The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems

by John Milton; Burton Raffel

  SPIRIT. Alas, good vent’rous youth,

  I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise,895 610

  But here thy sword can do thee little stead.896

  Far other arms and other weapons must

  Be those that quell the might of hellish charms.

  He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints

  And crumble all thy sinews!

  BROTHER 1. Why prithee, shepherd,

  How durst thou then thyself approach so near

  As to make this relation?897

  SPIRIT. Care and utmost shifts!898

  How to secure the lady from surprisal

  Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad

  Of small regard899 to see to, yet well skilled

  In every virtuous900 plant and healing herb

  That spreads her verdant leaf to th’ morning ray.

  He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing,

  Which when I did, he on the tender grass

  Would sit and hearken e’en to ecstasy,

  And in requital ope his leathern scrip901

  And show me simples902 of a thousand names,

  Telling their strange and vigorous faculties.

  Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,

  But of divine effect, he culled903 me out.

  The leaf was darkish and had prickles on it,

  But in another country, as he said,

  Bore a bright golden flow’r—but not in this soil—

  Unknown, and like esteemed—and the dull swain

  Treads on it daily with his clouted904 shoon.

  And yet more med’cinal is it than that Moly905

  Which Hermes906 once to wise Ulysses gave.

  He907 called it Haemony, and gave it me,

  And bade me keep it as of sov’reign908 use

  ’Gainst all enchantments, mildew blast,909 or damp,

  Or ghastly Furies apparition.910

  I pursed it up, but little reck’ning made,

  Till now that this extremity compelled.

  But now I find it true, for by this means

  I knew the foul enchanter, though disguised—

  Entered the very lime-twigs911 of his spells

  And yet came off.912 If you have this about you

  (As I will give you when we go) you may

  Boldly assault the necromancer’s hall—

  Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood

  And brandished blade rush on him, break his glass

  And shed the luscious913 liquor on the ground.

  But seize his wand. Though he and his cursed crew

  Fierce sign of battle make, and menace high,

  Or like the sons of Vulcan vomit smoke,

  Yet will they soon retire,914 if he but shrink.915

  BROTHER I. Thyrsis, lead on apace.916 I’ll follow thee.

  And some good Angel bear a shield before us!

  The scene changes to a stately palace, set out with all

  manner of deliciousness: soft music, tables spread with all

  dainties. Comus appears, with his rabble, and the lady set

  in an enchanted chair, to whom he offers his glass, which

  she puts by and goes about to rise.

  COMUS. Nay, lady. Sit. If I but wave this wand

  Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster

  And you a statue—or as Daphne was,

  Root-bound, that fled Apollo.

  LADY. Fool, do not boast.

  Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind

  With all thy charms, although this corporal rind

  Thou has emmanacled, while Heav’n sees good.

  COMUS. Why are you vexed, lady? Why do you frown?

  Here dwell no frowns, nor anger. From these gates

  Sorrow flies far. See here be all the pleasures

  That Fancy can beget on youthful thoughts,

  When the fresh blood grows lively and returns

  Brisk as the April buds in primrose season.

  And first behold this cordial917 julip,918 here,

  That flames and dances in his crystal bounds,919

  With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed.

  Not that nepenthes920 which the wife of Thon921

  In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena

  Is of such power to stir up joy as this—

  To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst.

  Why should you be so cruel to yourself,

  And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent

  For gentle usage and soft delicacy?

  But you invert the cov’nants922 of her trust,

  And harshly deal like an ill borrower

  With that which you received on other terms,

  Scorning the unexempt 923 condition 924

  By which all mortal frailty must subsist,

  Refreshment after toil, ease after pain,

  That 925 have been tired all day without repast,

  And timely rest have wanted. But, fair virgin,

  This will restore all soon.926

  LADY. ’Twill not, false traitor!

  ’Twill not restore the truth and honesty

  That thou hast banished from thy tongue with lies.

  Was this the “cottage,” and the “safe abode”

  Thou toldst me of? What grim aspects 927 are these,

  These ugly-headed monsters? Mercy guard me!

  Hence with thy brewed enchantments, foul deceiver!

  Hast thou betrayed my credulous innocence

  With visored 928 falsehood and base forgeries

  And wouldst thou seek again to trap me, here,

  With liquorish baits, fit to ensnare a brute?

  Were it a draught for Juno, when she banquets,

  I would not taste thy treasonous offer! None

  But such as are good men can give good things,

  And that which is not good is not delicious

  To a well-governed and wise appetite.

  COMUS. O foolishness of men! that lend their ears

  To those budge 929 doctors of the stoic fur,

  And fetch their precepts from the cynic tub,930

  Praising the lean and sallow abstinence.

  Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth

  With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,

  Covering the earth with odors, fruits, and flocks,

  Thronging the seas with spawn931 innumerable,

  But all to please and sate the curious taste?

