Milton's Comus

NOTES. “Of Court it seems men Courtesy do call, For that it there most useth to abound.” 327. less warranted , i.e. when I have less guarantee of safety. Guarantee and warrant , like guard and ward , guile and wile , are radically the same. 329. Eye me , i.e. look on me. To eye a person now usually implies watching narrowly or suspiciously. square , accommodate, adjust. The adj. ‘proportioned’ is here used proleptically, denoting the result of the action indicated by the verb ‘square.’ Comp. M. for M. v. 1: “Thou ’rt said to have a stubborn soul, ... And squar’st thy life accordingly.” Exeunt , i.e. they go out, they leave the stage. 331. Unmuffle , uncover yourselves. To muffle is to cover up, e.g. ‘to muffle the throat,’ ‘a muffled sound,’ etc. Muffle (subst.) is a diminutive of muff . 332. wont’st , i.e. art wont. Wont’st is here apparently the 2nd person singular, present tense, of a verb to wont = to be accustomed; hence also the participle wonted ( Il Pens. 37, “keep thy wonted state”). But the M.E. verb was wonen , to dwell or be accustomed, and its participle woned or wont . The fact that wont was a participle being forgotten, it was treated as a distinct verb, and a new participle formed, viz., wonted (= won-ed-ed); from this again comes the noun wontedness . Milton, however, uses wont as a present only twice in his poetry: as in modern English he uses it as a noun (= custom) or as a participial adj. with the verb to be ( Il Pens. 123, “As she was wont”). benison , blessing: radically the same as ‘benediction’ (Lat. benedictio ). 333. Stoop thy pale visage , etc. Comp. l. 1023 and Il Pens. 72, “ Stooping through a fleecy cloud.” ‘Visage,’ a word now mostly used with a touch of contempt, in Milton simply denotes ‘face’: see Il Pens. 13, “saintly visage ”; Lyc. 62, “His gory visage down the stream was sent.” amber : comp. L’Alleg. 61, “Robed in flames and amber light,” and Tennyson: “What time the amber morn Forth gushes from beneath a low-hung cloud.” 334. disinherit , drive out, dispossess. Comp. Two Gent. iii. 2. 87, “This or else nothing, will inherit ( i.e. obtain possession of) her.” 336. Influence ... dammed up . The verb here shows that influence is employed in its strict sense, = a flowing in (Lat. in and fluo ): it was thus used in astrology to denote “an influent course of the planets, their virtue being infused into, or their course working on, inferior creatures”; comp. L’Alleg. 112, “whose bright eyes Rain influence ”; Par. Lost , iv. 669, “with kindly heat Of various influence .” Astrology has left many traces upon the English language, e.g. influence, disastrous, ill-starred, ascendant, etc. See also l. 360 . 337. taper ; here a vocative, the verb being “visit (thou).” 338. though a rush candle , i.e. ‘though it be only a rush-candle’; a rush light, obtained from the pith of a rush dipped in oil. 340. long levelled rule ; straight horizontal beam of light: comp. Par. Lost , iv. 543, “the setting sun ... Levelled his evening rays.” The instrument with which straight lines are drawn is called a rule or ruler. 341. star of Arcady Or Tyrian Cynosure ; here put by synecdoche for ‘lode-star.’ More particularly, the star of Arcady signifies any of the stars in the constellation of the Great Bear, by which Greek sailors steered; and ‘Tyrian Cynosure’ signifies the stars comprising that part of the constellation of the Lesser Bear which, from its shape, was called Cynosura , the dog’s tail (Greek κυνὸς οὐρά ), and by which Phoenician or Tyrian sailors steered. See L’Alleg. 80, “The cynosure of neighbouring eyes,” where the word is used as a common noun = point of attraction. Both constellations are connected in Greek mythology with the Arcadian nymph Callisto, who was turned by Zeus into the Great Bear while her son Arcas became the Lesser Bear. Milton follows the Roman poets in associating these stars with Arcadia on this account. 343. barred , debarred or barred from . 344. wattled cotes : enclosures made of hurdles, i.e. frames of plaited twigs. Cote , cot , and coat are varieties of the same word = a covering or enclosure. 345. oaten stops : see Lyc. 33, “the oaten flute”; 88, “But now my oat proceeds”; 188, “the tender stops of various quills .” The shepherd’s pipe, being at first a row of oaten stalks, “the oaten pipe,” “oat,” etc., came to denote any instrument of this kind and even to signify “pastoral poetry.” The ‘stops’ are the holes over which the player’s fingers are placed, also called vent-holes or “ventages” ( Ham. iii. 2. 372). See also note on ‘azurn,’ l. 893. 346. whistle ... lodge , i.e. the sound of the shepherd calling his dog by whistling. Or it may be used in the same sense as in L’Alleg. 63, “the ploughman whistles o’er the furrowed land.” 347. Count ... dames : comp. L’Alleg. 