12. The triple Tyrant. The Pope; triple referring to his triple crown, or tiara.

14. the Babylonian woe. The Roman Church: so the Puritans interpreted Revelations (xvii., xviii.).

ON HIS BLINDNESS.

Date uncertain, but after 1652, of course. It followed the Piemont sonnet (1655) in the edition of 1673.

2. ere half my days. Milton was at least forty-three (at which age his blindness became complete) when these words were written; more than half of the scriptural three score and ten years had therefore passed. It is easily possible that he was thinking of his mature days, not counting in his reckoning the years of childhood.

3. one talent. Cf. Matt. xv. 14-30.

7. Cf. John xi. 1-4.

8. fondly. Foolishly. Cf. Il Penseroso 6, note, p. 209; Lycidas 56.

12. thousands. Of angels. Spenser's Hymn to Heavenly Love (66-68) speaks of angels ready

Either with nimble wings to cut the skies
When he them on his messages doth send,
Or on his own dear presence to attend.'

TO MR. LAWRENCE. Probably near 1655.

The date is uncertain; in the edition of 1673 the sonnet follows the one On His Blindness. Masson quotes Phillips to the effect that when Milton lived in Westminster (1652– 1660), among his friends was 'Young Lawrence (the son of him that was President of Oliver's Council), to whom there is a Sonnet among the rest in his printed Poems.' This leaves us in doubt as to which of Henry Lawrence's sons is meant,-Edward, who died in 1657, æt. 24, or Henry, the younger brother, who outlived the poet. The commentators who feel that the cheerful tone of the sonnet

indicates a date previous to Milton's blindness are basing their conclusions upon a too rigid theory. Must we suppose that after he became blind Milton never had a cheerful moment? The sonnet gives us a very pleasant glimpse of the mature man's friendship with the young man who won this immortality of praise.

I. of virtuous father. A prominent Parliament man, who in 1654 was made President of the Council of State. Later, in 1657, he became a member of the House of Lords. The turn of expression undoubtedly follows Horace's O matre pulchra filia pulchrior.

4-5. Gaining from the hard season what may be won. 6. Favonius. Another name for Zephyrus, the west wind.

8. Cf. Matt. vi. 28.

10. Attic. Here a synonym of 'refined,' ' delicate.'

12. Tuscan air. Verity reminds us that Milton while in Italy 'purchased a quantity of Italian music and shipped it home from Venice.' Cf. Masson's Life I. 831.

13-14. spare to interpose them oft. Refrain from too frequent indulgence in these pleasures. Note the value of interpose': delights placed in between weightier things, as if of purely secondary importance.

Date uncertain.

TO CYRIACK SKINNER.

The reference to the Swede and the French is of no service in fixing the time, for they 'intended' things after as well as before the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Cyriack Skinner was a frequent visitor at Milton's house, we are told by Phillips; a man older than Lawrence of the preceding sonnet, and seemingly one of more solid achievement and intellectual maturity. Lawrence one fancies to have been a man of artistic tastes, Skinner a vigorous thinker. The two sonnets differ delicately in tone; the slight note of warning in the first-not

too frequently to interpose delights-becomes in the second a gentle remonstrance against too strenuous work.

1. grandsire. Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), the famous jurist, member of Parliament, and opponent of the Stuarts, was the maternal grandfather of Cyriack Skinner.

2. Themis, usually accounted to be the goddess of law, is also referred to by Milton (P. L. xi. 14) as presiding over the oracle at Delphi. 'British Themis' may therefore be a figurative expression, not for British law, but for the British oracle, or court of final appeal.

3. his volumes. Among them, the 'Reports,' and ' Institutes.'

7. Indicating obviously the nature of Skinner's studies. 8. intends. The 1673 reading, followed by Masson, is 'intend.' 'Intends,' the more usual reading, has the authority of the MS. (amanuensis hand).

The line has a Horatian reminiscence in it (Od. II. ii.). 12. that care show. The kind of care that seems

wise.

14. refrains from enjoying it.