  And set to work millions of spinning worms

  That in their green shops weave the smooth-haired silk

  To deck her sons. And that no corner might

  Be vacant of her plenty in her own loins

  She hutched932 th’ all-worshipped ore and precious gems

  To store 933 her children with. If all the world

  Should in a pet 934 of temperance feed on pulse,935

  Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze,936

  Th’ all-giver would be unthanked, would be unpraised,

  Not half His riches known, and yet despised,

  And we would serve Him as a grudging master,

  As a penurious niggard 937 of His wealth,

  And live like Nature’s bastards, not her sons,

  Who938 would be quite surcharged 939 with her own weight

  And strangled with her waste fertility,

  Th’ earth cumbered, and the winged air darked with plumes.940

  The herds would over-multitude their lords,

  The sea o’er-fraught 941 would swell, and th’ unsought diamonds

  Would so emblaze the forehead of the deep,

  And so be-stud with stars, that they below

  Would grow inured to light, and come at last

  To gaze upon the sun with shameless brows.

  List, lady. Be not coy, and be not cozened 942

  With that same vaunted 943 name, virginity.

  Beauty is Nature’s coin, must not be hoarded,

/>   But must be current,944 and the good thereof

  Consists in mutual and partaken bliss,

  Unsavory in th’ enjoyment of itself.

  If you let slip time, like a neglected rose

  It withers on the stalk, with languished head.

  Beauty is Nature’s brag,945 and must be shown

  In courts, at feasts, on high solemnities

  Where most may wonder at the workmanship.

  It is for homely946 features to keep home:

  They had their name thence. Coarse complexions 947

  And cheeks of sorry948 grain 949 will serve to ply950

  The sampler 951 or to tease 952 the housewife’s wool.

  What need a vermeil-tinctured lip for that?

  Love-darting eyes, or tresses like the morn?

  There was another meaning in those gifts!

  Think what, and be advised.953 You are but young yet.

  LADY. I had not thought to have unlocked my lips

  In this unhallowed air, but 954 that this juggler 955

  Would think to charm my judgment as956 mine eyes,

  Obtruding957 false rules pranked958 in reason’s garb!

  I hate when vice can bolt 959 her arguments

  And virtue has no tongue to check her 960 pride.

  Impostor! Do not charge961 most innocent Nature,

  As if she would962 her children should be riotous

  With her abundance! She, good cateress,963

  Means her provision only to the good

  That live according to her sober laws

  And holy dictate of spare temperance.

  If every just man that now pines with want

  Had but a moderate and beseeming964 share

  Of that which lewdly-pampered luxury

  Now heaps upon some few with vast excess,

  Nature’s full blessings would be well dispensed

  In unsuperfluous,965 ev’n proportion,966

  And she no whit encumbered with her store.

  And then the giver would be better thanked,

  His praise due paid—for winish gluttony

  N’er looks to Heav’n, amidst his gorgeous967 feast,

  But with besotted base ingratitude

  Crams, and blasphemes his feeder.

  Shall I go on?

  Or have I said enough? To him that dares

  Arm his profuse tongue with contemptuous words

  Against the sun-clad power of chastity

  Fain would I something say—yet to what end?

  Thou hast nor ear nor soul to apprehend

  The sublime notion and high mystery 968

  That must be uttered, to unfold the sage

  And serious doctrine of virginity.

  And thou art worthy that thou shouldst not know

  More happiness than this thy present lot.

  Enjoy your dear wit and gay rhetoric

  That hath so well been taught her dazzling fence!969

  Thou art not fit to hear thyself convinced.

  Yet should I try, the uncontrollèd worth

  Of this pure cause would kindle my rapt spirits

  To such a flame of sacred vehemence

  That dumb things would be moved to sympathize,

  And the brute earth would lend her nerves,970 and shake

  Till all thy magic structures reared so high

  Were shattered into heaps o’er thy false head!

  COMUS. She fables not. I feel that I do fear

  Her words, set off by some superior power.

  And, though not mortal, yet a cold shudd’ring dew

  Dips me all o’er, as when the wrath of Jove

  Speaks thunder and the chains of Erebus971

  To some of Saturn’s crew. I must dissemble

  And try972 her yet more strongly.

  Come, no more.

  This is mere moral babble and direct

  Against the canon laws of our foundation.973

  I must not suffer this, yet ’tis but the lees974

  And settlings of a melancholy blood.

  But this will cure all straight!975 One sip of this

  Will bathe the drooping spirits in delight

  Beyond the bliss of dreams. Be wise, and taste.

  The brothers rush in, with swords drawn, wrest his glass

  out of his hand, and break it against the ground. His rout

  makes sign of resistance, but all are driven in. The

  attendant spirit comes in.

  SPIRIT. What? Have you let the false enchanter scape?

  O ye mistook, ye should have snatched his wand

  And bound him fast. Without his rod reversed,

  And backward mutters of dissevering976 power,

  We cannot free the lady that sits here,

  In stony fetters fixed and motionless.

