by John Milton
‘Because the rosy blush of modesty and a youth without stain were dear to you, because you never tasted the pleasure of the bed,213 look! virginal honours214 are reserved for you. Your radiant head circled with a gleaming crown, the shady fronds of joyous palm216 in your hands, you shall perform the immortal marriage-rite217 for ever and ever; singing is heard there, and the ecstatic sound of the lyre mingles with the blessed dances, and secret, festal rites rave in Bacchic delight under the thyrsus219 of Zion.’
GREEK AND LATIN POEMS ADDED IN 1673
Apologus de Rustico et Hero
Rusticus ex malo sapidissima poma quotannis
Legit, et urbano lecta dedit domino:
Hic incredibili fructus dulcedine captus
Malum ipsam in proprias transtulit areolas.
5 Hactenus illa ferax, sed longo debilis aevo,
Mota solo assueto, protinus aret iners.
Quod tandem ut patuit domino, spe lusus inani,
Damnavit celeres in sua damna manus.
Atque ait, Heu quanto satius fuit illa coloni
10 (Parva licet) grato dona tulisse animo!
Possem ego avaritiam frenare, gulamque voracem:
Nunc periere mihi et foetus et ipsa parens.
A Fable of a Peasant and his Landlord
Every year a peasant gathered the most savoury apples from his tree
and gave the pick of the crop to his landlord, who lived in the city.
The landlord, delighted by the incredible sweetness of the fruit,
transplanted the tree into his own gardens. Until now, it had been
productive, but it was weakened by old age, and once moved from
its accustomed soil it promptly withered and became barren. When,
at length, this came to the landlord’s attention, and he saw that he
had been deluded by a vain hope, he cursed his hands for being so
swift in causing his own loss: ‘Alas,’ he cried, ‘how much better it
was to accept my tenant’s gifts with a grateful heart, small though
they were! If only I had bridled my avarice and voracious gluttony!
Now I have lost both fruit and tree.’
In Effigiei eius Sculptorem
’Aμαθεî уεуράϕθαi Хεiρì τήvöε μv εíκóvα
Фαíης τάХ’ v, πρòς εδoς αùτoϕuς βλπωv
Tòv δ’ κτuπωτòv oùκ πιуvóvτες ϕíλoι
Γελτε ϕαúλou δuσμíμημα ζωуράϕou.
On the Engraver of his Portrait
Were you to look at the original, you would perhaps say that this likeness was made by an incompetent hand. Friends, since you cannot recognize the man depicted, laugh at the rotten picture of a rotten artist.
Ad Ioannem Rousium Oxoniensis Academiae Bibliothecarium
Jan. 23 1646 [1647]
De libro Poematum amisso, quern ille sibi denuo mitti postulabat, ut cum aliis nostris in Bibliotheca publica reponeret, Ode.
Strophe I
Gemelle cultu simplici gaudens liber,
Fronde licet gemina,
Munditieque nitens non operosa,
Quam manus attulit
5 Iuvenilis olim,
Sedula tamen haud nimii poetae;
Dum vagus Ausonias nunc per umbras
Nunc Britannica per vireta lusit,
Insons populi, barbitoque devius
10 Indulsit patrio, mox itidem pectine Daunio
Longinquum intonuit melos
Vicinis, et humum vix tetigit pede;
Antistrophe
Quis te, parve liber, quis te fratribus
Subduxit reliquis dolo,
15 Cum tu missus ab urbe,
Docto iugiter obsecrante amico,
Illustre tendebas iter
Thamesis ad incunabula
Caerulei patris,
20 Fontes ubi limpidi
Aonidum, thyasusque sacer
Orbi notus per immensos
Temporum lapsus redeunte coelo,
Celeberque futurus in aevum?
Strophe 2
25 Modo quis deus, aut editus deo
Pristinam gentis miseratus indolem
(Si satis noxas luimus priores
Mollique luxu degener otium)
Tollat nefandos civium tumultus,
30 Almaque revocet studia sanctus
Et relegatas sine sede Musas
Iam pene totis finibus Angligenum;
Immundasque volucres
Unguibus imminentes
35 Figat Apollinca pharetra,
Phineamque abigat pestem procul amne Pegaseo?