52, “the cock ... Stoutly struts his dames before”; 114, “Ere the first cock his matin rings.” Grammatically, ‘count’ (infinitive) forms with ‘cock’ the complex object of ‘might hear.’ 349. innumerous , innumerable (Lat. innumerus ). Comp. Par. Lost , vii. 455, “ Innumerous living creatures”; ix. 1089. 350. hapless , unfortunate. Many words, such as happy, lucky, fortunate, etc., which strictly refer to a person’s hap or chance, whether good or bad, have become restricted to good hap: in order to give them an unfavourable meaning a negative prefix or suffix is necessary. With reference to the word fortune , Max Müller says: “We speak of good and evil fortune, so did the French, and so did the Romans. By itself fortuna was taken either in a good or a bad sense, though it generally meant good fortune. Whenever there could be any doubt, the Romans defined fortuna by such adjectives as bona , secunda , prospera , for good; mala or adversa for bad fortune ... Fortuna came to mean something like chance.” 351. her , herself. On the reflexive use of her , see note , l. 163. 352. burs ; burrs, prickly seed-vessels of certain plants, e.g. the burr-thistle, the burdock (= the burr-dock), etc. 355. leans . As Milton frequently omits the nominative, we may supply she : otherwise leans would be intransitive and its nominative ‘head’: see note , l. 715. fraught , freighted, filled. Freight is itself a later form of fraught : in Sams. Agon. , 1075, fraught is a noun (Ger. fracht , a load). See line 732 . 356. What , etc. The ellipses may be supplied thus: “What (shall be done) if (she be) in wild amazement?” 358. savage hunger . ‘Hunger’ is put by synecdoche for hungry animals. 359. over-exquisite , i.e. too curious, over-inquisitive. Exquisite is here used in the sense of inquisitive ; in modern English ‘exquisite’ has a passive sense only, while ‘inquisitive’ has an active sense (Lat. quaero , to seek): see note , l. 714. “The dialogue between the two brothers is an amicable contest between fact and philosophy. The younger draws his arguments from common apprehension, and the obvious appearance of things; the elder proceeds on a profounder knowledge, and argues from abstracted principles. Here the difference of their ages is properly made subservient to a contrast of character” (Warton). 360. To cast the fashion , i.e. to prejudge the form. ‘To cast’ was common in the sense of to calculate or compute; see Shakespeare, ii. Henry IV. i. 1. 166, “You cast the event of war.” Some think, however, that the word has here its still more restricted sense as used in astrology, e.g. “to cast a nativity”; others see in it a reference to the founder’s art; and others to medical diagnosis. 361. Grant they be so : a concessive clause = granted that the evils turn out to be what you imagined. The alternative is given in l. 364 . 362. What need , etc., i.e. why should a man anticipate his hour of sorrow. ‘What’ = for what (Lat. quid ): comp. l. 752 ; also On Shakespeare , 6, “ What need’st thou such weak witness of thy name?” On the verb need Abbott, § 297, says: “It is often found with ‘what,’ where it is sometimes hard to say whether ‘what’ is an adverb and ‘need’ a verb, or ‘what’ an adjective and ‘need’ a noun. ‘What need the bridge much broader than the flood?’ M. Ado , i. 1. 318; either ‘ why need the bridge (be) broader?’ or ‘ what need is there (that) the bridge (be) broader?’” 363. Compare Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, “rather bear those ills we have,” etc.; and Pope’s Essay on Man , “Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate,” etc. 366. to seek , at a loss. Compare Par. Lost , viii. 197: “Unpractised, unprepared, and still to seek .” Bacon, in Adv. of Learning , has: “Men bred in learning are perhaps to seek in points of convenience.” 367. unprincipled in virtue’s book , i.e. ignorant of the elements of virtue. A principle (Lat. principium , beginning) is a fundamental truth; hence the current sense of ‘unprincipled,’ implying that the man who has no fixed rules of life is the one who will readily fall into evil. Comp. Sams. Agon. 760, “wisest and best men ... with goodness principled .” 368. bosoms , holds within itself. The nom. is ‘goodness.’ ‘Peace’ is governed by ‘in,’ l. 367 . 369. As that , etc. This is an adverbial clause of consequence to ‘unprincipled’; in modern English such a clause would be introduced by ‘that,’ and in Elizabethan English either by ‘as’ or ‘that.’ Here we have both connectives together. single : see note , l. 204. noise, sound. 370. Not being in danger , i.e. she not being in danger: absolute construction. This parenthetical line is equivalent to a conditional clause—‘if she be not in danger, the mere want of light and noise need not disquiet her.’ 371. constant , steadfast. 372. misbecoming : see note on ‘misused,’ l. 47. plight , condition. Skeat derives this word from A.S. pliht , danger; others connect it with pledge . It is distinct from plight , l. 301 . 373. Virtue could see , etc. The best commentary on this line is in lines 381-5 : comp. Spenser: “Virtue gives herself light through darkness for to wade,” F. Q. i. 1. 