That draw the litter of close-curtain❜d sleep;
At last a soft and solemn breathing sound

And as Mr. Thyer farther observes, the epithet also of closecurtain'd sleep was perhaps borrowed from Shakespeare, Macbeth, act ii. s. 2.

-and wicked dreams abuse The curtain'd sleep.

553. But he makes the horses of Night headlong in their course, In Quint. Novembr. v. 70.

Præcipitesque impellit equos.
It must be allowed, that drowsy-
flighted is a very harsh combi-
nation. Notwithstanding the
Cambridge manuscript exhibits
drousie-flighted, yet drousie fright-
ed without a composition, is a
more rational and easy reading,
and invariably occurs in the edi-
tions 1637, 1645, and 1673.
That is, "The drowsy steeds of
Night, who were affrighted on.
"this occasion, at the barbarous
"dissonance of Comus's nocturnal
revelry." Milton made the
emendation after he had forgot
his first idea. Compare Browne,
Brit. Past. b. ii. s. i. p. 21.

All-drowsie Night, who in a carre of
jet

By steedes of iron-gray drawne
through the sky.

555

555. At last a soft and solemn breathing sound &c.] No doubt but that our poet in these charming lines imitated his favourite Shakespeare, Twelfth Night at the beginning.

That strain again, it had a dying fall;
O, it came o'er my ear, like the sweet
south,

That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour.

Thyer.

555. The idea is strongly implied in these lines of Jonson's Vision of Delight, a Masque presented at Court in the Christmas of 1617, vol. vi. 21.

Yet let it like an odour rise
To all the senses here;
And fall like sleep upon their eyes,
Or musicke in their eare.

But the thought appeared before, And Silvester, of Sleep, Du Bart. where it is.exquisitely expressed,

p. 316. edit. fol. ut supr.

And in a noysless coach, all darkly
dight,

Takes with him silence, drousinesse,

and night.

Mr. Bowle conjectures drowsie. freighted, that is, charged or loaded with drowsiness.

We are to recollect, that Mil'ton has here transferred the horses and chariot of Night to

VOL. IV.

in Bacon's Essays. " And because "the breath of flowers is farre "sweeter in the aire, where it

Rose like a steam of rich distill'd perfumes,
And stole upon the air, that even Silence

Was took ere she was ware, and wish'd she might
Deny her nature, and be never more

Still to be so displac'd. I was all ear,
And took in strains that might create a soul

have stream for steam. A manifest
oversight of the compositor.

Solemn is used to characterize the music of the nightingale, Par. L. iv. 648. "Night's solemn "bird." And she is called "the "solemn nightingale," vii. 435. T. Warton.

Before these two lines were corrected as they are at present, the author had written them thus, At last a sweet and solemn breathing

sound

560

And in Shakespeare, but differently expressed. Winter's Tale, act iv. s. 5. Of hearing a song. "All their other senses

"stuck in their ears." And in the Tempest, Prospero says, "No

66

tongues, all eyes." Compare also Herrick's Hesperides, p. 21. edit. 1648. 8vo.

When I thy singing next shall heare Ile wish I might turne ALL to eare. This thought, and expression, occurs first in Drummond's Sonnets, 1616. Signat. D. 2. To the nightingale.

Such sad lamenting straines, that

Night attends,

Become all eare, starres stay to heare thy plight, &c.

T. Warton. 561.-that might create a soul

Under the ribs of death :] The general image of creating a soul by harmony is again from Shakespeare. But the particular one of a soul under the ribs of death, which is extremely grotesque, is taken from a picture in Alciat's emblems, where a soul in the figure of an infant is represented within the ribs of a skeleton, as in its prison. This curious picture is presented by Quarles. Warburton.

That might create a soul, that is, says Mr. Sympson, recreate, avaYuxu: and Mr. Theobald proposed to read recreate,

And took in strains might recréate a soul:

570

Under the ribs of death: but O ere long
Too well I did perceive it was the voice
Of my most honour'd Lady, your dear Sister.
Amaz'd I stood, harrow'd with grief and fear, 565
And O poor hapless nightingale thought I,
How sweet thou sing'st, how near the deadly snare!
Then down the lawns I ran with headlong haste,
Through paths and turnings often trod by day,
Till guided by mine ear I found the place,
Where that damn'd wizard hid in sly disguise
(For so by certain signs I knew) had met
Already, ere my best speed could prevent,
The aidless innocent Lady his wish'd prey,
Who gently ask'd if he had seen such two,
Supposing him some neighbour villager.
Longer I durst not stay, but soon I guess'd
Ye were the two she meant; with that I sprung
Into swift flight, till I had found you here,

But further know I not.