Antistrophe
Quin tu, libelle, nuntii licet mala
Fide, vel oscitantia
Semel erraveris agmine fratrum,
40 Seu quis te teneat specus,
Seu qua te latebra, forsan unde vili
Callo tereris institoris insulsi,
Laetare felix; en iterum tibi
Spes nova fulget posse profundam
45 Fugere Lethen, vehique superam
In Iovis aulam remige penna;
Strophe 3
Nam te Rousius sui
Optat peculi, numeroque iusto
Sibi pollicitum queritur abesse,
50 Rogatque venias ille cuius inclyta
Sunt data virum monumenta curae:
Teque adytis etiam sacris
Voluit reponi quibus et ipse praesidet
Aeternorum operum custos fidelis,
55 Quaestorque gazae nobilioris
Quam cui praefuit Ion,
Clarus Erechtheides,
Opulenta dei per templa parentis
Fulvosque tripodas, donaque Delphica
60 Ion Actaea genitus Creusa.
Antistrophe
Ergo tu visere lucos
Musarum ibis amoenos,
Diamque Phoebi rursus ibis in domum
Oxonia quam valle colit
65 Delo posthabita,
Bifidoque Parnassi iugo:
Ibis honestus,
Postquam egregiam tu quoque sortem
Nactus abis, dextri prece sollicitatus amici.
70 Illic legeris inter alta nomina
Authorum, Graiae simul et Latinae
Antiqua gentis lumina, et verum decus.
Epodos
Vos tandem haud vacui mei labores,
Quicquid hoc sterile fudit ingenium;
75 Iam sero placidam sperare iubeo
Perfunctam invidia requiem, sedesque beatas
Quas bonus Hermes
Et tutela dabit solers Rousi,
Quo neque lingua procax vulgi penetrabit, atque longe
80 Turba legentum prava facesset;
At ultimi nepotes,
Et cordatior aetas
Iudicia rebus aequiora forsitan
Adhibebit integro sinu.
85 Tum livore sepulto,
Si quid meremur sana posteritas sciet
Rousio favente.
Ode tribus constat Strophis, totidemque Antistrophis una demum epodo clausis, quas, tametsi omnes nec versuum numero, nec certis ubique colis exacte respondeant, ita tamen secuimus, commode legendi potius, quam ad antiquos concinendi modos rationem spectantes. Alioquin hoc genus rectius fortasse dici monostrophicum debuerat. Metra partim sunt κατὰ σΧέσιv, partim άπoλελuμέvα. Phaleucia quae sunt, spondaeum tertio loco bis admittunt, quod idem in secundo loco Catullus ad libitum fecit.
To John Rous, Librarian of Oxford University
Jan. 23 1646 [1647]
An ode about a lost book of my poems, which he asked me to replace with a second copy, so that he might place it in the public library with my other books.
Strophe I
Twin-born book,1 rejoicing in a single cover but with a double title-page, shining with an unlaboured elegance that a youthful hand once gave you – an eager, but not too poetic hand – while he sported about, wandering now through the forest-shades of Italy, now through the green fields of E
ngland, aloof from the throng, off the beaten track, giving himself up to his native lute; then presently sounding a foreign air to his neighbours with a Daunian10 lyre, his feet scarcely touching the ground.
Antistrophe
Who was it, little book, who craftily stole you, leaving your brothers behind, when you had been sent from the city at my learned friend’s urgent request, and were making your illustrious journey to the cradle of blue father Thames,18 where the clear springs of the Muses22 are, and the sacred Bacchic dance,21 which has been world-famous through all the vast ages that have elapsed under the turning heaven, and will be famous for ever?