12. 375. flat sea : comp. Lyc. 98, “level brine”: Lat. aequor , a flat surface, used of the sea. 376. seeks to , applies herself to. This use of seek is common in the English Bible: see Deut. xii. 5, “ unto his habitation shall ye seek ”; Isaiah , viii. 19, xi. 10, xix. 3; i. Kings , x. 24. 377. her best nurse, Contemplation . The wise man loves contemplation and solitude: comp. Il Penseroso , 51, where “the Cherub Contemplation” is the “first and chiefest” of Melancholy’s companions. In Sidney’s Arcadia , “Solitariness” is “the nurse of these contemplations.” 378. plumes . Some would read prunes , both words being used of a bird’s smoothing or trimming its feathers—or (more strictly) picking out damaged feathers. See Skeat’s Dictionary , and compare Pope’s line, “Where Contemplation prunes her ruffled wings.” 379. various , varied: comp. l. 22 . The ‘bustle of resort’ is in L’Allegro the ‘busy hum of men.’ 380. all to-ruffled . Milton wrote “all to ruffled,” which may be interpreted in various ways: (1) all to-ruffled, (2) all too ruffled, (3) all-to ruffled. The first of these is given in the text as it is etymologically correct: to is an intensive prefix as in ‘to-break’ = to break in pieces; ‘to-tear’ = to tear asunder, etc.; while all (= quite) is simply an adverb modifying to-ruffled . But about 1500 A.D. this idiom was misunderstood, and the prefix to was detached from the verb and either read along with all (thus all-to = altogether), or confused with too (thus all-to = too too, decidedly too). It is doubtful in which sense Milton used the phrase; like Shakespeare, he may have disregarded its origin. See Morris, § 324; Abbott, §§ 28, 436. 381. He that has light , etc. Comp. Par. Lost , i. 254: ‘The mind is its own place,’ etc. 382. centre , i.e. centre of the earth: comp. Par. Lost i. 686, “Men also ... Ransacked the centre ”; and Hymn Nat. 162, “The aged Earth ... Shall from the surface to the centre shake.” Sometimes the word ‘centre’ was used of the Earth itself, the fixed centre of the whole universe according to the Ptolemaic system. The idea here conveyed, however, is not that of immovability (as in Par. Reg. iv. 534, “as a centre firm”) but of utter darkness. 385. his own dungeon : comp. Sams. Agon. 156, “Thou art become (O worst imprisonment!) The dungeon of thyself.” 386. most affects : has the greatest liking for. It now generally denotes rather a feigned than a real liking: comp. pretend . Lines 386-392 may be compared with Il Pens. 167-174. 393. Hesperian tree . An allusion to the tree on which grew the golden apples of Juno, which were guarded by the Hesperides and the sleepless dragon Ladon. Hence the reference to the ‘dragon watch’: comp. Tennyson’s Dream of Fair Women , 255, “Those dragon eyes of anger’d Eleanor Do hunt me, day and night.” See also ll. 981-983 . 395. unenchanted , superior to all the powers of enchantment, not to be enchanted. Similarly Milton has ‘unreproved’ for ‘not reprovable,’ ‘unvalued’ for ‘invaluable,’ etc.; and Shakespeare has ‘unavoided’ for ‘inevitable,’ ‘imagined’ for ‘imaginable,’ etc. Abbott (§ 375) says: The passive participle is often used to signify, not that which was and is , but that which was and therefore can be hereafter ; in other words -ed is used for -able . 396. Compare Chaucer, Doctor’s Tale , 44, “She flowered in virginity, With all humility and abstinence.” 398. unsunned , hidden. Comp. Cym. ii. 5. 13, “As chaste as unsunned snow”; F. Q. ii. 7, “Mammon ... Sunning his treasure hoar.” 400. as bid me hope , etc. The construction is, ‘as (you may) bid me (to) hope (that) Danger will wink on Opportunity and (that Danger will) let a single helpless maiden pass uninjured.’ 401. Danger will wink on , etc., i.e. danger will shut its eyes to an opportunity. To wink on or wink at is to connive, to refuse to see something: comp. Macbeth , i. 4. 52, “The eye wink at the hand”; Acts , xvii. 30. Warton notes a similar argument by Rosalind in As You Like It , i. 3. 113: “Beauty provoketh thieves sooner than gold.” 403. surrounding . Milton is said to be the first author of any note who uses this word in its current sense of ‘encompassing,’ which it has acquired through a supposed connection with round . Shakespeare does not use it. Its original sense is ‘to overflow’ (Lat. superundare ). 404. it recks me not , i.e. I do not heed: an impersonal use of the old verb reck (A.S. récan , to care). Comp. Lyc. 122, “What recks it them.” 405. dog them both , i.e. follow closely upon night and loneliness. Comp. All’s Well , iii. 4. 15, “death and danger dogs the heels of worth.” 407. unownèd , i.e. ‘thinking her to be unowned,’ or ‘as if unowned.’ Milton thus, as in Latin, frequently condenses a clause into a participle. 408. infer , reason, argue. This use of the word is obsolete. See Shakespeare, iii. Hen. VI. ii. 2. 