Milton's Poetical Works E-Book

John Milton

• Herausgeber: Seltzer Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 730

Beschreibung

Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained (1671), Samson Agonistes (1671), and Minor Poems (1645). According to Wikipedia: "John Milton (December 9, 1608 ? November 8, 1674) was an English poet, prose polemicist, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England. Most famed for his epic poem Paradise Lost, Milton is celebrated as well for his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica. Long considered the supreme English poet, Milton experienced a dip in popularity after attacks by T. S. Eliot and F. R. Leavis in the mid 20th century; but with multiple societies and scholarly journals devoted to his study, Milton's reputation remains as strong as ever in the 21st century."

Leseprobe

THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON

Published by Seltzer Books

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Poetry Collections available from Seltzer Books:

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Byron's Complete Poetry

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Emily Dickinson's Works

John Keats, Poems of 1817 and 1820

Milton's Poetic Works

Complete Poetical Works of Shelley

Leaves of Grass by Whitman

Poetical Works of Wordsworth

Preface

Miscellaneous Poems

Lycidas

Comus

Poems Added in the 1673 Edition

Psalms (in verse)

Collection of Passages Translated in the Prose Writings

Paradise Lost

Paradise Regained

Samson Agonistes

________________

PREFACE BY THE REV. H. C. BEECHING, M. A.

This edition of Milton's Poetry is a reprint, as careful as Editor and Printers have been able to make it, from the earliest printed copies of the several poems.  First the 1645 volume of the Minor Poems has been printed entire; then follow in order the poems added in the reissue of 1673; the Paradise Lost, from the edition of 1667; and the Paradise Regain'd and Samson Agonistes from the edition of 1671.

The most interesting portion of the book must be reckoned the first section of it, which reproduces for the first time the scarce small octavo of 1645.  The only reprint of the Minor Poems in the old spelling, so far as I know, is the one edited by Mitford, but that followed the edition of 1673, which is comparatively uninteresting since it could not have had Milton's oversight as it passed through the press.  We know that it was set up from a copy of the 1645 edition, because it reproduces some pointless eccentricities such as the varying form of the chorus to Psalm cxxxvi; but while it corrects the errata tabulated in that edition it commits many more blunders of its own.  It is valuable, however, as the editio princeps of ten of the sonnets and it contains one important alteration in the Ode on the Nativity. This and all other alterations will be found noted where they occur.  I have not thought it necessary to note mere differences of spelling between the two editions but a word may find place here upon their general character.  Generally it may be said that, where the two editions differ, the later spelling is that now in use.  Thus words like goddess, darkness, usually written in the first edition with one final s, have two, while on the  other hand words like vernall, youthfull, and monosyllables like hugg, farr, lose their double letter.  Many monosyllables, e.g. som, cours, glimps, wher, vers, aw, els, don, ey, ly, so written in 1645, take on in 1673 an e mute, while words like harpe, windes, onely, lose it. By a reciprocal change ayr and cipress become air and cypress; and the vowels in daign, vail, neer, beleeve, sheild, boosom, eeven, battail, travailer, and many other words are similarly modernized.  On the other hand there are a few cases where the 1645 edition exhibits the spelling which has succeeded in fixing itself, as travail (1673, travel) in the sense of labour; and rob'd, profane, human, flood and bloody, forest, triple, alas, huddling, are found where the 1673 edition has roab'd, prophane, humane, floud and bloudy, forrest, tripple, alass and hudling.  Indeed the spelling in this later edition is not untouched by seventeenth century inconsistency.  It retains here and there forms like shameles, cateres, (where 1645 reads cateress), and occasionally reverts to the older-fashioned spelling of monosyllables without the mute e.  In the Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester, it reads --' And som flowers and some bays.'  But undoubtedly the impression on the whole is of a much more modern text.

