by John Milton
59 shut his eyes.
60 forehead.
61 referring to Tantalus who had divulged the secrets of the gods.
62 heroic for God’s greater glory.
63 tricks of love (from Venus).
64 fresh water.
65 weaken.
66 refuse or offal.
67 at Ramath-lechi (Judges xv. 18–19).
68 natural.
69 melancholy.
70 symptoms.
71 the mind and the senses.
72 soothing.
73 premature.
74 Tarsus (now an area of Turkey) is here identified with the proud Biblical Tarshish; the isles of Noah’s grandson are the isles of Greece, and Gadier is Cadiz. The ship was frequently used as a symbol of prostitution.
75 ambergris.
76 The hyena was supposed to entice men by imitating man’s voice in order to devour them.
77 propose.
78 volleys of words (as of gunfire).
79 passionately, sensitively.
80 lack.
81 snares, and nets to trap game.
82 Adders were proverbially deaf, but Samson also means his knowledge now of evil. Satan is called an adder in PL IX, 625.
83 Philistine cities.
84 spices burnt in ritual offerings.
85 Jael struck a nail through the temples of the Canaanite leader Sisera (Judges v. 24–27).
86 possess.
87 Best Man, at a wedding.
88 prefer.
89 incurred, concentrated in intensity.
90 cargo, i.e., business.
91 fate, mishap.
92 plain of battle or tournament field.
93 challenge to single combat.
94 treacherously attacked.
95 plated body armor.
96 jacket of mail.
97 respectively, armor for the forearm, the legs, and the hand.
98 The staff of Goliath’s spear was also like a weaver’s beam (1 Sam. xvii. 7).
99 coarse and strong.
1 thy people.
2 See ll. 256–64.
3 See Judges xiv. 19.
4 sun god of the Philistines.
5 front line of battle.
6 disgraced and frustrated.
7 queen of heaven.
8 alluding to 2 Sam. xxi. 15–22.
9 skillfully wrought.
10 point him out.
11 beware.
12 imposed.
13 courage.
14 give a dispensation to.
15 because I do not desire them to.
16 tried to persuade.
17 The rest of their revenge they would magnanimously remit.
18 as kinsmen.
19 both “alms” and “pain.”
20 moves slowly.
21 empty.
22 resolved.
23 quality.
24 benches.
25 men and horses clad in armor, and spearsmen.
26 elated.
27 Shiloh.
28 foolish.
29 condemned.
30 winged serpent emitting fire. Samuel S. Stollman (English Language Notes, VII [1970], 186–89) cites as allusion Gen. xlix. 16–18: “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path.… I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.”
31 farmhouse.
32 The lines refer the victory over the Philistines and their god to the Providence of God as comparison with PL VI; 762–64, shows.
33 the Phoenix.
34 sheltered.
35 living for (five) centuries.
36 condition.
37 ordering.
38 Compare Ps. xxvii. 9: “Hide not thy face far from me,” and Ps. lxxxviii. 14: “Lord, why castest thou off my soul? why hidest thou thy face from me?”
39 acquisition.
40 As comparison with Milton’s first sentence concerning tragedy indicates, complete catharsis has occurred.
41 Traditional dating places SA last of Milton’s poetic works (c. 1670), but this has been challenged by Parker, Gilbert, and the editor (see articles listed in the bibliography). The dates given here are those conjectured by Parker. See the introduction for an explanation of the order in which the poems are printed here.
Textual Notes
Collations of all known significant texts have been prepared for all poems. For brevity, however, only verbal variants in all texts and similar important differences are reported here. Manuscript readings which are not final are omitted, and abbreviations are generally expanded.
The basic text from which the present version of a poem is derived is marked by an asterisk. Milton’s holograph copies best represent his intentions, though they contain some errors, lack full punctuation, and evidence spelling practices which were later abandoned. A basic manuscript text is altered in the direction of a basic printed text. Scribal copies and printed versions, however, are filled with idiosyncracies in mechanics. A text given in this edition follows the copy available which seems to have been closest to Milton; alterations are made when authority is found in another text, when (as with punctuation) they are necessary for easy understanding of a line, when an error seems certain, and when meter dictates. In addition a few spellings are changed to more standard (and Milton’s later) forms: these include the dropping of most redundant final “e’s.” The result of these principles is, unfortunately, inconsistency; but it represents the kind of text offered the seventeenth-century reader without being an uncritical duplication of an original printing.
