The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems
Page 78
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399 i.e., six men will be required/used to carry him to his grave
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400 boredom, sorrow
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401 involving unconcern with time
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402 load = burden
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403 so that
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404 as if
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405 a form of torture
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406 transformed, like so many classical figures, into a star/constellation?
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407 the “date” of a document is the “time” assigned to it (by the calendar)
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408 i.e., as regular as the moon
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409 “wain” = wagon; “wane” = decrease
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410 written on his tomb, or as his funereal inscription generally, just as letters too have their “superscriptions,” or inside addresses
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411 hold/enclose the corpse of
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412 dead in childbirth, together with her child, in 1631, at age twenty-three
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413 Thomas, Viscount of Rock-Savage
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414 on her mother’s side, heir of Lord Darcy, Earl of Rivers
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415 counted, reckoned up
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416 dwell
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417 proper, fit
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418 Hymen
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419 she had been married at sixteen; at twenty-three she died
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420 cypress = a funereal wood, its branches and twigs a symbol of mourning
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421 born in 1629
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422 goddess of childbirth
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423 childbirth labor
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424 one of the three Fates, who cut the thread of life
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425 the child was dead before delivery
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426 a cutting from a plant/flower
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427 retinue?
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428 careless
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429 youth, rustic, lover
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430 pluck, cut
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431 springtime, like springtime
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432 predictive, warning
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433 the mountain where the Muses dwelled
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434 twigs/sprays used as wreaths
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435 roads
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436 the River Cam, for which Cambridge is named
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437 Rachel
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438 the child she bore was Benjamin
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439 happiness (in heaven)
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440 (in Italian) lively, cheerful, gay, merry
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441 monstrous dog, guardian of the entrance to Hades
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442 Styx = underground river across which Charon ferried the souls of the dead into Hades
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443 unknown
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444 small, solitary chamber
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445 projecting cliff edges
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446 according to Homer, a people who live at the outer edge of the world and thus are in perpetual darkness
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447 named, called
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448 the three Graces are Agalia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne [four syllables, the second and fourth accented]
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449 exhales
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450 jolly, lively, unresisting
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451 merry, gay
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452 affable, graceful
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453 fanciful turns of speech, conceits
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454 sportive/cunning/amorous tricks
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455 nod of the head, signaling either assent or command
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456 goddess of youth [bisyllabic]
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457 frolic, diversion
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458 uncensured
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459 slow, listless
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460 speckled
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461 “rear” as in “rear guard”: the image is military
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462 as in “haystack”
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463 brave, fierce, vigorous
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464 “struts his dames before” = struts in front of his lady folk
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465 light gray
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466 in plain view, openly
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467 elevated, distinguished, of high rank
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468 display of high dignity/rank/wealth
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469 elaborate costumes/uniforms
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470 equipped, ordered
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471 sharpens
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472 appraises
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473 reddish brown
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474 farmland ploughed and harrowed but left uncultivated for a period (usually a year)
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475 spotted, variegated
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476 indented parapets at the tops of walls
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477 i.e., some beautiful woman
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478 dwells
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479 center of attraction
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480 Corydon and Thyrsis = prototypical names for characters in Greek pastorals
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481 leafy edible plants
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482 food
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483 deft, dexterous
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484 prepares
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485 abode, cottage
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486 tie up
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487 bundles made after reaping (usually of grains)
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488 i.e., before harvest time (autumn)
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489 conduct, guide, show the way
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490 browned by exposure
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491 conical heaps of hay, in the fields/pastures
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492 meadow
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493 free from care/doubt/worry
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494 highland
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495 small villages or groups of houses, having no church
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496 merry, joyful, light-hearted
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497 primitive three-stringed fiddle
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498 a principal fairy
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499 cakes, sweetmeats, dainties
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500 threshing tool: a wooden handle to which is tied a free-swinging clublike swingle (or “swipple”)
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501 grain
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502 beneficent goblin
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503 stuffed with food
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504 morning call
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505 garments
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506 public spectacle/festivity
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507 sufficient/abundant supply
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508 god of marriage
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509 orange-red/yellow
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510 wax candle
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511 splendor, magnificence
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512 Ben Jonson, 1572–1637, poet, dramatist, critic; friend/colleague of Shakespeare
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513 comedy (in which the actors wore low-heeled slippers, or “socks”)
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514 imagination
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515 corrosive
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516 the Lydian (ancient Greek) mode (musical scale) was soft, often melancholy; air = melodies
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517 gentle
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518 round
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519 see footnote 36 to line 27, above
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520 attention, care
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521 whirling, intoxicated