44, “ Inferring arguments of mighty force”; K. John , iii. 1. 213, “Need must needs infer this principle”: also Par. Lost , viii. 91, “great or bright infers not excellence.” 409. without all doubt , i.e. beyond all doubt: a Latinism = sine omni dubitatione . 411. arbitrate the event , judge of the result. The meaning is ‘Where the result depends equally upon circumstances to be hoped and to be dreaded I incline to hope.’ 413. squint suspicion . Compare Quarles: “Heart-gnawing Hatred, and squint-eyed Suspicion.” To look askance or sideways frequently indicates suspicion. 419. if Heaven gave it , i.e. even although Heaven gave it. 420. ’Tis chastity . “The passage which begins here and ends at line 475 is a concentrated expression of the moral of the whole Masque, and an exposition also of a cardinal idea of Milton’s philosophy” (Masson). 421. clad in complete steel , i.e. completely armed; comp. Hamlet , i. 4. 52, where the phrase occurs. The accent is on the first syllable. 422. quivered nymph . The chaste Diana of the Romans was armed with bow and quiver; and Shakespeare makes virginity “Diana’s livery.” So in Spenser, Belphoebe, the personification of Chastity, has “at her back a bow and quiver gay.” ‘Quivered’ is the Latin pharetrata . 423. trace , traverse, track. unharboured , affording no shelter. Radically, a harbour is a lodging or shelter. 424. Infámous , having a bad name, ill-famed: a Latinism. The word now implies disgrace or guilt. It is here accented on the penult. 425. sacred rays : comp. l. 782 . 426. bandite or mountaineer . ‘Bandite’ (in Shakespeare bandetto , and now bandit ) is borrowed from the Italian bandito , outlawed or banned . ‘Mountaineer,’ here used in a bad sense. In modern English it has reverted to its original sense—a dweller in mountains. The dwellers in mountains are often fierce and readily become freebooters: hence the changes of meaning. See Temp. iii. 3. 44, “Who would believe that there were mountaineers Dew-lapp’d like bulls”; also Cym. iv. 2. 120, “Who called me traitor, mountaineer .” 428. very desolation . Very (as an adj.) = true or real and may be traced to Lat. verus = true: comp. l. 646 . 429. shagged ... shades . ‘Shagged’ is rugged or shaggy, and ‘horrid’ is probably used in the Latin sense of ‘rough’: see note , l. 38. 430. unblenched , undaunted, unflinching. This word, sometimes confounded with ‘unblanched,’ is from blench , a causal of blink . 431. Be it not : a conditional clause = on condition that it be not. 432. Some say , etc. Compare Hamlet , i. 1. 158: “Some say that, ever against that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long: And then, they say, no spirit dares stir abroad.” 433. In fog or fire , etc. Comp. Il Pens. 93, “those demons that are found In fire, air, flood, or underground”: an allusion to the different orders and powers of demons as accepted in the Middle Ages. Burton, in his Anat. of Mel. , quotes from a writer who thus enumerates the kinds of sublunary spirits—“fiery, aerial, terrestrial, watery, and subterranean, besides fairies, satyrs, nymphs, etc.” 434. meagre hag , lean witch. Hag is from A.S. haegtesse , a prophetess or witch. Comp. Par. Lost , ii. 662; M. W. of W. iv. 2. 188, “Come down, you witch, you hag .” unlaid ghost , unpacified or wandering spirit. It was a superstition that ghosts left the world of spirits and wandered on the earth from the hour of curfew (see Temp. v. 1. 40; King Lear , iii. 4. 120, “This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet; he begins at curfew,” etc.) until “the first cock his matin rings” ( L’Alleg. 14). ‘Curfew’ (Fr. couvre-feu = fire-cover), the bell that was rung at eight or nine o’clock in the evening as a signal that all fires and lights were to be extinguished. 436. swart faery of the mine . In Burton’s Anat. of Mel. we read, “Subterranean devils are as common as the rest, and do as much harm. Olaus Magnus makes six kinds of them, some bigger, some less. These are commonly seen about mines of metals,” etc. Warton quotes from an old writer: “Pioneers or diggers for metal do affirm that in many mines there appear strange shapes and spirits who are apparelled like unto the labourers in the pit.” ‘Swart’ (also swarty , swarth , and swarthy ) here means black: in Scandinavian mythology these subterranean spirits were called the Svartalfar , or black elves. Comp. Lyc. 138, “the swart star,” where ‘swart’ = swart making. 438. Do ye believe . Ye is properly a second person plural, but (like you ) is frequently used as a singular: for examples, see Abbott, § 236. 439. old schools of Greece . The brother now turns for his arguments from the mediaeval mythology of Northern Europe to the ancient legends of Greece. 440. to testify , to bear witness to: comp. l. 248 , 421 . 