Strophe 2
But what god or demi-god25 will take pity on the ancient genius of our nation (if we have atoned sufficiently for our past sins, our degenerate idleness and soft luxury) and will put an end to this abominable Civil War,29 and with his sacred power restore our bountiful studies and recall the banished Muses, who have been left with scarcely any refuge in all of England? Who with Apollo’s arrows will transfix the filthy birds with menacing claws, and drive the plague of Phineus far from the stream of Pegasus?36
Antistrophe
And yet, little book, although you have in this one instance, because of a messenger’s dishonesty or negligence, wandered from your brothers’ company – and may now be lying in a ditch, or else in a robber’s hideout, where perhaps some boorish pedlar is rubbing you to bits with grubby, calloused hands – you may rejoice in your good fortune. Look, there is a new gleam of hope that you might be able to escape the depths of Lethe45 and be carried on soaring wing to the high court of Jove.
Strophe 3
For Rous wishes to add you to his store. He complains that you are missing from the full number promised to him, and asks that you come to him – Rous, to whose care are entrusted the glorious records of men. He even wants to place you in those hallowed innermost sanctuaries over which he himself presides, the faithful custodian of immortal works, the guardian of a treasure more renowned than that which Ion,56 Erectheus’ illustrious grandson, presided over in his divine father’s magnificent temple, with its golden tripods and Delphic offerings – Ion the son of Actaean60 Creusa.
Antistrophe
Therefore you will go to see the delightful groves of the Muses, and you will go again to the divine home of Phoebus, where he dwells in the valley of Oxford, which he prefers to Delos65 or the twin peaks of Parnassus. You will go with honour, since you leave my side assured of a glorious destiny, and at the request of a well-wishing friend. There you will be read among the lofty names of authors who were the ancient luminaries and the true glory of the Greek and Latin peoples.
Epode
You have not been in vain then, my labours – whatever my barren genius has brought forth. Now at last I bid you hope for rest, beyond the reach of malice, and for the blessed abode provided by kind Hermes77 and Rous’s watchful care. The insolent clamour of the crowd will not penetrate there, and the vulgar rabble of readers will be far away. But our remote descendants in a more judicious age will perhaps judge things more fairly with a more honest heart. Then, when spite is buried, a sane posterity will know, thanks to Rous, what my deserts are.
This ode has three strophes, three antistrophes, and a concluding epode. Although these units do not all have the same number of lines and do not strictly correspond in all particulars, I have divided them in this way with a view for ease of reading rather than conformity to ancient rules of versification. In other respects a poem of this kind should perhaps more accurately be called monostrophic. The meters are partly in regular patterns, partly free. In two Phaleucian lines I have admitted a spondee in the third foot, a practice that Catullus freely followed in the second foot.
LATIN POEMS FROM THE PROSE WORKS
Epigram from Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio
Quis expedivit Salmasio suam Hundredam,
Picamque docuit nostra verba conari?
Magister artis venter, et Iacobei
Centum, exulantis viscera marsupii regis.
5 Quod si dolosi spes refulserit nummi,
Ipse Antichristi qui modo primatum Papae
Minatus uno est dissipare sufflatu,
Cantabit ultro Cardinalitium melos.
Epigram from Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio
Who inspired Salmasius with his ‘hundred’ and taught the magpie to attempt our words? His teacher was his belly and a hundred Jacobuses3 (the vitals of the exiled king’s purse). If ever the hope shines of making a dishonest bit of cash, this same fellow (who lately threatened with one puff to overthrow the supremacy of the Pope,6 the Antichrist) will gleefully warble a Cardinal’s tune.
