ELEG. II. Anno Etatis 17. In obitum Præconis Academici Cantabrigiensis.t Ultima præconum præconem te quoque sæva I must add, that among the dramatica poemata of Sir William Drury, one of the plays is called Mors, and Mors is a chief speaker. Duaci, 1628. 12mo. edit. 2. First printed 1620. See below, El. iii. 6. * The learned Lord Monboddo pronounces this Elegy to be equal to any thing of the "elegiac kind, to be found in "Ovid, or even in Tibullus." Ubi supr. b. iv. p. ii. vol. iii. p. 69. †The person here commemorated is Richard Ridding, one of the University-Beadles, and a Master of Arts of Saint John's College, Cambridge. 2. It was a custom at Cambridge, lately disused, for one of the Beadles to make proclamation of Convocations in every College. This is still in use at Oxford. See Ode on Goslyn, v. 33. 2. Superseded by printed notices in Oxford within the last thirty years. E. 5 10 5. Candidiora licet, &c.] Ovid, Trist. iv. viii. 1. Jam mea cygneas imitantur tempora plumas. 6. Sub quibus accipimus delituisse Jovem Ovid, Epist. Heroid. viii. 68. Non ego fluminei referam mendacia Nec querar in plumis delituisse 7.-Hæmonio juvenescere succo, 10. Arte Coronides, sæpe rogante dea.] Coronides is Æsculapius, the son of Apollo by Coronis. See Ovid, Metam. xv. 624. But the particular allusion is here to Esculapius restoring Hippolytus to life, at the request of Diana. Fast. vi. 745. seq. Where he is called Coronides. The name also occurs in Ovid's Ibis, v. 407. Tu si jussus eras acies accire togatas, Alipes, ætherea missus ab arce Patris. ELEG. III. Anno Etatis 17. In obitum Præsulis Wintoniensis.† 15 20 MOESTUS eram, et tacitus nullo comitante sedebam, Hærebantque animo tristia plura meo, 12. These allusions are proofs of our author's early familiarity with Homer. 17. Magna sepulchrorum regina,] A sublime poetical appellation for Death: and much in the manner of his English poetry. * This Elegy, with the next on the death of Bishop Andrewes, the Odes on the death of Professor Goslyn and Bishop Felton, and the Poem on the Fifth of November, are very correct and manly performances for a boy of seventeen. This was our author's first year at Cambridge. They discover a great fund and command of ancient literature. + Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, had been originally Master of Pembroke-Hall in Cambridge; but long before Milton's time. He died at Winchester House in Southwark, Sept. 26, 1626. See the last note. It is a great concession, that he compliments Bishop Andrewes, in his Church Governm. b. i. iii." But others better ad"vised are content to receive "their beginning [the bishops] Protinus en subiit funesta cladis imago Fecit in Angliaco quam Libitina solo; 6 Dum procerum ingressa est splendentes marmore turres, Et memini Heroum quos vidit ad æthera raptos, "from Aaron and his sons: " among whom Bishop Andrewes "of late years, and in these "times [Usher] the primate of "Armagh, for their learning are "reputed the best able to say "what may be said in their "opinion." This piece was written 1641. Prose Works, vol. i. 45. But see their arguments answered, as he pretends, ibid. ch. v. p. 47. seq. 4. Fecit in Angliaco quam Libitina solo ;] A very severe plague now raged in London and the neighbourhood, of which 35417 persons are said to have died. See Whitelock's Mem. p. 2. and Rushworth, Coll. vol. i. p. 175, 201. Milton alludes to the same pestilence, in an Ode written in the same year, On the Death of a fair Infant, v. 67. To turn swift-rushing black Perdition hence, Or drive away the slaughtering Pes tilence. 9. Tunc memini clarique ducis, &c.] I am kindly informed by VOL. IV. 10 Sir David Dalrymple, "The two "Generals here mentioned, who "died in 1626, were the two "champions of the Queen of "Bohemia, the Duke of Bruns"wick, and Count Mansfelt: "Frater means a Sworn Brother " in arms, according to the mili"tary cant of those days. The "Queen's, or the Palatine, cause "was supported by the German "princes, who were heroes of "Romance, and the last of that cr race in that country. The "protestant religion, and chi 66 valry, must have interested "Milton in this cause. The next "couplet respects the death of "Henry, Earl of Oxford, who "died not long before." See Carte's Hist. Eng. iv. p. 93. seq. 172. seq. Henry, Earl of Oxford, Shakespeare's patron, died at the siege of Breda in 1625. Dugd. Bar. ii. 200. See Howell's Letters, vol. i. sect. 4. Lett. xv. And note on El. iv. infr. 74. If this be the sense of Fratris, verendi is not a very suitable epithet. T Delicui fletu, et tristi sic ore querebar, Mors fera, Tartareo diva secunda Jovi, Et tibi succumbit, liquido quæ plurima cœlo Et quæ mille nigris errant animalia sylvis, Et quot alunt mutum Proteos antra pecus. Invida, tanta tibi cum sit concessa potestas, Quid juvat humana tingere cæde manus ? Semideamque animam sede fugasse sua ? Nec mora, membra cavo posui refovenda cubili, 15 20 25 30 35 Condiderant oculos noxque soporque meos: Cum mihi visus eram lato spatiarier agro, Heu nequit ingenium visa referre meum. Illic punicea radiabant omnia luce, Ut matutino cum juga sole rubent. Ac veluti cum pandit opes Thaumantia proles, Non dea tam variis ornavit floribus hortos Alcinoi, Zephyro Chloris amata levi. 40 Flumina vernantes lambunt argentea campos, 45 Ditior Hesperio flavet arena Tago. Serpit odoriferas per opes levis aura Favoni, Aura sub innumeris humida nata rosis, Talis in extremis terræ Gangetidis oris 43. Non dea tam variis ornavit floribus hortos Alcinoi, Zephyro Chloris amata levi.] Eden is compared to the Homeric garden of Alcinous, Par. Lost, b. ix. 439. b. v. 341. Chloris is Flora, who according to ancient fable was beloved by Zephyr. See Ovid, Fast. 1. v. 195. seq. She is again called Chloris by our author, El. iv. 35. Yet there, and according to the true etymology of the word, she is more properly the power of vegetation. Chloris is Flora in Drummond's Sonnets, Signat. E. 2. ut supr. In Ariosto, Mercury steals Vulcan's net made for Mars and Venus to captivate Chloris. Orl. Fur. c. xv. 57. Chlorida bella, che per aria vola, &c. 45. In the garden of Eden, "the crisped brooks roll on orient "pearl and sands of gold." Par. Lost, b. iv. 237. 47. Serpit odoriferas per opes levis aura Favoni, Aura sub innumeris humida nota rosis,] So in the same garden, v. 156. But with a conceit. -Gentle gales Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense Native perfumes, and whisper whence These balmy spoils. 49. Talis in extremis terræ Gan- |