441. Dian . Diana was the huntress among the immortals: she was insensible to the bolts of Cupid, i.e. to the power of love. She was the protectress of the flocks and game from beasts of prey, and at the same time was believed to send plagues and sudden deaths among men and animals. Comp. the song to Cynthia (Diana) in Cynthia’s Revels , v. 1, “Queen and huntress, chaste and fair,” etc. 442. silver-shafted queen . The epithet is applicable to Diana both as huntress and goddess of the moon: as the former she bore arrows which were frequently called shafts , and as the latter she bore shafts or rays of light. Shaft is etymologically ‘a shaven rod.’ In Chaucer, C. T. 1364, ‘shaft’ = arrow. 443. brinded lioness . ‘Brinded’ = brindled or streaked. Comp. “ brinded cat,” Macb. iv. 1. 1: brind is etymologically connected with brand . 444. mountain-pard , i.e. panther or other spotted wild beast. Pard , originally a Persian word, is common in the compounds leo- pard and camelo- pard . 445. frivolous ... Cupid . See the speech of Oberon, M. N. D. ii. 1. 65. The epithet ‘frivolous’ applies to Cupid in his lower character as the wanton god of sensual love, not in his character as the fair Eros who unites all the discordant elements of the universe: see note , l. 1004. 447. snaky-headed Gorgon shield . Medusa was one of the three Gorgons, frightful beings, whose heads were covered with hissing serpents, and who had wings, brazen claws, and huge teeth. Whoever looked at Medusa was turned into stone, but Perseus, by the aid of enchantment, slew her. Minerva (Athene) placed the monster’s head in the centre of her shield, which confounded Cupid: see Par. Lost , ii. 610. 449. freezed , froze. The adjective ‘congealed’ is used proleptically, the meaning being ‘froze into a stone so that it was congealed.’ 450. But , except: a preposition. 451. dashed , confounded: this meaning of the word is obsolete. 452. blank awe : the awe of one amazed. Comp. the phrase, ‘blank astonishment,’ and see Par. Lost , ix. 890. 454. so , i.e. chaste. 455. liveried angels lackey her , i.e. ministering angels attend her. So, in L’Alleg. 62, “the clouds in thousand liveries dight”; a servant’s livery being the distinctive dress delivered to him by his master. ‘Lackey,’ to wait upon, from ‘lackey’ (or lacquey), a footboy, who runs by the side of his master. The word is here used in a good sense, without implying servility (as in Ant. and Cleop. i. 4. 46, “ lackeying the varying tide”). ‘Her’: the soul. Milton is fond of the feminine personification: see line 396 . 457. vision : a trisyllable. 458. no gross ear . See notes, l. 112 and 997 . 459. oft converse , frequent communion. Oft is here used adjectively: this use is common in the English Bible, e.g. i. Tim. v. 23, “thine often infirmities.” 460. Begin to cast ... turns . ‘Begin’ is subjunctive; ‘turns’ is indicative: the latter may be used to convey greater certainty and vividness. 461. temple of the mind , i.e. the body. This metaphor is common: see Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 57, “There’s nothing ill can dwell in such a temple ”; and the Bible, John , ii. 21, “He spake of the temple of his body.” 462. the soul’s essence . As if, by a life of purity, the body gradually became spiritualised, and therefore partook of the soul’s immortality. 465. most , above all. 467. soul grows clotted . This doctrine is expounded in Plato’s Phaedo , in a conversation between Socrates and Cebes: Socrates (speaking of the pure soul). That soul, I say, herself invisible, departs to the invisible world—to the divine and immortal and rational: thither arriving, she is secure of bliss, and is released from the error and folly of men, their fears and wild passions and all other human ills, and for ever dwells, as they say of the initiated, in company with the gods. Is not this true, Cebes? Cebes. Yes; beyond a doubt. Soc. But the soul which has been polluted, and is impure at the time of her departure, and is the companion and servant of the body always, and is in love with and fascinated by the body and by the desires and pleasures of the body, until she is led to believe that the truth only exists in a bodily form, which a man may touch and see and taste, and use for the purposes of his lusts—the soul, I mean, accustomed to hate and fear and avoid the intellectual principle, which to the bodily eye is dark and invisible and can be attained only by philosophy;—do you suppose that such a soul will depart pure and unalloyed? Ceb. That is impossible. Soc. She is held fast by the corporeal, which the continual association and constant care of the body have wrought into her nature. Ceb. Very true. Soc. And this corporeal element, my friend, is heavy and weighty and earthy, and is that element by which such a soul is depressed and dragged down again into the visible world, because she is afraid of the invisible and of the world below—prowling about tombs and sepulchres, in the neighbourhood of which, as they tell us, are seen certain ghostly apparitions of souls which have not departed pure, but are cloyed with sight