(3) That there is an allusion to the "two-edged sword" which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Living One (see Rev. i. 16). (4) That the poet refers to the powers of the pure Gospel as contained in the Old and New Testaments.

(5) That the English Parliament with its two Houses is meant, "the agency by which, three or four years afterwards, the doors of the Church of England were dashed in."

(6) That it denotes civil and ecclesiastical power. See note on Son. xvii. 12.

132. The poet again descends to the level of the ordinary pastoral, though it should be observed that in lines 113-131 he has skilfully adapted pastoral language to an unusual theme. The "dread voice" is the voice of St. Peter, and it is to this passage that Milton refers in the sub-title to the poem prefixed on its republication in 1645. "In 1638 it had been bold enough to let the passage stand in the poem, as published in the Cambridge memorial volume, without calling attention to it in the title" (Masson).

muse.

Alpheus: see Arc. 30, note.

133. That shrunk thy streams, i.e. which silenced my pastoral The figure is a Scriptural one : "The waters stood above the mountains; at thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away," Psalm, civ. 7. 'Shrunk' is here used in an active or causal sense = made to shrink, as in the phrase 'to shrink cloth.'

1. 85.

Sicilian Muse, the muse of pastoral poetry: see note on

134. hither cast, i.e. come hither and cast. Compare the Lat. idiom, se in silvas abdiderunt, "they hid themselves into the woods," i.e. "they went into the woods and hid there," Ovid. See also 1. 139.

135. bells, bell-shaped blossoms. Plants with bell-shaped flowers are technically called 'campanulate' (Ital. campana, a bell).

flowerets: 'floweret' is diminutive of 'flower.'

136. use,

dwell, frequent. The verb is quite obsolete in this sense: comp. note, 1. 67. In Spenser we find, "In these strange ways, where never foot did use.

137. The construction is, "Where the mild whispers of shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks, dwell."

138. lap; by a common figure we speak of 'the lap of earth,' 'the earth's bosom,' etc.: comp. Gray's Elegy, "Here rests his head upon the lap of earth"; also Rich. II. v. 2, "the green lap of the new-come spring. The word has no connection with 'lap' wrap (L'Alleg. 136).

=

the swart star sparely looks, i.e. "where the influence of the burning dog-star is scarcely felt," the flowers being therefore fresh and bright. The swart star is Sirius or Canicula, a star just in the mouth of the constellation Canis, hence called the dog-star (Lat. canis, a dog). Hence also the term "dog days." To the Greeks and Romans this star appeared at the hottest time of the year, and was by them regarded as the cause of the great heat. It is therefore here called 'swart,' .e. swart-making, because by exposure to heat the face becomes swarthy or brown. Milton frequently transfers an epithet from the object of an action to the agent: comp. "oblivious pool" = pool that makes one oblivious (Par. Lost, i. 266), "forgetful lake," etc. There are four forms of the adjective: the earliest is swart, then swarty, swarth, and finally swarthy: all four forms occur in Shakespeare.

For the technical sense of 'looks,' comp. Arc. 52. It may be noted that in Epit. Damon. Milton speaks of the evil influence of the planet Saturn upon the fortunes of shepherds.

139. quaint enamelled eyes, i.e. blossoms neat and bright. The centre of a blossom is sometimes called an 'eye'; the name is also given to a tender bud or even to a flower (as here). Milton's use of the word 'enamelled' is illustrated in Arc. 84, and his use of quaint' in Arc. 47; see notes. Comp. Peele's David and Bethsabe: "May that sweet plain ... be still enamelled with discoloured (i.e. variegated) flowers."

140. honeyed showers, sweet and refreshing rain. 'Honeyed' is here used figuratively; comp. "honeyed words" = flattery. It is sometimes, but less correctly, spelt honied': comp. Il

Pens. 142.

141. purple, here used as a verb. The meaning is that the spring flowers are so abundant that they give the green turf a purple tint: comp. Par. Lost, vii. 28, "When morn purples the east." In Latin purpureus is common in the sense of dazzling.'

vernal, pertaining to Spring (Lat. ver).

