best of Milton concordances, because with each citation of a word it gives a few words of context, is that of John Bradshaw, London, 1894. The proper time for classes to read Macaulay's essay is, naturally, when they are reading, or have recently read, Milton. When their interest in the poet is once aroused, then they should read as much of his poetry as possible, study his life and times, and obtain such comprehension as they can of his significance in English history and English literature. article in the Edinsays Dean Milman, appeared not imCanning says of The essay on Milton was first published as an burgh Review, in August, 1825. "It excited," "greater attention than any article which had ever mediately connected with the politics of the day." it, "Considering its length, it is perhaps one of the most pleasing and brilliant essays in the English Language.” P. 1. The Mr. Skinner, Merchant, with whom Milton deposited his manuscript, and Cyriac Skinner, to whom the poet addressed two sonnets at a much earlier period of his life, were different men. See Milton's sonnets XXI. and XXII., and Masson's introduction to them. Consult also Masson's life of the poet by means of the index. Thus you can correct Macaulay. P. 2. All the quotations which Macaulay makes from Milton's verse should be found by the student. The search will add zest to study. what Denham says of Cowley. No student of literature can afford to leave unread Johnson's Lives of the Poets. In his life of Sir John Denham Johnson quotes the following verses by Denham on Cowley : — To him no author was unknown, Yet what he wrote was all his own; He did not steal, but emulate ! And, when he would like them appear, Their garb, but not their clothes, did wear. P. 3. observation of the Sabbath. Note Macaulay's use in 1825 of the word observation in a sense which at the end of the century, we regard as obsolete and incorrect. P. 4. an age too late. Find in Paradise Lost the famous passage in which the quoted words occur. Macaulay's doctrine, that 66 as civilization advances, poetry almost necessarily declines," may profitably be discussed in the class. In connection with this subject see Channing's essay, Remarks on the Character and Writings of John Milton. P. 7. Mandeville. The author of the Fable of the Bees was Bernard de Mandeville, a contemporary of Addison, Swift, and Pope. His works are now difficult of access. Look him up in the Encyclo. Brit., and especially in Gosse's History of Eighteenth Century Literature, where you will find specimens of Mandeville's prose and verse. the greatest of poets. This indirect, allusive kind of reference is a favorite device of Macaulay. It gives the reader, as it were, an enigma for solution, and thus keeps his faculties on the alert. Sometimes the enigma is not easy to solve at once. To be compelled to stop reading and engage in a little research is an excellent stimulus. In this case no one can doubt a moment what poet is meant. — Find the quoted lines in the works of this poet, and present the entire passage in the class. P. 8. the ancient bards of Wales and Germany. Recollecting that the people of Wales are Celtic, and those of Germany Teutonic, consider whether Macaulay is not, in this passage, partially in error. To become satisfied on this point, read what you can find under the word bard in encyclopædias and dictionaries. Read also Gray's Bard. P. 9. we have seen in our time, etc. Whom Macaulay has here in mind cannot be known. But to speculate on the subject will make an excellent lesson in English literature. Consider the date of the essay, and the words, we have seen. P. 10. the Espistle to Manso. As the text shows, this is one of Milton's Latin poems. Do not fail to look it up, either in the Latin or in the translation given by Masson in his library edition, .Vol. I. Translations of all Milton's Latin, Greek, and Italian poems are given by the poet Cowper. P. 11. Young people should of course read Homer. There are several translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey as distinctly belonging to English literature as the great original creations of the Anglo-Saxon mind. All the European peoples have, from time immemorial, read the Homeric poems, and an acquaintance with them is fundamental to the study of English or of any other modern literature. P. 12. Modern writers of every nationality are wont to assume, in readers of every class, an acquaintance with the Arabian Nights. Do not fail to examine for yourself the miserable failure of Dryden. This great poet actually undertook to improve Paradise Lost by turning it into rime and giving it a dramatic form. P. 13. The chapter on the Origin of Ancient Tragedy in Moulton's Ancient Classical Drama is short and interesting. P. 14. You should read the address of Clytemnestra to Agamemnon in the Agamemnon, and the description of the seven Argive chiefs in the Seven against Thebes. Remember that the Greek tragedies have all been translated, and published in cheap forms. P. 15. sad Electra's poet. This, like all other quotations from Milton, should be searched for till found. The Faithful Shepherdess, the Aminta, the Pastor Fido. These are the titles of pastoral