104. Musaus = an early Greek bard. 105. Orpheus. - See note on L'Allegro, 145, 150. 109. Him = Chaucer. The reference is to the " Squire's Tale," which was left unfinished. Cambuscan was a Tartar king, who had two sons, Camball and Algarsife, and a daughter Canace. 116. Great bards beside = probably Tasso, Ariosto, and Spenser, who were great favorites with Milton. 120. Where more is meant, etc. - A reference no doubt to Spenser's "Faery Queene," in which the poet had a high moral purpose. 122. Civil-suited= dressed in the garb of a plain citizen. 123. Trick'd = tricked out, showily dressed. curled. Frounced = frizzled and 124. Attic boy = Cephalus, whom she carried off. 125. Kercheft = having the head covered. A more correct spelling would be curchief; from Fr. couvre, cover, and chef, head. Cf. curfeu. 134. Sylvan = Sylvanus, god of the woods. From Lat. sylva, woods. 136. Heaved = uplifted. See note on L'Allegro, 145. 140. Profaner = unsympathetic. From Lat. pro, before, and fanum, temple; hence, outside the temple, not sacred, secular. 142. Honied thigh. - This is a mistake, for the bee collects the honey in its crop. What we see on the "thigh" is pollen. 145. Consort = harmony of sounds. 156. Studious cloysters pale = an enclosure or place of retirement devoted to study and religion. He is probably thinking of St. Paul's, where he went to school. 157. High-embowed = with lofty arches. 158. Antick. See note on L'Allegro, 128. 159. Dight.- See note on L'Allegro, 62. 170. Spell = read. 174. Strain = rank, character; in which sense it is now obsolete. THE RESTORATION. REPRESENTATIVE WRITER. JOHN DRYDEN. OTHER PROMINENT WRITERS. Poet. SAMUEL BUTLER. Dramatists.- WYCHERLY, Congreve, FARQUHAR. Diarists. PEPYS, EVELYN. Preachers. - BARROW, South, TILLOTSON. Philosophers. - HOBBES, NEWTON, CUDWORTH, LOCKE. Miscellaneous. - WALTON, TEMPLE. IV. THE RESTORATION. 1660-1700. GENERAL SURVEY. - Every extreme tends to beget a reaction. Nowhere is the truth of this principle more strikingly exemplified than in England at the time of the Restoration. With all its moral earnestness and love of freedom, Puritanism had degenerated into a false and forbidding asceticism. It condemned many innocent pleasures. It clothed morality and religion in a garb of cant. The claims of the physical and intellectual parts of man were, under the influence of a terrific theology, sacrificed to his spiritual interests. All spontaneous joy and gayety were banished from life. The Puritan's steps were slow; his face was elongated; his tone had a nasal quality. He gave his children names drawn from the Scriptures; and shutting his eyes to the beauties of the world about him, and forgetting the infinite love of God, he lived perpetually in the shadow of divine wrath. His religion, at war with nature and the gospel, degenerated into fanaticism, and weighed heavily upon the life of the English nation. With the Restoration, Puritanism was overthrown. The Royalist party, with its sharp contrasts to Puritan principles, again came into power. The result in its moral effects was dreadful. The stream of license, which had been held in check for years, burst forth with fearful |