Epigram from Defensio Secunda
Gaudete scombri, et quicquid est piscium salo,
Qui frigida hieme incolitis algentes freta;
Vestrum misertus ille Salmasius eques
Bonus amicire nuditatem cogitat;
5 Chartaeque largus apparat papyrinos
Vobis cucullos praeferentes Claudii
Insignia nomenque et decus Salmasii,
Gestetis ut per omne cetarium forum
Equitis clientes, scriniis mungentium
10 Cubito virorum, et capsulis gratissimos.
Epigram from Defensio Secunda
Rejoice, you mackerels and all briny fish who spend your winters freezing in the cold sea! The good knight Salmasius,3 pitying you, plans to clothe your nakedness. Lavish with his stationery, he is making paper cowls6 for you. They bear the insignia, name and rank of Claudius Salmasius, so you may wear them proudly as the knight’s retainers through the whole fish-market and be most welcome to the chests and boxes of the men who wipe their noses on their elbows.10
UNPUBLISHED LATIN POEMS
Carmina Elegiaca
Surge, age, surge, leves, iam convenit, excute somnos,
Lux oritur, tepidi fulcra relinque tori.
Iam canit excubitor gallus, praenuntius ales
Solis, et invigilans ad sua quemque vocat.
5 Flammiger Eois Titan caput exerit undis
Et spargit nitidum laeta per arva iubar.
Daulias argutum modulatur ab ilice carmen
Edit et excultos mitis alauda modos.
Iam rosa fragrantes spirat silvestris odores,
10 Iam redolent violae luxuriatque seges.
Ecce novo campos Zephyritis gramine vestit
Fertilis, et vitreo rore madescit humus.
Segnes invenias molli vix talia lecto
Cum premat imbellis lumina fessa sopor.
15 Illic languentes abrumpunt somnia somnos
Et turbant animum tristia multa tuum;
Illic tabifici generantur semina morbi.
Qui pote torpentem posse valere virum?
Surge, age, surge, leves, iam convenit, excute somnos
20 Lux oritur, tepidi fulcra relinque tori.
Elegiac Verses
Get up, come on, get up! It’s time. Shake off useless slumbers. Dawn is rising; leave the posts of that warm bed. Now crows the sentinel cock, the harbinger bird of sunrise, vigilant to call everyone to work. Flaming Titan5 lifts his head above the eastern waves and scatters radiant sunshine over the joyful fields. The Daulian bird7 sings a piercing song from her oak, and the gentle lark pours forth her well-trilled song. Now the wild rose breathes out sweet perfumes; now violets emit their scent, and the corn is flourishing. Look! Zephyr’s fertile consort11 clothes the fields with fresh grass, and the ground is moist with glassy dew. Lazybones, you will hardly find delights like these in your soft bed, where feeble lethargy weighs down your tired eyes. There dreams interrupt your languid slumbers and many griefs disturb your mind. The seeds of wasting disease are bred there. How can a lazy man have the strength to do anything? Get up, come on, get up! It’s time. Shake off useless slumbers. Dawn is rising; leave the posts of that warm bed.
[Asclepiads]
Ignavus satrapam dedecet inclytum
Somnus qui populo multifido praeest.
Dum Dauni veteris filius armiger
Stratus purpureo procubuit [toro]
5 Audax Euryalus, Nisus et impiger
Invasere cati nocte sub horrida
Torpentes Rutilos castraque Volscia:
Hinc caedes oritur clamor et absonus.
Asclepiads
Idle slumber ill becomes a famous governor who has charge over a populous nation. While old Daunus’s warlike son3 lay stretched out on his crimson bed,4 bold Euryalus and energetic Nisus cunningly attacked the drowsy Rutulians and the Volscian camp under cover of dreadful night. Hence arose slaughter and discordant clamour.
NOTES
Abbreviations
In these notes references to critics are usually by surname only. For bibliographical details see Further Reading. The abbreviation Var. refers to the Variorum Commentary on the Poems of John Milton (6 vols., 1970–). I have used the following abbreviations of specific manuscripts and editions of Milton’s works:
BMS
Bridgewater Manuscript of A Masque
Ed I
Paradise Lost. First edition (1667)
Ed II
Paradise Lost. Second edition (1674)
MS
The Manuscript of Paradise Lost i
TMS
The Trinity Manuscript
1637
A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle (1637)
1638
Justa Edouardo King naufrago (1638)
1645
Poems of Mr. John Milton (1645)