dramas, composed, respectively, by the Elizabethan dramatist, Fletcher, and by the Italian poets, Tasso and Guarini. They need not be looked up. P. 16. Sir Henry Wotton is a character extremely interesting in himself and in his relations to Milton. See what Masson, in his life of the poet, says of Wotton. Dorique delicacy. To understand the adjective, Doric, or Dorian, one must consider that the Greek poet, Theocritus, the great original and pattern of all the pastoral poets since his day, wrote in the Doric dialect: but it will not be possible to appreciate the connotations of the word without some acquaintance with the idyls of the ancient poet himself. This the pupil will find it easy and pleasant to obtain, either from the prose translation of Theocritus by Mr. Andrew Lang, or from the translation in verse by Mr. C. S. Calverley. The pupil should also note Milton's use of the word in Lycidas and elsewhere. Then, like his own good Genius, etc. In this sentence, which is full of reminiscences of Comus, Macaulay strangely changes one of Milton's words. Do you think he improves on the original? See Keats's Eve of St. Agnes, xxx.; Coleridge's Kubla Khan, and Tennyson's Marriage of Geraint. P. 17. "A warm admirer of Robert Hall, Macaulay heard with pride how the great preacher, then well-nigh worn out with that long disease, his life, was discovered lying on the floor, employed in learning by aid of grammar and dictionary enough Italian to enable him to verify the parallel between Milton and Dante.". Trevelyan's Life of Macaulay. But it is easy for the high-school pupil to-day to become acquainted with the Divine Comedy without learning Italian, for Longfellow's translation is peculiarly clear and simple, and is abundantly furnished with explanatory helps. P. 18. The allusions to the Divine Comedy of Dante may best be looked up in Longfellow's translation. The following refer to passages in the Inferno: The ruins of the precipice, etc., xii., 5. The cataract of Phlegethon, etc., xvi., 97 the heretics confined in burning tombs, viii., 112. the gigantic spectre of Nimrod, xxxi., 58. P. 19. the last ward of Malebolge, xxix., 46. Barbariccia and Draghignazzo, xxi.-xxii. His own feet have climbed the mountain of expiation. These words describe the general subject of the second part of the Divine Comedy, the Purgatory. His own brow has been marked, etc., Pur. ix., 112. P. 21. The secondary causes, etc. See Gibbon, Chap. XV. P. 22. Information about the Academy and the Portico is easily accessible. In connection with this allusion read Paradise Regained, iv., 236-284. The Greek name of the Portico is Stoa. P. 24. The Don Juan of Macaulay's allusion must not be confounded with the Don Juan of Byron's poem. See Encyclo. Brit. The scene between the poet and Farinata, Inf. x. The first interview of Dante and Beatrice, Pur. xxx., xxxi. the fee-faw-fum of Tasso and Klopstock. A specimen of the fee-faw-fum of Tasso can be seen in Wiffen's translation of the Jerusalem Delivered, Canto iv., stanzas 4-8. Klopstock's description of the devils is to be found in the second canto of the Messias, for whoever reads German. P. 26. obtrude their idiosyncrasies. There are three conspicuous passages in Paradise Lost where the poet speaks of himself. Find them. those modern beggars for fame, etc. Read Macaulay's essay on Moore's Life of Lord Byron, and it will become clear that the essayist means Byron and the poets of Byronism, who proclaim to the world their misery, their discontent with life, their despair. P. 28. A victory, etc. Find each sonnet alluded to. Of the Greek Anthology various translations may be found, as, e.g., those of Mackail and Garnett, and the more complete one in the Bohn Classical Library. To understand what a collect is see Murray's New English Dictionary, and for specimens look into the Book of Common Prayer. loose the knees: an Homeric expression of frequent occurrence in the battle-scenes of the Iliad. P. 30. Mrs. Hutchinson. There were two Mrs. Hutchinsons, contemporaries, both puritans, and both famous, though in very different ways and scenes. Consider which one Macaulay here means. P. 32. One sect, etc. One part of the empire, etc. The paragraph explains these allusions, and shows clearly what sovereign is referred to by the expression, the glorious and immortal memory. P. 33. Goldsmith's Abridgment, referring to Goldsmith's wellknown, utterly untrustworthy History of England. P. 37. On the Fifth-Monarchy men, their belief, their collisions with the civil power, see Hosmer's life of Vane, Masson's life of Milton, and, in the Encyclo. Brit., the article Millennium. P. 39. Ariosto's pretty story of a fairy is to be found in the Orlando Furioso, xliii. It may be read in the translation by Hoole or in that by Rose. P. 42. "Æneæ magni dextra," — great Æneas's right hand. Whencesoever quoted, these words are obviously meant to symbolize the relation in which, while occupying the post of Latin Secretary to the government, Milton stood to Cromwell. Perhaps the expression overstates the poet's importance as a public official. P. 46. Anathema Maranatha. See 1 Corinthians, xvi. 22. The expression is fully explained under Anathema in the New Eng. Dict. |