There were two collected editions of the minor poems during Milton’s lifetime, one in 1645 and one in 1673; some poems appeared in separate publications or in other collected volumes, noted where pertinent. SA and PR were issued together in 1671, the only authoritative source; PL was first published in 1667 (reissued with introductory material in 1668 and 1669) and then revised for a second edition in 1674. Publication is referred to by date in the notes. Original copies in the New York Public Library are reported, compared with the facsimiles in Harris F. Fletcher’s four-volume edition.
Aside from brief or incidental materials (corrections in presentation volumes, etc.) and copies with, apparently, no direct Miltonic connection, manuscript sources are the Trinity College MS (facsimile by William Aldis Wright, London, 1899), the Bridgewater MS of A Mask, the MS of the Ode to Rouse, and the MS of Book I of PL. These four important MSS are published in facsimile by Fletcher.
Evidence for the date of composition of each poem is cited as briefly as possible, since the researches of such men as Hanford, Parker, Tillyard, and Woodhouse have made it possible to record rather definite dates for most of the poems. For purposes of dating, the order of entry in the TM is obviously significant, but the arrangement within groups in the early editions is also informative, although errors or printing exigencies may have altered Milton’s arrangement.
A PARAPHRASE ON PSALM 114
Date: 1624; composed, according to headnote, when Milton was fifteen.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
PSALM 136
Date: 1624; composed, according to headnote for Ps. 114, when Milton was fifteen.
Texts: 1645*, 1673. A manuscript copy from the 1645 printing occurs in a poetic collection by William Sancroft (Bodleian Library, Tanner MS 466, pp. 34–35, ff. 20v–21); there are no verbal variants.
(7–8) et al. For &c. / For, &c. and For his, &c. 1645 and 1673 vacillate slightly differently between these two abbreviations. (10, 13, 17, 21, 25) That / Who 1673.
APOLOGUS DE RUSTICO ET HERO
Date: 1624–25; apparently written as a grammar school exercise.
Text: 1673*.
CARMINA ELEGIACA
Date: 1624–25; apparently a late grammar school exercise.
Text: MS in Netherby Hall, Longtown, Cumberland (autotype facsimile in PRO, catalogued: Autotypes / Milton &c. / Fac. 6 / Library / Shelf 156a; photograph* of autotype in British Museum, MS Add. 410
63 I, f. 85; printed by A. J. Horwood, Camden Society, n.s. XVI (1876), xvi–xix, 62–63.
3 prænuncius ales. / p( ) le( ) reading given is that recorded by Horwood.
“IGNAVUS SATRAPAM DEDECET …”
Date: 1624–25; apparently a late grammar school exercise.
Text: photograph* of autotype of MS (see note to Carmina Elegiaca).
4 Stratus purpureo procubuit thoro / str( )tus purp( )eo p( )buit ( ) Horwood printed the first two words; Columbia Milton (XVIII.643) suggested last word.
ELECIA PRIMA
Date: early Apr. 1626; written during the spring vacation after his rustication which occurred in the Lent term of 1626 (see ll. 9–12, 85–90). The Easter term began on Apr. 19.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(13) molles, / 1645 shows three states: as given, molles without a comma, and molle without s or a comma. (29) auditur / 1673 is found in two states: auditor and as given. (40) Interdum / 1673 is found in two states: Intredum and as given.
