And sweeten'd every mufkrofe of the dale.

How cam'ft thou here, good Swain? hath any ram

Slipt from the fold, or young kid lost his dam,
Or ftraggling weather the pent flock forfook?
How could'ft thou find this dark fequefter'd nook?
SPIRIT.

my lov'd master's heir, and his next joy, 501

O my

I came not here on such a trivial toy

As a ftray'd ewe, or to pursue the stealth

Of pilfering wolf; not all the fleecy wealth

That doth enrich thefe downs, is worth a thought
To this my errand, and the care it brought.

But, O my virgin Lady, where is fhe?
How chance fhe is not in your company?

ELDER BROTHER,

To tell thee fadly, Shepherd, without blame, Or our neglect, we loft her as we came.

506

510 SPIRIT.

497. How cam'ft thou here, good

on his musical compofitions; and a very fine one it is, and more gen- Swain? &c] In the Manuteel than that which we took no- fcript it is good Shepherd: but that /tice of before, as that was put into agrees not fo well with the meahis own mouth, but this is fpoken fure of the verfe. And in the next by another. verfe the Manufcript had at first 496. of the dale.] In the rected into Slipt from his fold as it Leapt o'er the pen, which was corManufcript it was at first is in the Manufcript, or the fold, as in all the editions.

of the valley.

509. Ta

SPIRIT.

Ay me unhappy! then my fears are true.
ELDER BROTHER.

What fears, good Thyrfis? Prethee briefly fhew.
SPIRIT.

I'll tell ye; 'tis not vain or fabulous,

(Though fo esteem'd by shallow ignorance)

What the fage poets, taught by th' heav'nly Mufe, Story'd of old in high immortal verse,

Of dire chimera's and inchanted iles,

And rifted rocks whofe entrance leads to Hell;
For fuch there be, but unbelief is blind.
Within the navel of this hideous wood,
Immur'd in cypress fhades a forcerer dwells,
Of Bacchus and of Circe born, great Comus,
Deep skill'd in all his mother's witcheries,
And here to every thirsty wanderer

509. To tell thee fadly, Shepherd,] Sadly, foberly, ferioufly, as the word is frequently used by our old authors, and in Paradife Loft, VI. 541. where fee the note.

512. What fears, good Thyrfis?] He had written at first good Shepberd: but this was alter'd to good Thyrfis for variety, as he had just

516

520

525

By fly enticement gives his baneful cup,
With many murmurs mix'd, whofe pleafing poifon

The visage quite transforms of him that drinks,
And the inglorious likeness of a beaft

Fixes instead, unmolding reafon's mintage
Character'd in the face; this have I learnt

Tending my

530

flocks hard by i'th' hilly crofts,
That brow this bottom glade, whence night by night
He and his monftrous rout are heard to howl
Like ftabled wolves, or tigers at their prey,
Doing abhorred rites to Hecate

In their obfcured haunts of inmoft bowers.
Yet have they many baits, and guileful fpells,
To' inveigle and invite th' unwary fense
Of them that pass unweeting by the way,

530. Character'd in the face; ] The word is often pronounced with this accent by our old writers. So Spenfer, Faery Queen, B. 3. Cant, 3. St. 14.

And writing strange characters in
the ground.
So Shakespear, Two Gentlemen
of Verona, A&t 2. Sc. 10.

Who art the table wherein all
my thoughts
Are vifibly character'd and in-
grav'd.

535

This

And 2 Henry VI. A& 3. Sc. 4. Show me one fcar character'd on thy skin.

531. i'th billy crofts,] He had written at first th' paftur'd lawns, which agrees not fo well with what follows.

534. Like ftabled wolves, or tigers at their prey,] This com parifon in all probability was form'd from what Virgil fays of Circe's iland, Æn. VII. 15.

This evening late, by then the chewing flocks
Had ta'en their fupper on the favory herb
Of knot-grafs dew-befprent, and were in fold,
I fat me down to watch upon a bank
With ivy canopied, and interwove

With flaunting honey-fuckle, and began,
Wrapt in a pleafing fit of melancholy,
To meditate my rural minstrelsy,
Till fancy had her fill, but ere a close
The wonted roar was up amidft the woods,
And fill'd the air with barbarous diffonance;
At which I ceas'd, and liften'd them a while,
Till an unusual stop of sudden filence
Gave refpit to the droufy flighted steeds,
That draw the litter of close-curtain'd fleep;

540

545

550

At

At laft a foft and folemn breathing found.
Rofe like a steam of rich diftill'd perfumes,

555

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 fo difplac'd. I was all ear,

And took in ftrains that might create a foul

560

Under

fighted according to Milton's Ma- That guides thy lazy team. nufcript; and this genuin reading And as Mr. Thyer farther obferves, Dr. Dalton has alfo preferved in the epithet alfo of clofe-curtain'd Comus. Droufy-frighted is nonsense, and manifeftly an error of the prefs Jeep was perhaps borrow'd from in all the editions. There can be Shakespear, Macbeth, A&t 2. Sc. 2. no doubt that in this paffage Milton had his eye upon the following defcription of night in Shakespear, 2 Henry VI. Act 4. Sc. 1.

And now loud howling wolves
aroufe the jades,
That drag the tragic melancholy
night,

Who with their droufy, flow,
and flagging wings
Clip dead mens graves

The idea and the expreffion of
droufy-flighted in the one are plainly
copied from their droufy, flow, and
flagging wings in the other: and
Fletcher in the Faithful Shep-
herdefs has much the fame image,
A& 4.

Night, do not steal away: I woo

thee yet To hold a hard hand o'er the rufty bit

and wicked dreams abufe The curtain'd fleep.

555. At laft a foft and folemn

breathing found &c] No doubt but that our poet in these charming lines imitated his favorite Shakespear, Twelfth Night at the beginning.

That ftrain again, it had a dying fall;

O, it came o'er my ear, like the fweet fouth,

That breathes upon a bank of violets,

Stealing and giving odor.

Thyer.

Before these two lines were corrected as they are at present, the author had written them thus,

At