and therefore visible. Ceb. That is very likely, Socrates. Soc. Yes, that is very likely, Cebes; and these must be the souls, not of the good, but of the evil, who are compelled to wander about such places in payment of the penalty of their former evil way of life; and they continue to wander until through the craving after the corporeal which never leaves them, they are imprisoned finally in another body. And they may be supposed to find their prisons in the same natures which they have had in their former lives. Further on in the same dialogue, Socrates says: Each pleasure and pain is a sort of nail which nails and rivets the soul to the body, until she becomes like the body, and believes that to be true which the body affirms to be true; and from agreeing with the body, and having the same delights, she is obliged to have the same habits and haunts, and is not likely ever to be pure at her departure, but is always infected by the body.— Extracted from Jowett’s Translation of the Dialogues. 468. imbodies and imbrutes , i.e. becomes materialised and brutish. Imbody , ordinarily used as a transitive verb, is here intransitive. Imbrute (said to have been coined by Milton) is also intransitive; in Par. Lost , ix. 166, it is transitive. The use of the word may have been suggested by the Phaedo , where the souls of the wicked are said to “find their prisons in the same natures which they have had in their former lives,” those of gluttons and drunkards passing into asses and animals of that sort. 469. divine property . In his prose works Milton calls the soul ‘that divine particle of God’s breathing’: comp. Horace, Sat. ii. 2. 79, “affigit humo divinae particulam aurae ”; and Plato’s Phaedo , “The soul resembles the divine, and the body the mortal.” 470. gloomy shadows damp : see note , l. 207. 471. charnel-vaults , burial vaults. ‘Charnel’ (O.F. charnel , Lat. carnalis ; caro , flesh): comp. ‘carnal,’ l. 474 . 473. As loth , etc. The construction is: ‘As (being) loth to leave the body that it loved, and (as having) linked itself to a degenerate and degraded state.’ it : by syntax this pronoun refers to ‘shadows,’ or (in thought) ‘ such shadow.’ It seems best, however, to connect it with ‘soul,’ line 467 . 474. sensualty . The modern form of the word is sensuality . 475. degenerate and degraded : the former because ‘imbodied,’ the latter because ‘imbruted.’ 476. divine Philosophy , i.e. such philosophy as is to be found in “the divine volume of Plato” (as Milton has called it). 477. crabbed , sour or bitter: comp. crab-apple. Crab (a shell-fish) and crab (a kind of apple) are radically connected, both conveying the idea of scratching or pinching (Skeat). 478. Apollo’s lute : Apollo being the god of song and music. Comp. Par. Reg. i. 478-480; L. L. L. iv. 3. 342, “as sweet and musical As bright Apollo’s lute , strung with his hair.” 479. nectared sweets . Nectar (Gk. νέκταρ , the drink of the gods) is repeatedly used by Milton to express the greatest sweetness: see l. 838 ; Par. Lost , iv. 333, “Nectarine fruits”; v. 306, 426. 482. Methought : see note , l. 171. what should it be? This is a direct question about a past event, and means ‘What was it likely to be?’ “It seems to increase the emphasis of the interrogation, since a doubt about the past (time having been given for investigation) implies more perplexity than a doubt about the future” (Abbott, § 325). For certain , i.e. for certain truth, certainly. 483. night-foundered ; benighted, lost in the darkness. Radically, ‘to founder’ is to go to the bottom (Fr. fondrer ; Lat. fundus , the bottom), hence applied to ships; it is also applied to horses sinking in a slough. The compound is Miltonic (see Par. Lost , i. 204), and is sometimes stigmatised as meaningless; on the contrary, it is very expressive, implying that the brothers are swallowed up in night and have lost their way. ‘Founder’ is here used in the secondary sense of ‘to be lost’ or ‘to be in distress.’ 484. neighbour . An adjective, as in line 576 , and frequently in Shakespeare. Neighbour = nigh-boor, i.e. a peasant dwelling near. 487. Best draw : we had best draw our swords. 489. Defence is a good cause , etc., i.e. ‘in defending ourselves we are engaged in a good cause, and may Heaven be on our side.’ 490. That hallo . We are to understand that the Attendant Spirit has halloed just before entering; this is shown by the stage-direction given in the edition of Comus printed by Lawes in 1637: He hallos; the Guardian Dæmon hallos again, and enters in the habit of a shepherd. 491. you fall , etc., i.e. otherwise you will fall on our swords. 493. sure : see note , l. 246. 494. Thyrsis , Like Lycidas, this name is common in pastoral poetry. In Milton’s Epitaphium Damonis it stands for Milton himself; in Comus it belongs to Lawes, who now receives additional praise for his musical genius. In lines 86-88 the compliment is enforced by alliterative verses, and here by the aid of rhyme ( 495-512 ). Masson thinks that the poet, having spoken of the madrigals of Thyrsis, may have introduced this rhymed passage in order to prolong the feeling of Pastoralism by calling up the cadence of known English pastoral poems. 