575

How are ye join'd with hell in triple knot,
Against th' unarmed weakness of one virgin

but I presume they knew not of the allusion just mentioned.

563. Too well I did perceive] In the Manuscript it is

Too well I might perceive. 565. —harrow'd with grief and fear,] So in Shakespeare, Hamlet, act i. s. 1. Horatio of the Ghost, it harrows me with fear and

wonder.

And s. 8. the Ghost to Hamlet,

I could a tale unfold, whose lightest word

Would harrow up thy soul.

574. The aidless innocent Lady] At first he had written helpless, but altered it, that word occurring again within a few lines afterwards.

Alone, and helpless! Is this the confidence

You gave me, Brother?

ELDER BROTHER.

Yes, and keep it still,

Lean on it safely; not a period

Shall be unsaid for me: against the threats
Of malice or of sorcery, or that power

Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm,
Virtue may be assail'd, but never hurt,
Surpris'd by unjust force, but not inthrall'd;

Yea even that which mischief meant most harm,
Shall in the happy trial prove most glory:

But evil on itself shall back recoil,

And mix no more with goodness, when at last
Gather'd like scum, and settled to itself,
It shall be in eternal restless change
Self-fed, and self-consum'd: if this fail,
The pillar'd firmament is rottenness,

584. Yes, and keep it still, &c.] This confidence of the Elder Brother in favour of the final efficacy of virtue holds forth a very high strain of philosophy, delivered in as high strains of eloquence and poetry. T. War

ton.

589. Virtue may be assail'd, but never hurt,] Milton seems in this line to allude to the famous answer of the philosopher to a tyrant, who threatened him with death, Thou may'st kill me, but thou canst not hurt me. And it may be observed, that not only in this speech, but also in many others of this poem, our author has made great use of the noble

585

590

595

and exalted sentiments of the Stoics concerning the power of virtue. Thyer.

597. Self-fed, and self-consum'd:] This image is wonderfully fine. It is taken from the conjectures of astronomers concerning the dark spots, which from time to time appear on the surface of the sun's body, and after a while disappear again, which they suppose to be the scum of that fiery matter, which first breeds it, and then breaks thro' and consumes it. Warburton.

598. The pillar'd firmament] See Paradise Regained, iv. 455. and the note there.

And earth's base built on stubble. But come let's on.
Against th' opposing will and arm of heaven
May never this just sword be lifted up;

But for that damn'd magician, let him be girt
With all the grisly legions that troop
Under the sooty flag of Acheron,

Harpies and Hydras, or all the monstrous forms
'Twixt Africa and Ind, I'll find him out,
And force him to restore his purchase back,
Or drag him by the curls to a foul death,
Curs'd as his life.

602. But for that damn'd magician, let him be girt, &c.] Compare P. R. iv. 626. et seq. T. Warton.

605. Harpies and hydras, or all the monstrous forms.] Or spoils the metre. Yet an anapæst may be admitted in the third part, see v. 636. 682. Although this last is not an anapæst. But any foot of three syllables may be admitted in this place of an iambic verse, if the licence be not taken too frequently. Hurd.

Harpies and hydras are a combination in an enumeration of monsters, in Sylvester's Du Bartas, p. 206. fol. ut supr.

600

605

Such as those which Carlo and
Ubaldo meet, in going to
Armida's enchanted mountain,
in Fairfax's Tasso, c. xv. 51..

All monsters which hot Africke forth
doth send

"Twixt Nilus, Atlas, and the southern cape,

Where all there met.

Milton often copies Fairfax, and
not his original. T. Warton.
607.-to restore his purchase
back,] He had written at first
-to release his new got prey.

608. -to a foul death,
Curs'd as his life.]

In the Manuscript, and in the

And th' ugly Gorgons, and the edition of 1637, it is
Sphinxes fell,

Hydraes and harpies gan to yawne
and yel.

T. Warton. 605. -or all the monstrous forms] In Milton's Manuscript, and the edition of 1637 it is, or all the monstrous bugs; which word was in more familiar use formerly, and hence bugbear.

605. —all the monstrous forms 'Twixt Africa and Ind,]

-and cleave his scalp Down to the hips:

and he has preserved the same image in his Paradise Lost, speaking of Moloch, vi. 361.

Down cloven to the waist, with shatter'd arms And uncouth pain fled bellowing: and no wonder he was led to it by his favourite romances, and his favourite plays. Jonson has