III. doughtily, bravely. 13. Saint Crispin's day. The battle of Agincourt was fought on October 25, the day of St. Crispin, an early Christian martyr. 118. fill a pen, inspire a writer. SONNET LXI This sonnet was probably written by Drayton to his sweetheart, Anne Goodeere. JOHN MILTON L'ALLEGRO L'Allegro and Il Penseroso are, in all probability, the fruit of Milton's first year of seclusion and study at Horton. The two poems are com panion pieces. They contrast the pleasures of mirth and melancholy. By mirth is meant, not unrestrained gayety, much less licentious pleasure, but that sunny, happy temper which goes easily through life, looking only on the brighter side, and culling pleasures everywhere. Melancholy, on the other hand, means with Milton the grave, reflective, studious temper, which shuns the action of the world and finds its joy in books and meditation. But it is not a gloomy or bitter mood. On the contrary, it offers rare pleasures, and it must have been very much like the prevailing temper of Milton's own mind during his years at Horton. The other mood, perhaps, represents the brighter, gayer temper which broke out on his rare visits to London, or his few idle days spent in wandering through the pleasant English fields along the Thames. It is no unlikely fancy that Milton set before himself in these poems two types of contemporary life between which he was later to make absolute choice. L'Allegro represents in effect the Cavalier spirit, lighthearted, careless, and pleasure loving, while Il Penseroso represents the best type of the Puritan, studious, thoughtful, and devout. L'Allegro. Allegro is an Italian word meaning brisk, merry, lively. L'Allegro here denotes the cheerful man. LINE 2. Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Greek mythology that guarded the gate of Hades. Melancholy is here represented as the child of Cerberus and Midnight. This means that the cheerfui man 'hinks of Melancholy as something infernal and gloomy. 3. Stygian cave, a cave on the banks of the river Styx, which formed the boundary line between the upper world and Hades. 5. uncouth, unknown, strange. 10. Cimmerian. The Cimmerians were a mythical people mentioned in the Odyssey who lived in perpetual darkness. 12. Euphrosyne, Joy, one of the Three Graces of Greek mythology. They are usually represented as the daughters of Jupiter. This account of their parentage is found in the best known of the classical commentators on Virgil, frequently printed in old editions of Virgil. Milton must have read it in school or college. 16. ivy-crowned. Bacchus, the god of wine, is often spoken of by classical poets as crowned with ivy. 17. some sager, some wiser poets. Milton does not approve of making Mirth the child of Love and Wine, and suggests another parentage which makes her the daughter of the West Wind and the Morning. In other words, Mirth comes from "the early freshness of the summer morning." This is Milton's own invention disguised by the reference to "some sager " poets. 19. Zephyr, the west wind. Aurora, the dawn. 20. a-Maying, gathering flowers to celebrate May Day, an old custom referred to by Chaucer, and also by many poets of Milton's day. It still survives in some parts of Germany. See Herrick's poem, Corinna's going a-Maying, p. 82. 24. buxom, lively, brisk. 25. nymph, Mirth. 29. Hebe, the cupbearer of the gods; she was also the goddess of eternal youth. 36. The mountain-nymph. Liberty, perhaps, is called a mountain nymph because mountaineers have as a rule been more successful than lowlanders in preserving their independence. 41. the lark, the English skylark, that sings at dawn. 43. his watch-tower. The point to which the lark soars, and from which it sees the rising sun, is here likened to a watchtower. 45. in spite of sorrow, in defiance of sorrow. 48. eglantine, the sweetbrier. meant the honeysuckle. Perhaps by "twisted eglantine" Milton 60. his state, his stately progress. 62. liveries, suits, as a servant's livery. -dight, dressed. 67. tells his tale, counts the number of his sheep. 69. Straight, straightway. 70. landskip, an old form for landscape. 74 labouring, slowly moving. 75. pied, variegated. The word comes from 'pie,' the black and white bird commonly called the magpie. 77. Towers and battlements. Perhaps Milton was thinking of the towers of Windsor Castle, which is near Horton. 79. lies, dwells. 80. cynosure, literally, the dog's tail, a name given in early times to the constellation of Ursa Minor, which contains the pole-star. By this sailors used to steer their course, and so the word came to mean, first, a guiding star, and then, any object on which attention is fixed. Here it is used of a beautiful lady who draws all eyes to her. 83. Corydon and Thyrsis, names commonly given by classical poets to country laborers. So is Thestylis, 1. 88. 85. messes, dishes. 86. Phillis, a girl's name, borrowed from the classical poets. 91. secure, free from trouble. 94. rebecks, old-fashioned fiddles, with two or three strings. 100. spicy nut-brown ale. People used to put nutmeg and other spices in ale and wine. 102. Faury Mab. Mab is the Queen of the Fairies. She had a special oversight of households, and punished slovenly and careless maids by eating up their cakes and cream, or pinching them in their sleep. She used to drop a coin in the shoes of those who pleased her.-junkets, dainties. 