495. sweetened ... dale ; poetical exaggeration or hyperbole, implying that fragrant flowers became even more fragrant from Thyrsis’ music. 496. huddling . This conveys the two ideas of hastening and crowding: comp. Horace, Ars Poetica , 19, “Et properantis aquae per amoenos ambitus agros.” madrigal : a pastoral or shepherd’s song (Ital. mandra , a flock): such compositions, then in favour, had been made by Lawes and by Milton’s father. 497. swain : a word of common use in pastoral poetry. It denotes strictly a peasant or, more correctly, a young man: comp. the compounds boat- swain , cox- swain . See Arc. 26, “Stay, gentle swains ,” etc. 499. pent , penned, participle of pen , to shut up (A.S. pennan , which is connected with pin , seen in pin -fold, l. 7 ). forsook : a form of the past tense used for the participle. 501. and his next joy , i.e. ‘and (thou), his next joy’—words addressed to the second brother. 502. trivial toy , ordinary trifle. The phrase seems redundant, but ‘trivial’ may here be used in the strict sense of common or well-known. Compare Il Pens. 4, “fill the fixed mind with all your toys ”; and Burton’s Anat. of Mel. , “complain of toys , and fear without a cause.” 503. stealth of , things stolen by. 506. To this my errand , etc., i.e. in comparison with this errand of mine and the anxiety it involved. ‘To’ = in comparison with; an idiom common in Elizabethan English, e.g. “There is no woe to this correction,” Two Gent. ii. 4. 138. See Abbott, § 187. 508. How chance . Chance is here a verb followed by a substantive clause: ‘how does it chance that,’ etc. This idiom is common in Shakespeare (Abbott, § 37), where it sometimes has the force of an adverb (= perchance): compare Par. Lost , ii. 492: “If chance the radiant sun, with farewell sweet,” etc. 509. sadly , seriously. Radically, sad = sated or full (A.S. saed ); hence the two meanings, ‘serious’ and ‘sorrowful,’ the former being common in Spenser, Bacon, and Shakespeare. Comp. ‘some sad person of known judgment’ (Bacon); Romeo and Jul. i. 1. 205, “Tell me in sadness , who is that you love”; Par. Lost , vi. 541, “settled in his face I see Sad resolution.” See also Swinburne’s Miscellanies (1886), page 170. 510. our neglect , i.e. neglect on our part. 511. Ay me ! Comp. Lyc. 56, “Ay me! I fondly dream”; 154. This exclamatory phrase = ah me! Its form is due to the French aymi = alas, for me! and has no connection with ay or aye = yes. In this line true rhymes with shew : comp. youth and shew’th , Sonnet on his having arrived at the age of twenty-three . 512. Prithee . A familiar fusion of I pray thee , sometimes written ‘pr’ythee.’ Lines 495-512 form nine rhymed couplets. 513. ye : a dative. See note on l. 216. 514. shallow . Comp. Son. i. 6, “ shallow cuckoo’s bill,” xii a . 12; Arc. 41, “ shallow -searching Fame.” 515. sage poets . Homer and Virgil are meant; both of these mention the chimera. Milton ( Par. Lost , iii. 19) afterwards speaks of himself as “taught by the heavenly Muse.” Comp. L’Alleg. 17; Il Pens. 117, “great bards besides In sage and solemn tunes have sung.” 516. storied , related: ‘To story’ is here used actively: the past participle is frequent in the sense of ‘bearing a story or picture’; Il Pens. 159, “storied windows”; Gray’s Elegy , 41, “storied urn”; Tennyson’s “storied walls.” Story is an abbreviation of history . 517. Chimeras , monsters. Comp. the sublime passage in Par. Lost , ii. 618-628. The Chimera was a fire-breathing monster, with the head of a lion, the tail of a dragon, and the body of a goat. It was slain by Bellerophon. As a common name ‘chimera’ is used by Milton to denote a terrible monster, and is now current (in an age which rejects such fabulous creatures) in the sense of a wild fancy; hence the adj. chimerical = wild or fanciful. enchanted isles , e.g. those of Circe and Calypso, mentioned in the Odyssey . 518. rifted rocks : rifted = riven. Orpheus, in search of Eurydice, entered the lower world through the rocky jaws of Taenarus, a cape in the south of Greece (see Virgil Georg. iv. 467, Taenarias fauces ); here also Hercules emerged from Hell with the captive Cerberus. 519. such there be . See note on l. 12 for this indicative use of be . 520. navel , centre, inmost recess. Shakespeare ( Cor. iii. l. 123) speaks of the ‘navel of the state’; and in Greek Calypso’s island was ‘the navel of the sea,’ while Apollo’s temple at Delphi was ‘the navel of the earth.’ 521. Immured , enclosed. Here used generally: radically it = shut up within walls (Lat. murus , a wall). 523. witcheries , enchantments. 