ELEGIA SECUNDA
Date: Oct. ? 1626; composed, according to Latin note, when Milton was seventeen. Ridding’s death occurred after Sept. 19 and before Nov. 28; Nov. is mere conjecture. Since the term began on Oct. 11, this, El. 3, and Eliensis were probably written after that time.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
ELEGIA TERTIA
Date: Oct. ? 1626; a Latin note says that this elegy was written when Milton was seventeen. The reference in ll. 9–12 makes the month uncertain, but see Bush, Variorum I, 65–68.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
IN OBITUM PRÆSULIS ELIENSIS
Date: Oct. ? 1626; composed after El. 3 (see ll. 4–6). Felton died on Oct. 6, and a Latin note places composition when Milton was seventeen.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
IN OBITUM PROCANCELLARII MEDICI
Date: Oct.–Nov. 1626; Gostlin died Oct. 21, 1626. Milton’s Latin note that the poem was written when he was sixteen is in error. It precedes Nov. 5 in 1645.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
IN PRODITIONEM BOMBARDICAM
Date: Nov. 1626 ?; probably composed around the same time as Nov. 5.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
IN EANDEM: “Thus did you strive …”
Date: Nov. 1626 ?; probably composed around the same time as Nov. 5.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
IN EANDEM: “JAMES DERIDED …”
Date: Nov. 1626 ?; probably composed around the same time as Nov. 5.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(4) cornua / corona 1673. (12) not indented 1673.
IN EANDEM: “WHOM IMPIOUS ROME …”
Date: Nov. 1626 ?; probably composed around the same time as Nov. 5.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
IN INVENTOREM BOMBARDÆ
Date: Nov. 1626 ?; probably composed around the same time as Nov. 5.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
IN QUINTUM NOVEMBRIS
Date: Nov. 1626; composed, according to Latin note, when Milton was seventeen.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(20) ceu / seu 1645, 1673. (45) natat / notat 1673; erratum corrects. (75) indented 1673. (125) casúmque 1673 / casúque 1645. (143) præruptaque 1673 / semifractaque 1645.
ELEGIA QUARTA
Date: late Mar. 1627; Latin note states that it was written when Milton was eighteen, from ll. 33–34 we know that it was written after Mar. 21, and it seems to be the verse epistle referred to in his letter of Mar. 26, 1627(?). (See Parker, MLN, LIII [1938], 399–407, for dating of the letter.) References to the war surrounding Hamburg are in agreement with this dating, and suggest no time later than the end of April. The elegy may have been composed before or after the letter, which apparently was written the day after Easter.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(89) fœtus; / fætus; 1645, 1673.
ON THE DEATH OF A FAIR INFANT DYING OF A COUGH
Date: Jan.–Mar. 1628; Milton’s niece was buried Jan. 22 and his second niece was born Apr. 9 (see last stanza). He notes in Latin that the poem was composed when he was seventeen. But since Milton was seventeen between Dec. 1625 and Dec. 1626, the printer or scribe may have simply misread “19” as “17.”
Text: 1673*.
(53) Mercy added to defective line. (54) crown’d / cown’d 1673.
AT A VACATION EXERCISE
Date: July 1628; Latin note that it was delivered when Milton was nineteen.
Text: 1673*.
Printed between the Fifth Ode and Forcers of Conscience, but an erratum repositions immediately after Fair Infant. (98) hallow’d / hollowed 1673.
ELEGIA QUINTA
Date: spring 1629; written when Milton was twenty according to Latin note.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(30) perennis 1673 / quotannis 1645. (115) Navita / Natvia 1673.
ON THE MORNING OF CHRISTS NATIVITY
Date: Dec. 1629; year given in 1645.
Texts: 1645*, 1673. A manuscript copy from the 1645 printing occurs in a poetic collection by William Sancroft (Bodleian Library MS, Tanner 466, pp. 60–66, ff. 33v–36v); four verbal variants are noted: (52) Peace / Peace > Calme (53) or / nor (86) dawn / Day (171) wrath / wroth.
(143–44) Th’ enameld Arras of the Rainbow wearing, | And Mercy set between, 1645. (171) wroth 1673 / wrath 1645.
ELEGIA SEXTA
Date: Dec. 1629; reference to Diodati’s letter of Dec. 13 (headnote) and to Nativity Ode (ll. 79–90).
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
THE PASSION
Date: Mar. 1630; written, apparently, around Easter following the composition of the Nativity Ode.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(22) latter / latest 1673.
ELEGIA SEPTIMA
Date: May 1630; number of elegy and position after El. 6 in 1645. The printed note “Anno ætatis undevigesimo” (at the age of nineteen) may have resulted, as Parker has argued (“Notes,” pp. 120–21), from a scribe’s misreading of Milton’s “uno et vigesimo” (twenty-one).
Texts: 1645*, 1673. A correction in Milton’s hand is found in the Bodleian Library copy of 1645 (catalogued 80 M168 Art, but kept as Arch G.f.17): l. 21, “ærerno” is changed to “æterno”.
