That draw the litter of close-curtain❜d sleep; 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. All-drowsie Night, who in a carre of By steedes of iron-gray drawne 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; That breathes upon a bank of violets, 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 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 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, Was took ere she was ware, and wish'd she might Still to be so displac'd. I was all ear, have stream for steam. A manifest 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 But further know I not. 575 How are ye join'd with hell in triple knot, 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 Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm, Yea even that which mischief meant most harm, But evil on itself shall back recoil, And mix no more with goodness, when at last 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. But for that damn'd magician, let him be girt Harpies and Hydras, or all the monstrous forms 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 All monsters which hot Africke forth "Twixt Nilus, Atlas, and the southern cape, Where all there met. Milton often copies Fairfax, and 608. -to a foul death, In the Manuscript, and in the And th' ugly Gorgons, and the edition of 1637, it is Hydraes and harpies gan to yawne 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 |