In the matter of small or capital letters I have followed the old copy, except in one or two places where a personification seemed not plainly enough marked to a modern reader without a capital. Thus in Il Penseroso, l. 49, I print Leasure, although both editions read leasure; and in the Vacation Exercise, l. 71, Times for times. Also where the employment or omission of a capital is plainly due to misprinting, as too frequently in the 1673 edition, I silently make the correction.  Examples are, notes for Notes in Sonnet xvii. l. 13; Anointed for anointed in Psalm  ii. l.12.

In regard to punctuation I have followed the old printers except in obvious misprints, and followed them also, as far as possible, in their distribution of roman and italic type and in the grouping of words and lines in the various titles. To follow them exactly was impossible, as the  books are so very different in size.

At this point the candid reader may perhaps ask what advantage is gained by presenting these poems to modern readers in the dress of a bygone age.  If the question were put to me I should probably evade it by pointing out that Mr. Frowde is issuing an edition based upon this, in which the spelling is frankly that of to-day.  But if the question were pressed, I think a sufficient answer might be found.  To begin with, I should point out that even Prof. Masson, who in his excellent edition argues the point and decides in favour of modern spelling, allows that there are peculiarities of Milton's spelling which are really  significant, and ought therefore to be noted or preserved.  But who is to determine exactly which words are spelt according to the poet's own instructions, and which according to the printer's whim?  It is notorious that in Paradise Lost some words were spelt upon a deliberate system, and it may very well happen that in the volume of minor poems which the poet saw through the press in 1645, there were spellings no less systematic.  Prof. Masson makes a great point of the fact that Milton's own spelling, exhibited in the autograph manuscript of some of the minor poems preserved in Trinity College, Cambridge, does not correspond with that of the printed copy. [Note: This manuscript, invaluable to all students of Milton, has lately been facsimiled under the superintendence of Dr. Aldis Wright, and published at the Cambridge University press].  This is certainly true, as the reader may see for himself by comparing the passage from the manuscript given in the appendix with the corresponding place in the text.  Milton's own spelling revels in redundant e's, while the printer of the 1645 book is very sparing of them.  But in cases where the spelling affects the metre, we find that the printed text and Milton's manuscript closely correspond; and it is upon its value in determining the metre, quite as much as its antiquarian interest, that I should base a justification of this reprint.  Take, for instance, such a line as the eleventh of Comus, which Prof. Masson gives as:-

        Amongst the enthroned gods on sainted seats.

A reader not learned in Miltonic rhythms will certainly read this

        Amongst th' enthroned gods

But the 1645 edition reads:

        Amongst the enthron'd gods

and so does Milton's manuscript.  Again, in line 597, Prof. Masson reads:

        It shall be in eternal restless change

        Self-fed and self-consumed.  If this fail,

        The pillared firmament is rottenness,  &c.

But the 1645 text and Milton's manuscript read self-consum'd; after which word there is to be understood a metrical pause to mark the violent transition of the thought.

Again in the second line of the Sonnet to a Nightingale Prof.

Masson has:

        Warblest at eve when all the woods are still

but the early edition, which probably follows Milton's spelling though in this case we have no manuscript to compare, reads 'Warbl'st.' So the original text of Samson, l. 670, has 'temper'st.'

The retention of the old system of punctuation may be less defensible, but I have retained it because it may now and then be of use in determining a point of syntax.  The absence of a comma, for example, after the word hearse in the 58th line of the Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester, printed by Prof. Masson thus:--

        And some flowers, and some bays

        For thy hearse to strew thy ways,

but in the 1645 edition:--

        And som Flowers, and som Bays,

        For thy Hears to strew the ways,

goes to prove that for here must be taken as 'fore.