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522 skill, craft
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523 legendary poet/musician
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524 raise, lift
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525 Elysian Fields/Elysium = legendary island of the blessed
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526 melodies
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527 lord of the underworld
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528 Orpheus had won her right to live again, provided he not look back at her as she followed him up into the world of the living. He finally did look back, at her urgent request, and she disappeared forever [four syllables, second and fourth accented]
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529 The reference is to Marlowe’s “Passionate Shepherd” see also lines 37–40, above
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530 (in Italian) thoughtful, serious, grave
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531 help, assist
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532 resolved, determined
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533 whims
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534 foolish, credulous, idiotic
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535 showy
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536 minute particle (of dust)
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537 hirelings, mercenaries, tools, creatures
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538 son of Hypnos (Sleep), and god of dreams
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539 reach, light upon
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540 a handsome Ethiopian prince; his sister’s name is Himera—but the allusion remains obscure
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541 suit
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542 Cassiopeia, queen of Ethiopia, boasted that Andromeda, her daughter, was more beautiful than the Nereids, who responded by turning Andromeda into a constellation [“Ethiope” = bisyllable—i.e., first syllable stressed, second syllable elided]
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543 virgin daughter of Saturn (Chronos) and goddess of the hearth
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544 in Crete? where Jove (Zeus) lived—and plotted against Saturn (Chronos)
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545 priestess of a pagan deity
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546 sober, grave, serious, reserved
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547 color
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548 sable-colored: black
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549 mantlelike vestment, worn over the shoulders
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550 fine linen fabric; unlike most linens, cypress lawn is black
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551 comely
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552 usual, habitual, customary
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553 to communicate/hold intercourse with
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554 transported, carried away, enraptured
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555 steadfast, firm, grave, serious
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556 heavy
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557 glance, look
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558 i.e., her eyes
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559 with equal firmness
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560 lean
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561 fasting (abstinence from food)
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562 always
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563 withdrawn
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564 well-ordered
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565 “the Cherub Contemplation” (line 54, below)
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566 Ezekiel’s vision of a heavenly chariot: see Ezekiel 10:1–2 and 9–22
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567 [five syllables, first, third, and fifth accented]
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568 summon (with a whisper)
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569 unless
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570 the nightingale
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571 mood, manner
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572 moon goddess
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573 curbs, restrains
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574 yoke = wooden device for coupling more than one horse or other dray animal to one vehicle
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575 singer (the nightingale)
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576 solicit, entreat
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577 not by lawn cutting but by sheep nibbling
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578 a piece/patch of ground, usually small
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579 deep mournful tone
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580 quiet
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581 remote, secluded
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582 darkness
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583 the night watchman/town crier
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584 incantation
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585 the constellation Ursa Major (“Great Bear”), which never sets
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586 Hermes Trismegistus (“thrice great Hermes”), third-century Neoplatonist
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587 Plato’s spirit is assumed, here, to now reside in a planetary sphere: Plato argued that great men’s souls do in fact so ascend after their bodies die
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588 explain
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589 dwelling
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590 corner, outlying/remote region
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591 a being intermediate between god and man: an inferior deity
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592 accord, agreement
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593 brilliant, showy
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594 scepter = ornamental rod/wand
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595 rich purple cloth
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596 of which Oedipus was king
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597 i.e., Agamemnon, Orestes, Electra, Iphigenia
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598 high thick-soled boots worn in tragedies, as opposed to the “sock” (low slipper) worn in comedies
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599 mythical Greek poet, said to have been taught by Orpheus
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600 Geoffrey Chaucer, “Squire’s Tale” (in Canterbury Tales): the first two parts were finished, but we have only the first two lines of part three
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601 [three syllables, first and third accented]
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602 tournaments
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603 not ironic, but a reference to Spenser, one of Milton’s favorite poets, who (in Book IV, canto 2, of The Fairie Queene) added allegory to the tale Chaucer left unfinished
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604 path
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605 sober
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606 decked, adorned
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607 pleated, curled
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608 Cephalus, husband of Procris, trapped in an ultimately fatal human-deity triangle when Eos (“dawn”) fell in love with him
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609 god of forests
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610 harsh, violent, rugged
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611 lifted, raised
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612 frequently visited place
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613 shelter, covering
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614 unhallowed, polluted, alien
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615 glaringly bright
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616 company? harmony?
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617 tutelary god/spirit
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618 proper
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619 bounds [noun]
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620 arched, vaulted
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621 “massily” [adverb]
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622 ornamented with scenes (“stories”) from history, legend, etc.
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623 made, ordered, arrayed
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624 resounding, sounding forth
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625 ponder
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626 show
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627 catch sight of
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628 Leto, a Titan, mother of twins, Apollo and Artemis, whose father is Zeus
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629 the Great Mother [trisyllabic, first and third syllables accented]
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630 i.e., give her any further competitive advantage
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631 gentlemanly, noble, high-born, aristocratic
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632 shepherds, rustics
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633 Arcadia: region of Greece which Virgil’s Eclogues made the traditional locale of the pastoral ideal
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634 river, stream
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635 river that fell in love with the nymph Arethusa and, after Diana transformed her into a fountain, flowed under the sea to reach her