  Yet stay,977 be not disturbed. Now I bethink me:

  Some other means I have which may be used,

  Which once of Melibaeus978 old I learned—

  The soothest979 shepherd that e’er piped980 on plains.

  There is a gentle nymph, not far from hence,

  That with moist curb981 sways982 the smooth Severn983 stream.

  Sabrina is her name, a virgin pure.

  Whilom984 she was the daughter of Locrine,985

  That had the scepter from his father Brute.986

  She, guiltless damsel, flying the mad pursuit

  Of her enragèd stepdam, Gwendolen,

  Commended her fair innocence to the flood987

  That stayed her flight with his cross-flowing course.

  The water nymphs that in the bottom988 played

  Held up their pearlèd wrists, and took her in,

  Bearing her straight to agèd Nereus989 hall,

  Who, piteous of her woes, reared her lank990 head

  And gave her to his daughters to embathe

  In nectared lavers,991 strewn with asphodil,

  And through the porch992 and inlet of each sense

  Dropped in ambrosial oils, till she revived

  And underwent a quick immortal change,

  Made goddess of the river. Still she retains

  Her maiden gentleness, and oft at eve

  Visits the herds along the twilight meadows,

  Helping all urchin993 blasts994 and ill luck signs

  That the shrewd meddling elf delights to make,

  Which she with precious vialed liquors heals.

  For which the shepherds at their festivals

  Carol995 her goodness, loud in rustic lays,996

  And throw sweet garland wreaths into her stream,

  Of pansies, pinks, and gaudy daffodils.

  And, as the old swain said, she can unlock

  The clasping997 charm and thaw the numbing spell,

  If she be right invoked in warbled song,

  For maidenhood she loves, and will be swift

  To aid a virgin such as was herself,

  In hard besetting998 need. This will I try

  And add the power of some adjuring999 verse.

  SONG

  Sabrina, fair,

  Listen where thou are sitting

  Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave,

  In twisted braids of lillies knitting

  The loose train of the amber-dropping hair.

  Listen for dear honor’s sake,

  Goddess of the silver lake,

  Listen and save.

  Listen and appear to us

  In name of great Oceanus1000 —

  By th’ earth-shaking Neptune’s mace,

  And Tethys’ grave, majestic pace—

  By hoary Nereus’ wrinkled look,

  And the Carpathian wizard’s hook—

  By scaly Triton’s winding1001 shell,

  And old sooth-saying Glaucus’ spell—

  By Leucothea’s1002 lovely hands,

  And her son that rules the strands1003 —

  By Thetis’ tinsel-slippered feet,

  And the song
s of Sirens’ sweet—

  By dead Parthenope’s1004 dear tomb,

  And fair Ligéa’s golden comb,

  Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks,

  Sleeking her soft, alluring locks—

  By all the nymphs that nightly dance

  Upon thy streams, with wily1005 glance!

  Rise, rise, and heave1006 thy rosy head

  From thy coral-paven bed,

  And bridle1007 in thy headlong wave

  Till thou our summons answered have.

  Listen and save.

  Sabrina rises, attended by water-nymphs, and sings:

  By the rushy-fringèd bank,

  Where grows the willow and the osier dank,

  My sliding chariot stays,

  Thick set with agate and the azure sheen

  Of turquoise blue, and emerald green

  That in the channel strays,

  Whilst from off the waters fleet 1008

  Thus I set my printless feet

  O’er the cowslips’ velvet head,

  That bends not as I tread.

  Gentle swain, at thy request

  I am here.

  SPIRIT. Goddess dear,

  We implore thy powerful hand

  To undo the charmèd band1009

  Of true virgin, here distressed1010

  Through the force and through the wile

  Of unblessed enchanter vile.

  SABRINA. Shepherd, it is my office1011 best

  To help ensnarèd chastity.

  Brightest lady, look on me!

  Thus I sprinkle on thy breast

  Drops that from my fountain pure

  I have kept, of precious cure.1012

  Thrice upon thy finger’s tip,

  Thrice upon thy rubied lip!

  Next, this marble-venomed seat

  Smeared with gums1013 of glutinous 1014 heat

  I touch with chaste palms, moist and cold.

  Now the spell hath lost his hold—

  And I must haste, ere morning hour,

  To wait 1015 in Amphitrite’s 1016 bow’r.

  Sabrina descends, and the lady rises out of her seat.

  SPIRIT. Virgin, daughter of Locrine,

  Sprung of old Anchises’1017 line,

  May thy brimmèd waves, for this,

  Their full tribute never miss

  From a thousand petty1018 rills1019

  That tumble down the snowy hills.

  Summer drought or singèd air

  Never scorch thy tresses fair,

  Nor wet October’s torrent flood

  Thy molten crystal fill1020 with mud.

  May thy billows roll ashore

  The beryl1021 and the golden ore.

  May thy lofty head be crowned

  With many a tow’r and terrace round,

  And here and there thy banks upon