Of the Paradise Lost there were two editions issued during Milton's lifetime, and while the first has been taken as our text, all the variants in the second, not being simple misprints, have been recorded in the notes.  In one respect, however, in the distribution of the poem into twelve books instead of ten, it has seemed best, for the sake of practical convenience, to follow the second edition.  A word may be allowed here on the famous correction among the Errata prefixed to the first edition:  'Lib. 2. v. 414, for we read wee.'  This correction shows not only that Milton had theories about spelling, but also that he found means, though his sight was gone, to ascertain whether his rules had been carried out by his printer; and in itself this fact justifies a facsimile reprint.  What the principle in the use of the double vowel exactly was (and it is found to affect the other monosyllabic pronouns) it is not so easy to discover, though roughly it is clear the reduplication was intended to mark emphasis.  For example, in the speech of the Divine Son after the battle in heaven (vi. 810-817) the pronouns which the voice would naturally emphasize are spelt with the double vowel:

                                 Stand onely and behold

        Gods indignation on these Godless pourd

        By mee; not you but mee they have despis'd,

        Yet envied; against mee is all thir rage,

        Because the Father, t'whom in Heav'n supream

        Kingdom and Power and Glorie appertains,

        Hath honourd me according to his will.

        Therefore to mee thir doom he hath assign'd.

In the Son's speech offering himself as Redeemer (iii. 227-249) where the pronoun all through is markedly emphasized, it is printed mee the first four times, and afterwards me; but it is noticeable that these first four times the emphatic word does not stand in the stressed place of the verse, so that a careless reader might not emphasize it, unless his attention were specially led by some such sign:

        Behold mee then, mee for him, life for life

        I offer, on mee let thine anger fall;

        Account mee man.

In the Hymn of Creation (v.160-209) where ye occurs fourteen

times, the emphasis and the metric stress six times out of seven

coincide, and the pronoun is spelt yee; where it is unemphatic,

and in an unstressed place, it is spelt ye. Two lines are especially

instructive:

Speak yee who best can tell, ye Sons of light (l. 160);

and

        Fountains and yee, that warble, as ye flow,

        Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise (l. 195).

In v. 694 it marks, as the voice by its emphasis would mark in reading, a change of subject:

        So spake the false Arch-Angel, and infus'd

        Bad influence into th' unwarie brest

        Of his Associate; hee (i. e. the associate) together calls,

&c.

 An examination of other passages, where there is no antithesis, goes to show that the lengthened form of the pronoun is most frequent before a pause (as vii. 95); or at the end of a line (i. 245, 257); or when a foot is inverted (v. 133); or when as object it  precedes its verb (v. 612; vii. 747), or as subject follows it (ix. 1109; x. 4).  But as we might expect under circumstances where a purist could not correct his own proofs, there are not a few inconsistencies.  There does not seem, for example, any special emphasis in the second wee of the following passage:

                                        Freely we serve.

        Because wee freely love, as in our will

        To love or not; in this we stand or fall  (v. 538).

On the other hand, in the passage (iii. 41) in which the poet speaks of his own blindness:

                                Thus with the Year

        Seasons return, but not to me returns

        Day, &c.

where, if anywhere, we should expect mee, we do not find it, though it occurs in the speech eight lines below.  It should be added that this differentiation of the pronouns is not found in any printed poem of Milton's before Paradise Lost, nor is it found in the Cambridge autograph. In that manuscript the constant forms are me, wee, yee.  There is one place where there is a difference in the spelling of she, and it is just possible that this may not be due to accident.  In the first verse of the song in Arcades, the MS. reads:          This, this is shee;

and in the third verse:

        This, this is she alone.

This use of the double vowel is found a few times in Paradise Regain'd: in ii. 259 and iv. 486, 497 where mee begins a line, and in iv. 638 where hee is specially emphatic in the concluding lines of the poem.  In Samson Agonistes it is more frequent (e.g. lines 124, 178, 193, 220, 252, 290, 1125).  Another word the spelling of which in Paradise Lost will be observed to vary is the pronoun their, which is spelt sometimes thir.  The spelling in the Cambridge manuscript is uniformly thire, except once when it is thir; and where their once occurs in the writing of an amanuensis the e is struck through.  That the difference is not merely a printer's device to accommodate his line may be seen by a comparison of lines 358 and 363 in the First Book, where the shorter word  comes in the shorter line.  It is probable that the lighter form of the word was intended to be used when it was quite unemphatic.  Contrast, for example, in Book iii. l.59: His own works and their works at once to view with line 113: Thir maker and thir making and thir Fate.  But the use is not consistent, and the form thir is not found at all  till the 349th line of the First Book.  The distinction is kept up in the Paradise Regain'd and Samson Agonistes, but, if possible, with even less consistency.  Such passages, however, as Paradise Regain'd, iii. 414-440; Samson Agonistes, 880-890, are certainly spelt upon a method, and it is noticeable that in the choruses the lighter form is universal.