526. murmurs . The incantations or spells of evil powers were sung or murmured over the doomed object; sometimes they were muttered (as here) over the enchanted food or drink prepared for the victim. Comp. l. 817 and Arc. 60, “With puissant words and murmurs made to bless.” 529. unmoulding reason’s mintage charactered , i.e. defacing those signs of a rational soul that are stamped on the human face. The figure is taken from the process of melting down coins in order to restamp them. ‘Charactered’: here used in its primary sense (Gk. χαρακτήρ , an engraven or stamped mark), as in the phrase ‘printed characters.’ The word is here accented on the second syllable; in modern English on the first. 531. crofts that brow = crofts that overhang. Croft = a small field, generally adjoining a house. Brow = overhang: comp. L’Alleg. 8, “low-browed rocks.” 532. bottom glade : the glade below. The word bottom , however, is frequent in Shakespeare in the sense of ‘valley’; hence ‘bottom glade’ might be interpreted ‘glade in the valley.’ 533. monstrous rout ; see note on the stage-direction after l. 92. Comp. ‘the bottom of the monstrous world,’ Lyc. 158. In Aen. vii. 15, we read that when Aeneas sailed past Circe’s island he heard “the growling noise of lions in wrath, ... and shapes of huge wolves fiercely howling.” 534. stabled wolves , wolves in their dens. Stable (= a standing-place) is used by Milton in the general sense of abode, e.g. in Par. Lost , xi. 752, “sea-monsters whelped and stabled .” Comp. “Stable for camels,” Ezek. xxv. 5, and the Latin stabulum , Aen. vi. 179, stabula alta ferarum . 535. Hecate : see l. 135 . 536. bowers : see note , l. 45. 539. unweeting ; unwitting, unknowing. This spelling is found in Spenser’s Faerie Queene , both in the compounds and in the simple verb weet , a corruption of wit (A.S. witan , to know). Compare Par. Reg. i. 126, “ unweeting , he fulfilled The purposed counsel.” Sams. Agon. 1680; Chaucer, Doctor’s Tale , “Virginius came to weet the judge’s will.” 540. by then , i.e. by the time when. The demonstrative adverb thus implies a relative adverb: comp. the Greek, where the demonstrative is generally omitted, though in Homer occasionally the demonstrative alone is used. Another rendering is to make line 540 parenthetical. 542. knot-grass . A grass with knotted or jointed stem: some, however, suppose marjoram to be intended here. dew-besprent , i.e. besprinkled with dew: comp. Lyc. 29. Be is an intensive prefix; sprent is connected with M.E. sprengen , to scatter, of which sprinkle is the frequentative form. 543. sat me down : see note , l. 61. 544. canopied, and interwove . Comp. M. N. D. ii. 2. 49, ‘I know a bank,’ etc. In sense ‘canopied’ refers to ‘bank,’ and ‘interwove’ to ‘ivy.’ There are two forms of the past participle of weave , viz. wove and woven : see Arc. 47. 545. flaunting , showy, garish. In Lyc. 146, the poet first wrote ‘garish columbine,’ then ‘well-attired woodbine.’ 547. meditate ... minstrelsy , i.e. to sing a pastoral song: comp. Lyc. 32. 66. To meditate the muse is a Virgilian phrase: see Ecl. i. and vi. The Lat. meditor has the meaning of ‘to apply one’s self to,’ and does not mean merely to ponder. 548. had , should have: comp. l. 394 . ere a close , i.e. before he had finished his song (Masson). Close occurs in the technical sense of ‘the final cadence of a piece of music.’ 549. wonted : see note , l. 332. 550. barbarous : comp. Son. xii. 3, “a barbarous noise environs me Of owls and cuckoos, etc.” 551. listened them . The omission of to after verbs of hearing is frequent in Shakespeare and others: comp. “To listen our purpose”; “List a brief tale”; “hearken the end”; etc. (see Abbott, § 199). ‘Them’: this refers to the sounds implied in ‘dissonance.’ 552. unusual stop . This refers to what happened at l. 145 , and the “soft and solemn-breathing sound” to l. 230 . 553. drowsy frighted , i.e. drowsy and frighted. The noise of Comus’s rout is here supposed to have kept the horses of night awake and in a state of drowsy agitation until the sudden calm put an end to their uneasiness. In Milton’s corrected MS. we read ‘drowsy flighted,’ where the two words are not co-ordinate epithets but must be regarded as expressing one idea = flying drowsily; to express this some insert a hyphen. Comp. ‘dewy-feathered,’ Il Pens. 146, and others of Milton’s remarkable compound adjectives. The reading in the text is that of the printed editions of 1637, ’45, and ’73. 554. Sleep (or Night) is represented as drawn by horses in a chariot with its curtains closely drawn. Comp. Macbeth , ii. l. 51, “curtained sleep.” 555. ‘The lady’s song rose into the air so sweetly and imperceptibly that silence was taken unawares and so charmed that she would gladly have renounced her nature and existence for ever if her place could always be filled by such music.’ Comp. Par. Lost , iv. 604, “She all night long her amorous descant sung; Silence was pleased ”; also Jonson’s Vision of Delight :

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