142. Lines 142-151 form (as Masson says) "the most exquisite flower-and-colour passage in all Milton's poetry. His manuscript shows that he brought it to perfection by additions and after thoughts." "For musical sweetness and dainty richness of floral colour, it beats perhaps anything else in all Milton. It is the call upon all valleys of the landscape, and the banks of all the secret streamlets, to yield up their choicest flowers, and those dearest to shepherds that they may be strewn over the dead body of Lycidas." A similar fancy is found in ShakeWith fairest flowers... I'll sweeten thy sad grave." speare:

Cymb. iv. 2.

Those critics who judge the beauty of any poetical reference to nature by its fidelity to actual fact may readily object that

Milton would here bring together flowers that are never found in bloom at the same time of the year. But the season of the year does not enter into Milton's thoughts except in so far as it enables him to characterize some of the flowers. His only concern is to honour the grave of his fellow-shepherd by heaping upon it a rich offering of nature's fairest and sweetest flowersflowers that, by their purity or their "sad embroidery," are well fitted to "strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies."

In connection with this passage Mr. Ruskin writes:-"In Milton it happens, I think, generally, and in the case before us most certainly, that the imagination is mixed and broken with fancy, and so the strength of the imagery is part of iron and part of clay." Lines 142, 145, and 147 he considers 'imaginative'; lines 144 and 146 ‘fanciful'; line 143 ‘nugatory'; and line 148

'mixed.'

rathe, early the root of this word survives in the comparative rather comp. "The rather lambs be starved with cold" (Spenser), where rather is an adjective. Tennyson has : "the men of rathe and riper years" (In Mem. cx.). Rather is now used only as an adverb, except perhaps in the phrase 'I had rather'; in 'I would rather' it is certainly an adverb. The Old English rath=early (adj.); rathe=soon (adv.).

that forsaken dies, i.e. 'that dies because it is forsaken by the sun-light,' a reference to the fact that it is often found in shady places. Milton at first wrote 'unwedded,' showing that he had in mind Shakespeare's words, "Pale primroses that die unmarried, ere they can behold Bright Phoebus (i.e. the sun) in his strength": Winter's Tale iv. 4.

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143. tufted crow-toe. This plant is more commonly called "crow-foot," both names having reference to the shape of the flower: comp. bird's foot trefoil,' belonging to the same order of plants. Another similar plant is the tufted vetch, and this epithet correctly describes the appearance of all these plants when in flower.

pale jessamine. Jessamine' or jasmine, a plant which belongs originally to the East; hence the name, from Persian yásmín.

144. pink, a flower which has given name to a particular colour; similarly the colour called 'violet' receives its name from the flower, and 'mauve' is the colour of the 'mallow.' The reverse process is seen in ‘carnation,' this flower having received its name from its fleshy colour (Lat. caro, flesh). Some varieties of the pink are white.

pansy freaked with jet, a species of violet having generally dark spots in the centre of its blossoms. 'Freaked'= spotted or marked; this word is now little used except in the

diminutive freckles=small dark spots (as those on some faces). Shakespeare speaks of the 'freckled cowslip.'

146. well-attired woodbine, i.e. the honey-suckle with its clusters of flowers. Well-attired' does not here mean wellclothed or covered with leaves, but having a beautiful headdress of flowers.' 'Tire' (the prefix being dropped) occurs in the same sense. The word is now extended to the whole dress : comp. On Time, 21.

147. hang the pensive head: 'pensive' is here used prolepti cally, i.e. it denotes the result of the action expressed by the verb 'hang': comp. Arc. 87.

148. sad embroidery; or, as Milton originally wrote, "sorrow's livery," i.e. colours suited to mourning. To embroider is strictly to adorn with needlework, hence used in the sense of 'to ornament,' and finally to diversify by different colours.'