Paradise Regain'd and Samson Agonistes were published in 1671, and no further edition was called for in the remaining three years of the poet's lifetime, so that in the case of these poems there are no new readings to record; and the texts were so carefully revised, that only one fault (Paradise Regain'd, ii. 309) was left for correction later.  In these and the other poems I have corrected the misprints catalogued in the tables of Errata, and I have silently corrected any other unless it might be mistaken for a various reading, when I have called attention to it in a note.  Thus I have not recorded such blunders as Letbian for Lesbian in the 1645 text of Lycidas, line 63; or hallow for hollow in Paradise Lost, vi. 484; but I have noted content for concent, in At a Solemn Musick, line 6. 

In conclusion I have to offer my sincere thanks to all who have collaborated with me in preparing this Edition; to the Delegates of the Oxford Press for allowing me to undertake it and decorate it with so many facsimiles; to the Controller of the Press for his unfailing courtesy; to the printers and printer's reader for their care and pains.  Coming nearer home I cannot but acknowledge the help I have received in looking over proof- sheets from my sister, Mrs. P. A. Barnett, who has ungrudgingly put at the service of this book both time and eyesight.  In taking leave of it, I may be permitted to say that it has cost more of both these inestimable treasures than I had anticipated.  The last proof reaches me just a year after the first, and the progress of the work has not in the interval been interrupted. In tenui labor et tenuis gloria. Nevertheless I cannot be sorry it was undertaken.  H. C. B.

YATTENDON RECTORY,

November 8, 1899.

Transcriber's note: Facsimile of Title page of 1645 edition follows:

                           POEMS

                            OF

                      Mr John Milton,

                           BOTH

                     ENGLISH and LATIN

                  Compos'd at several times.

               ------------------------------

                Printed by his true copies.

               ------------------------------

               The SONGS were set in Musick by

                Mr. HENRY LAWES Gentleman of

                 the KINGS Chappel, and one

                      of His MAIESTIES

                       Private Musick.

                 --------Baccare frontem

         Cingite, ne vace noceat mala lingua futuro,

              Virgil, Eclog. 7.

         -----------------------------------------

            Printed, and Publish'd according to

                           ORDER.

         -----------------------------------------

                          LONDON,

        Printed by Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Moseley,

        and are to be sold at the signe of the Princes

            Arms in S. Pauls Church-yard. 1645.

Transcriber's note: Facsimile of Title page of 1673 edition

follows:

                          POEMS, &c.

                            UPON

                      Several Occasions.

                  --------------------------

                             BY

                       Mr. John Milton:

                  --------------------------

                  Both ENGLISH and LATIN &c.

                  Composed at several times.

                  --------------------------

                   With a small tractate of

                         EDUCATION

                       To Mr. HARTLIB

                  --------------------------

                  --------------------------

                          LONDON.

         Printed for Tho. Dring at the Blew Anchor

           next Mitre Court over against Fetter

               Lane in Fleet-street.  1673.

THE STATIONER TO THE READER.