TO THE SAME. 1655, in all probability.

1. this three year's day. 1652 is the year during which Milton became completely blind.

though clear, etc. In the Defensie Secunda (1654) Milton had previously spoken of the same thing: though blind, his eyes were not changed in appearance.

10. conscience. Consciousness. Milton does not use the word consciousness' in his verse; nor does Shakespeare. II. In Liberty's defence. The Defensio pro Populo Anglicano was written in full knowledge that persistent application to his task would bring to the writer more speedily the blindness that was perhaps inevitable; but Milton did not falter in what he conceived to be his duty.

12. talks. The usual (and unwarranted) reading is

'rings,'—a change made by Phillips, although the MS. (amanuensis) gives 'talks.' Phillips has been followed by a long line of editors (among them: Todd, Brydges, Mitford, Keightley, Masson-with a qualm of conscience, Browne, Rolfe). It is a pleasure to help to restore the true reading. 'Talks' is a word in better taste and gives the line a dignity and reserve strength that are very grateful as a substitute for the picturesque self-praise of the line as usually printed and quoted. The first line of the sonnet to Fairfax, frequently quoted in connection with the line in question, does not affect the matter, although it may possibly have been in Phillips' ears when he made his unauthorized alteration. Verity has talks.' 13. vain mask. Cf. Ps. xxxix. 6. Mask as in 'Comus, a Mask'; here used figuratively for the 'vain shew' of the world.

ON HIS DECEASED WIFE.

Catharine Woodcock, Milton's second wife, died in February, 1657-8. The sonnet then belongs without much question in the year 1658. The fact that Milton never saw his wife makes peculiarly poignant those images that express his vision of her.

2. Alcestis, the wife of King Admetus, was brought back from death by Hercules, 'Jove's great son.' The story is the subject of one of the most beautiful of Greek tragedies, the Alcestis of Euripides. Browning's Balaustion's Adventure contains a spirited translation of the tragedy. 6. Cf. Leviticus xii.

THE FIFTH ODE OF HORACE.

Date uncertain; probably after 1645, as it does not appear in the 1645 edition. Printed in the 1673 edition, immediately after the Sonnets. The Latin original was also printed, as if Milton felt very sure that his translation

--

was good, as it is. The word 'English'd' occurs in the table of contents; the rest of the title in the body of the book is as here given. The words according to the Latin measure' cannot be taken literally, even in connection with the qualifying clause that follows them.

SAMSON AGONISTES.

Samson Agonistes was published, in the same volume with Paradise Regained, in 1671. The exact date of its composition is not known; but without much doubt it was after 1667 (the date of publication of Paradise Lost). In July, 1670, the poem was licensed to be printed.

Nearly thirty years before, Milton had thought of the story of Samson as a possible subject for dramatic treatment. The Cambridge MS. contains a long list of titles (drawn up probably about 1641-2), among which appear,Samson pursophorus * or Hybristes, or Samson marriing or in Ramath Lechi Jud. 15'; and on the next line,Dagonalia. Jud. 16.' Masson takes these to be two subjects; Verity suggests either four or five. The MS. shows that Samson in Ramath Lechi' and 'Dagonalia' were the original entries; the words 'marriing or' were then inserted: and then, either as two titles or as one, Samson pursophorus or Hybristes' (violent). Many other scriptural subjects, suited to dramatic treatment, were also noted by Milton at this time, but when the opportunity came it is easy to see why he chose as his tragic subject the blind Samson struggling against his persecutors. Agonistes' means an athlete or wrestler who strives for * Verity's supposition that this word may be purgophorus is untenable. The fourth letter looks a little like a careless modern g, but is exactly like Milton's s, and not at all like Milton's g, letters that appear frequently on the same page. 'Purgophorus' would mean 'tower-bearing,' and 'would refer to Samson's carrying away the gates of Gaza.' But Milton would not call a gate a tower. 'Pursophorus means a fire-brand bringer,' a clear reference to Judges xv. 4-5•