103. She. A girl in the company telling stories by the fire relates how she had been "pinched and pulled" by Queen Mab and her fairies. 104. he. A man in the ompany, who had been misled by the friar's lantern, tells a tale about the "drudging goblin.”—-Friar's lantern. There was a spirit called Friar Rush, who haunted houses, and another, Jack of the Lantern, or Will of the Wisp, who danced about the marshes. Milton seems to have confused the two; or he may refer to Puck, who is sometimes called Friar, and who delighted to mislead travelers by showing a false light. 105. the drudging goblin, Robin Goodfellow, a household spirit who, if propitiated with food and drink, would work for the master of the house. If, however, he was spied upon or failed to receive his bowl of cream, he became tricky and malicious. 110. lubber, awkward. — fiend, not devil, but fairy or goblin. III. the chimney, here the hearth. 113. crop-full. After having filled his stomach he flings himself out of doors. 114. the first cock. The cockcrow was the signal for ghosts and spirits of the night to fly away. - matin, morning note. 117. The scene changes to the city and its pleasures. 120. weeds, clothes, garments. - triumphs, tournaments, or pageants. 122. Rain influence, pour down encouragement on the knights and urge them to brave deeds. The word "influence" was originally used to denote the power which the stars were once believed to exert over the characters and destinies of men. 123. both, wit and arms, poet and warrior. 125. Hymen, the god of marriage. In a masque of Jonson's he appears in a saffron-colored robe, his head crowned with roses and marjoram, in his right hand a pine-tree torch. In these lines Milton is describing a masque, that is, a dramatic entertainment combining music and dancing with gorgeous costumes and elaborate scenery, such as was frequently given at court on the marriage of some prince or royal favorite. 132. Jonson. Ben Jonson, Shakespeare's contemporary and friend, was the most learned of Elizabethan poets. His best works are his comedies. These are alluded to by the word "sock," which means the low-heeled slipper worn by comic actors, as opposed to the buskin, or high boot, worn by tragedians. See Il Penseroso, l. 102. 133. Fancy's child, the child of Imagination. 136. Lap, wrap, fold. — Lydian airs, soft, languishing music, such as was played by the luxurious Lydians of Asia Minor. 138. meeting soul, the soul that meets, or hears, this music. 139. bout, turn, or trill, of notes. 141. wanton heed and giddy cunning. This phrase refers to the seemingly careless but really artful turns and runs of the music. 143-144. The voice running through the mazes of the song is supposed to set free the harmony that is hidden and enchained in the notes. 145. Orpheus, a famous poet and harper of Greek mythology. When his wife, Eurydice, died, he descended into Hades after her, and by the power of his music won her back from Pluto, but only on condition that he should not look upon her before they had passed the gates of Hades. He broke this condition and lost Eurydice forever. This story is again referred to in Il Penseroso, II. 105–108. 147. Elysian, heavenly. Elysium was the heaven of Greek mythology. 149. Pluto, the god of Hades, the abode of the dead. IL PENSEROSO Penseroso is an old Italian word meaning 'musing,' 'meditative. Il Penseroso is, accordingly, the sober and meditative, as distinguished from L'Allegro, the gay, light-hearted man. LINE 1. Hence, vain deluding Joys. The first ten lines of Il Penseroso correspond to the ten-line introduction to L'Allegro. In them the poet banishes, as it were, the spirit of idle pleasure, which is the opposite of the pensive mood he intends to depict in the rest of the poem. Joys are called the children of Folly, without a father, to show that they spring from Folly alone, and do not have their source in anything higher or better. 3. bested, help or profit. 4. toys, trifles. 6. fancies fond, foolish imaginations. 10. pensioners, attendants. Milton is thinking of the attendants, or bodyguard, of a king, who were called 'pensioners' in that day. — Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep. 14. hit, suit, or agree with. In other words, the real countenance of Melancholy is too bright for mortals to gaze upon, and so is “o'erlaid with black." 17. in esteem, in men's opinion. 18. Memnon, an Ethiopian prince, remarkable for his personal beauty, who was slain by Achilles at the siege of Troy. Milton thinks of Melancholy as dark, but beautiful enough to be Memnon's sister. 19. starred Ethiop queen, Cassiopea, a queen in Greek mythology, who boasted that her daughter Andromeda was fairer than the sea nymphs. Milton makes her boast of her own beauty. She is called "starred because after her death she was placed among the stars. Cassiopea's Chair is a constellation recognized to-day in star maps. 23. Vesta, the Roman goddess of the hearth and the sacred fire, which was always tended by pure virgins. 24. Saturn, the father of Jupiter, driven by his son from his throne in the heavens. Milton invents a parentage for Melancholy in this poem as he did for Mirth in L'Allegro. By making her the child of Saturn and Vesta, he means that the sober, pensive mood which he calls Melancholy comes from solitude and purity. 25 in Saturn's reign, before Saturn was dethroned by Jupiter, ie., in the most ancient times. |