149. amaranthus, a plant so called because its flowers last long without withering. In Par. Lost it occurs as amarant,' the adjective being amarantine,' which comes directly from the Greek amarantos, unfading. The word is cognate with 'ambrosia,' the food of the gods, both having their counterpart in the Sanskrit amrita, immortal.

his beauty shed: 'his' here stands for 'its': see note on Il Pens. 128. 'Shed' is the infinitive after 'bid'; so is 'fill' in the next line.

66

150. daffadillies, more commonly written daffodils.' There is also a more colloquial form, daffadown-dilly, which occurs in Spenser. Comp. Par. Lost, ix. 1040, Pansies and violets and asphodel." 'Daffodil' and 'asphodel' are the same, both name and thing: the initial d is no part of the word, and in earlier English it was written affodille, which is from an old French word asphodile, which again is from the Greek asphodelos, a flower of the lily tribe. The dew-drops resting in the hollow of the lilies are here spoken of as tears shed for Lycidas.

151. laureate hearse, the poet's tomb. The word 'laureate ' here signifies that Lycidas was a poet and was lamented by poets. Another interpretation is that it refers to the fact that King had obtained an academical degree: see note on Son. xvi. 9. Hearse' now denotes the carriage in which the dead are carried to the grave, and even the meaning which Milton here gives it is not the primary one. The changes of meaning which this word has shown are: (1) a harrow, i.e. a frame of wood fitted with spikes, and used for breaking up the soil; (2) a frame of similar shape in which lighted candles were stuck during church service; (3) a frame for lights at a funeral; (4) a funeral ceremony, a monument, etc.; (5) a frame on which a dead body

fs laid; (6) a carriage for a dead body; comp. Epitaph on M. of W. 58. 'Lycid' Lycidas, the suffix being dropped.

152. The sense is: 'Let us thus, in order to comfort ourselves for a little, please our weak fancies by imagining that we actually have the corpse of Lycidas to strew with flowers, even while, alas! his bones are being drifted about by the waves.

Some editions read a comma after 'for,' and connect 'so' with 'to interpose': it seems better to read 'so' with 'for,' thus making to interpose,' etc., a clause of purpose.

154. There is a zeugma in wash as applied to shores' and 6 seas. Comp. Virgil's En. vi. 362: "my body is sometimes tossed by the waves, and sometimes thrown on the shore." The pathetic allusions in Lycidas to King's death at sea may be compared throughout with Virgil's language on the death of the pilot Palinurus, especially in the closing lines of Book v.:

"O nimium caelo et pelago confise sereno,

Nudus in ignota, Palinure, jacebis harena.

156. Hebrides, or Western Isles, a range of about 200 islands, scattered along the western coast of Scotland. King having been wrecked in the Irish Sea, his body may (according to Milton) have been carried far north to the Hebrides or far south to the coast of Cornwall, these two parts being the extremities of Great Britain.

157. whelming the compound 'overwhelming' is more commonly used.

158. the bottom of the monstrous world, i.e. the bottom of the sea, "there being more room for the marvellous among the creatures of the deep than among the better known inhabitants of the land." 'Monstrous' is therefore here used literally = full of monsters. Comp. Par. Lost, ii. 624, "Nature breeds, Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things"; also Virgil's Aen. 729, "Quae marmores fert monstra sub aequora pontus.'

159. Or whether. This would naturally answer to 'whether' in line 156, but there is another anacolouthon, or change of construction; the first whether' introduces an adverbial phrase, while the second introduces a complete sentence.

to our moist vows denied, i.e. your body being denied to our tearful prayers. 'Moist' is properly applicable to the eyes of those praying for the recovery of Lycidas' body. There may be an allusion in 'vows' to those promises of thanksgiving and offerings made to Neptune that he might restore the bodies of those who had been drowned. Comp. Arc. 6.

160. fable of Bellerus old, i.e. the fabled abode of the old Cornish giant Bellerus. Bellerium was the Latin name for Land's End in Cornwall, and Milton 'fables' this name to have