(2) fuit. / suit. 1645, 1673. (21) æterno 1673 / ærerno 1645.
LINES APPENDED TO ELEGIA SEPTIMA (ELEGY 7)
Date: 1630 ? Most editors place this “renunciation” with El. 7, from which it is separated by a thin line in 1645, 1673. However, it obviously postdates the elegy and is separated in time from it (“formerly,” l. 2); see also ll. 7–8. F. W. Bateson (English Poetry: a Critical Introduction [New York, 1950], p. 161) thinks 1635 the earliest possible date, though his basis is unsound; and others have postulated the addition of the lines when the 1645 collection was being conceived. The lines reflect the thought that produced both Idea and Platonic references in other poems dated here in 1631.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
SONG: ON MAY MORNING
Date: May 1630 ?; conjectural. Perhaps after Dec. 1629 (when Milton became 21) since, as Parker points out (“Notes,” p. 115), he dated most of the poems which we know were written prior to that time in terms of his age; El. 1, El. 6 (month but not the year), and the five epigrams on the Gunpowder Plot do not carry notes concerning their compositional dates. The only poem which was composed apparently later and which has a date in terms of age is El. 7 (May 1630); of later poems only Shakespear, Lycidas, and Mask carry year dates in 1645. It may be significant that Song precedes Shakespear; however, it follows Epitaph on the Marchioness, which is clearly out of chronological order. Others have dated the poem from 1628 through 1632.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
SONNET 1
Date: May 1630 ?; conjectural, but perhaps close to the Italian poems. See also textual note to Song. It may be significant that Milton purchased his copy of Giovanni della Casa’s influential Rime et prose in Dec. 1629.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
SONNET 2
Date: 1630 ?; uncertain, but perhaps sonnet group is dated by correspo
ndences with El. 7 (May 1630). Compare Son. 2 with the elegy; ll. 1–4 of Son. 4 with ll. 1–4 of the elegy; and ll. 8–14 of Son. 6 with ll. 89–90 of the elegy. The purchase of della Casa’s Rime et Prose in Dec. 1629 likewise suggests composition after that date. Son. 5, addressed to Diodati, points to—but does not require—composition before mid-April when Diodati enrolled in the Academy of Geneva.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(5) mostrasi / mostra si 1645, 1673.
SONNET 3
Date: 1630 ?; see textual note for Son. 2.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
CANZONE
Date: 1630 ?; see textual note for Son. 2.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
SONNET 4
Date: 1630 ?; see textual note for Son. 2.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
SONNET 5
Date: 1630 ?; see textual note for Son. 2.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(2) sian / fian 1673. (10) Scossomi / Scosso mi 1645, 1673. (12) a trovar / e trovar 1673.
SONNET 6
Date: 1630 ?; see textual note for Son. 2.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
(6) Di / De 1645, 1673. (8) e d’intero / d’intero 1673.
ON SHAKESPEAR
Date: 1630; date given in 1645, in which it precedes the Hobson poems.
Texts: Shakespeare Second Folio (1632) in three states (Effigies A, B, and C); Shakespeare, Poems (1640); 1645*; Shakespeare Third Folio (1664); 1673.
Title An Epitaph on the admirable Dramaticke Poet W. SHAKESPEARE. A, B, C, William 1640, 1664. (4) Star-ypointing / starre-ypointed A. (6) weak / dull A, B, C, 1664. (8) live-long / lasting A, B, C, 1664. (10) heart / part, A, B, C, 1664. (13) it / her A, B, C, 1664, our 1640. (15) dost / doth 1640.
NATURAM NON PATI SENIUM
Date: June 1631 ?; precedes Idea (which see) in the editions, but was probably written at the same general time. Frequently dated June 1628 (as, therefore, is Idea) by those who suggest these as the verses mentioned in a letter to Alexander Gill, July 2, 1628, but perhaps this date should be 1631.
Texts: 1645*, 1673.
DE IDEA PLATONICA
Date: June 1631 ? Since the poem is undated by Milton, it may lie after Dec. 1629 (see textual note to Song). Probably it was composed after the amatory work of spring 1630, but certainly before Milton’s graduation in July 1632.