seems to have been noticed by all the commentators since Mr. Charles Dunster called attention to it in 1800. (Considerations on Milton's Early Reading. Referred to by Todd, 1801; Masson, 1890.) Du Bartas (1544-1590) was a French poet, whose Semaine ou Création du Monde was extremely popular. It was translated into English, under the title of Divine Weekes and Workes, by Josuah Sylvester (15631618). Milton must have come in contact with this translation, and was doubtless influenced by it. Here is the beginning of the poem, which dealt with the scriptural account of the creation: 'Thou glorious Guide of Heav'ns star-glistring motion, O Father, grant I sweetly warble forth And grant, therein Thy power I may discern; -Quoted from Edition of 1641. Spenser's influence over Milton at this time has been mentioned by commentators, who have not, however, given very convincing evidence from these paraphrases. The influence of Sylvester seems paramount. 1. Terah's. Gen. xi. 24-32. 3. Pharian. Egyptian. Derivation not certain: there is an island in the Bay of Alexandria called Pharos. 6. A not infrequent construction: plural subject and singular verb. But the two subjects may be thought of as one thing (in our immediate time Kipling writes, 'The tumult and the shouting dies'-Recessional). In some dialects the s (our sign of the singular) was a plural ending. The student must be careful not to regard as 'bad grammar' constructions with which he is not familiar. Good grammar is merely good custom recorded; and good customs may change. Cf. Lycidas 7, note, p. 252. 7. That. Object of saw. 9. Note the change of tense. PSALM CXXXVI. 1624. 5. blaze. Blazon. Cf. Arcades 74. 10. That. The 1673 edition here reads 'Who,' as also in l. 13, 17, 21, 25. That' is the reading of 1645. 'Who' is undoubtedly the better word, but as the main reason for printing these paraphrases is to show the work of the youthful poet, it seems best to retain the earlier reading. 46. Erythræan main. The Red Sea. ¿pulpós is the Greek word for 'red.' 65. Seon. Cf. Numbers xxi. 21-25. 66. Amorrean. This adjective for the coast of the Amorites seems, as Todd suggests, to indicate that Milton had Buchanan's Latin translation of the Psalms before him. Buchanan uses Amorrhæum and Amorrhæis (as well as Pharius for Egyptian,' for which cf. 1. 3 of the precedThe coast' was the east coast of the ing paraphrase). Dead Sea. 69. Og. Cf. Numbers xxi. 33-35. ON THE DEATH OF A FAIR INFANT. close of 1625). 1626 (or at the The fair infant was the niece of Milton, the daughter of his elder sister, Anne Milton [Phillips]. The child was but a few months old. It was the brother of this child, Edward Phillips (1630-1696?), whose memoir of his uncle is so important to students of Milton. According to Milton's usage, 'anno ætatis 17' means ' at seventeen years of age,' not 'in his seventeenth year.' The expression is placed above the title in the edition of 1673, not beneath the title; probably, as Masson suggests, to prevent anyone from reading in one glance: 'a fair infant dying of a cough anno ætatis 17' ! 1. Cf. Shakespeare's Passionate Pilgrim x. 2. timelessly. untimely (adv.). and 5. amorous on. Shakespeare uses both amorous on " amorous of': amorous on Hero,' (Much Ado II. i. 162); 'amorous of their strokes' (Antony and Cleopatra II. ii. 202). 8. Aquilo. Boreas; the north wind. his. Winter's. 9 Athenian damsel. Orithyia, daughter of the Athenian king, Erechtheus, was carried off by Boreas. 10. He. Winter. touched his deity full near. Nearly impugned his divinity, or came 'home' to his godship. 12. infamous. Probably had the accent on second syllable. Spencer (F. Q. III. vi. 13) used the same expresșion with same accent; Shakespeare accents the ante penult (I. Henry VI. IV. i, 30; Antony and Cleopatra IV. ix. 19) in the two cases in which he uses the word. 16. middle empire. The middle air lay beneath the æther, which Homer describes as extending over the abode of the gods' (Browne); or merely between heaven and earth' (Keightley). See Century Dictionary: ether. Verity in a note on P. L. i. 516, refers to a medieval theory indicating the division of the air into three regions, or strata, the middle one of which was the place of clouds and vapors, and was very cold. 25. Hyacinth. A beautiful youth, whom Apollo accidentally killed at quoits. From his blood grew the 'purple flower' that we call hyacinth. Eurotas. The principal river of Sparta. 28. Note that so is here an emphatic word. 31. wormy bed. A Shakespearean expression: Midsummer Night's Dream III. ii. 384 (Warton). 32. low. In the sense of deep. 33. for pity. Could Heaven, in all pity, doom thee? doom. In the earlier sense, judge. 34. In answer, not to the question of the preceding line, but to the suppositions of lines 29–32. 36. resolve me. As frequently in Shakespeare, ‘inform me.' 'What, master, read you? first resolve me that' (Taming of the Shrew IV. ii. 7). 39. high first-moving sphere. The primum mobile, for which, consult the dictionary; also the note on Vac. Ex. 34, p. 183. 44. Shaked. Also used by Shakespeare, e. g., Cymbeline I. v. 76. 47. Earth's sons. The Titans. It was another race, the Giants, that besieged Olympus; but it is not necessary, as some commentators have done (Browne, Rolfe), to charge Milton with an error in scholarship; the poet merely asks, Did the Titans, of late, besiege? etc. 48. sheeny. bright and shining. thou some goddess fled. 'Fled' may be a participle, in which case supply 'wert' after 'thou'; or it may be a preterite, in which case supply 'as' before 'some.' 50. that just maid. Astræa lived on the earth in the She was the goddess of innocence, and returned to heaven when the world become corrupt. golden age. 53. [Mercy,] This word was suggested by John Heskin, in 1750, to fill the obvious lacuna (Warton). It has been generally adopted. 55. heavenly brood. The virtues. 57. golden-winged host. The angels. 58. human weed. The garment of flesh, not the garments of people. 59. prefixed. That which has been fixed upon before. 60. abode. Time (not place) of abiding. 68. The plague was afflicting London at this time. · 69. smart. Keen pain,' as used by Shakespeare, e. g., Troilus and Cressida IV. iv. 20. A good deal of explanation is needed to make this poem intelligible, and it was probably not really appreciated until Professor Masson made clear the character of the occasion at which the poem was read. In brief, after the close of the Easter term most of the students of the University met, as was customary, to hold some high festival, part serious, perhaps, part prank. Milton was chosen 'Father,' with duties like those of a chairman or toastmaster; duties that he elaborately, if not laboriously, performed. He began with a Latin address, more than half seriously justifying the occasion, on the subject: Exer |