VII. Wert thou fome ftar which from the ruin'd roof Of shak'd Olympus by mischance didst fall; Which careful Jove in Nature's true behoof 45 Took up, and in fit place did reinstall? Or did of late Earth's fons befiege the wall Offheeny Heaven,and thou, fomeGoddess fled, Amongft us here below to hide thy nectar'd head? Ver. 44. -fhak'd] For fhaken. So, in Cymbeline, A. ii. S. ii. "A fly and conftant knave, not to be shak’d.” Again in Troil. and Creffid. A. i. S. iii. T. WARTON. "O, when degree is shak'd." It appears indeed to have been an ufual participle both before, and in, Milton's time. Thus in Archbishop Parker's Tranf. of the Pfalms, p. 169. "Even thou that haft fore shak't our land." And in the Hift. of Sir Clyomon, 1599, of a fhip: -"fhe was through ftorms fore shak't." And in Randolph's Poems, 1640: "From her shak'd fide the native engines flye." Again, in Herrick's Hefperides, 1648, p. 91, "More Shak't thy felfe, &c." TODD. Ver. 48. Of theeny Heaven,] In Spenfer's Mother Hubberd's Tale, ver. 1269. "And beautifie the heenie firmament." T. WARton. The word is fhinie in Spenfer's own edition, but is converted into fheenie in fubfequent editions: The original word is restored in that of 1805. TODD. Ver. 49. ver. 175. nectar'd head?] As in Lycidas, "With nectar pure his oozy locks he laves." NEWTON. But the unusual participle, nectar'd, may be found in Davies's Scourge of Folly, 1611. p. 132. Or wert thou that juft Maid, who once before 50 "And nectar'd ftreames of Helicon do fleete." Ver. 53. Or wert thou that fweet-fmiling youth? Or that crown'd matron fage white-robed Truth ?] In the first of these verses, a diffyllable word is wanting, which pro bably fell out at the prefs. The late Mr. John Heskin, of ChriftChurch, Oxford, who publifhed an elegant edition of Bion and Mofchus, propofed, in a periodical Mifcellany which appeared. about the year 1750, and with the utmost probability, to infert Mercy. "Or wert thou Mercy, that fweet-fmiling youth?" For, as he obferved, Mercy is not only most aptly represented as a fweet-fmiling youth, that is, of the age moft fufceptible of the tender paffions, but Mercy is joined with Justice and Truth in the Ode on the Nativity, ft. xv. Doctor Newton has omitted the name of the author of this conjecture, and gives the reasons for it as his own. T. WARTON. Mr. Hefkin's conjecture is perhaps supported by a paffage in P. Fletcher's Pifc. Eclogues, 1633, p. 17. "To look more sweet "Then Mercy felf can look with Pities eyes," In Sylvefter we have " milde-ey'd Mercy," Du Bart. 1621, p. 302. And in Lifle's Du Bart. 1625, p. 179, we have "Sweet-ey'd Mercy." TODD. Ver. 54. fage white-robed Truth ?] As defcribed in Ripa's Iconologia, ed. 1625, p. 712. "Verita. Donna rifplendente, & di nobile aspetto, veftita di color bianco pompofamente, &c." TODD. Or any other of that heavenly brood 55 Let down in cloudy throne to do the world fome good? IX. Or wert thou of the golden-winged hoft, X. But oh! why didft thou not stay here below To blefs us with thy heaven-lov'd innocence, 65 To flake his wrath whom fin hath made our foe, To turn fwift-rufhing black Perdition hence, Or drive away the flaughtering Pestilence, Ver. 57. Or wert thou of the golden-winged hoft,] Mr. Bowlę here cites Spenfer's Hymne of heavenlie Beautie. "Which all with golden wings are over-dight." And Spenfer's Heavenly Love has "golden wings." Taffo thus defcribes Gabriel's wings, Gier. Lib. c. i. ft. xiv. "Ali bianche vefti, ch' han d'or le cime." An edging of gold. Fairfax tranflates the paffage, "Of filver wings he took a fhining payre, "Fringed with gold." See Il Penf. v. 52. T, WARTON, Ver. 67. To turn fwift-rushing black Perdition henee, Or drive away the flaughtering Peftilence,] Among the bleffings, which the heaven-lov'd innocence of this child might To ftand 'twixt us and our deserved smart? But thou canst best perform that office where thou art. XI. 70 Then thou, the Mother of fo fweet a Child, have imparted, by remaining upon earth, the application to prefent circumstances, the fuppofition that the might have averted the peftilence now raging in the kingdom, is happily and beautifully conceived. On the whole, from a boy of seventeen, this Ode is an extraordinary effort of fancy, expreffion, and versification. Even in the conceits, which are many, we perceive strong and peculiar marks of genius. I think Milton has here given a very remarkable fpecimen of his ability to fucceed in the Spenferian stanza. He moves with great eafe and address amidst the embarraffment of a frequent return of rhyme. T. Warton. It must be observed, that the Spenferian stanza consists of nine lines; the ftanzas in this Ode, of only feven; in which particular, as Mr. Bowle alfo obferves, Milton imitates Lord Buckhurst, Baldwin, and other writers in the Mirour for Magiftrates. The ftanzas of Harrington, Daniel, and Fairfax, are octaves. TODD. VOL. VII. E ON TIME *. FLY, envious Time, till thou run out thy race; So little is our lofs, So little is thy gain! 10 For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd, With an individual kifs; And Joy fhall overtake us as a flood, * In Milton's manufcript, written with his own hand, fol. 8, the title is," On Time. To be fet on a clock-cafe." T. WARTON. Ver. 2. Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours, &c.] Much in the manner of Shakspeare, Hen. V. A. iii. Chorus. "the cripple tardy-gaited night, "Who, like a foul and ugly witch, does limp. Ver. 12. individual] Eternal, infeparable. As in Par. Loft, B. 1v. 485, B. v. 610. v. 66. T. WAR ON. So, in Holiday's Marriages of the Arts, 1618. A. ii. S. vi. "Anacreon "My individuall companion." TODD. |