It is not any Private respect of gain, Gentle Reader, for the slightest Pamphlet is now adayes more vendible then the Works of learnedest men; but it is the love I have to our own Language that hath made me diligent to collect, and set forth such Peeces in Prose and Vers as may renew the wonted honour and esteem of our tongue: and it's the worth of these both English and Latin poems, not the flourish of any prefixed encomions that can invite thee to buy them, though these are not without the highest Commendations and Applause of the learnedst Academicks, both domestic and forrein: And amongst those of our own Countrey, the unparalleled attestation of that renowned Provost of Eaton, Sir Henry Wootton: I know not thy palat how it relishes such dainties, nor  how harmonious thy soul is; perhaps more trivial Airs may please thee better.  But howsoever thy opinion is spent upon these, that incouragement I have already received from the most ingenious men in their clear and courteous entertainment of Mr. Wallers late choice Peeces, hath once more made me adventure into the World, presenting it with these ever-green, and not to be blasted Laurels. The Authors more peculiar excellency in these studies, was too well known to conceal his Papers, or to keep me from attempting to sollicit them from him. Let the event guide it self which way it will, I shall deserve of the age, by bringing into the Light as true a Birth, as the Muses have brought forth since our famous Spencer wrote; whose Poems in these English ones are as rarely imitated, as sweetly excell'd.  Reader, if thou art Eagle-eied to censure their worth, I am not fearful to expose them to thy exactest perusal.  Thine to Command

HUMPH. MOSELEY.

____________________

MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.

ON THE MORNING OF CHRISTS NATIVITY.

Compos'd 1629.

I

This is the Month, and this the happy morn

Wherin the Son of Heav'ns eternal King,

Of wedded Maid, and Virgin Mother born,

Our great redemption from above did bring;

For so the holy sages once did sing,

That he our deadly forfeit should release,

And with his Father work us a perpetual peace.

II

That glorious Form, that Light unsufferable,

And that far-beaming blaze of Majesty,

Wherwith he wont at Heav'ns high Councel-Table,                      10

To sit the midst of Trinal Unity,

He laid aside; and here with us to be,

Forsook the Courts of everlasting Day,

And chose with us a darksom House of mortal Clay.

III

Say Heav'nly Muse, shall not thy sacred vein

Afford a present to the Infant God?

Hast thou no vers, no hymn, or solemn strein,

To welcom him to this his new abode,

Now while the Heav'n by the Suns team untrod,

Hath took no print of the approching light,                          20

And all the spangled host keep watch in squadrons bright?

IV

See how from far upon the Eastern rode

The Star-led Wisards haste with odours sweet,

O run,  prevent them with thy humble ode,

And lay it lowly at his blessed feet;

Have thou the honour first, thy Lord to greet,

And joyn thy voice unto the Angel Quire,

>From out his secret Altar toucht with hallow'd fire.

The Hymn.

I

IT was the Winter wilde,

While the Heav'n-born-childe,                                        30

All meanly wrapt in the rude manger lies;

Nature in aw to him

Had doff't her gawdy trim,

With her great Master so to sympathize:

It was no season then for her

To wanton with the Sun her lusty Paramour.

II

Only with speeches fair

She woo'd the gentle Air

To hide her guilty front with innocent Snow,

And on her naked shame,                                              40

Pollute with sinfull blame,

The Saintly Vail of Maiden white to throw,

Confounded, that her Makers eyes

Should look so near upon her foul deformities.

III

But he her fears to cease,

Sent down the meek-eyd Peace,

She crown'd with Olive green, came softly sliding

Down through the turning sphear

His ready Harbinger,

With Turtle wing the amorous clouds dividing,                        50

And waving wide her mirtle wand,

She strikes a universall Peace through Sea and Land.

IV

No War, or Battails sound

Was heard the World around,

The idle spear and shield were high up hung;

The hooked Chariot stood

Unstain'd with hostile blood,

The Trumpet spake not to the armed throng,

And Kings sate still with awfull eye,

As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by.                     60

V

But peacefull was the night

Wherin the Prince of light

His raign of peace upon the earth began:

The Windes with wonder whist,

Smoothly the waters kist,

Whispering new joyes to the milde Ocean,

Who now hath quite forgot to rave,

While Birds of Calm sit brooding on the charmed wave.

VI

The Stars with deep amaze

Stand fit in steadfast gaze,                                         70

Bending one way their pretious influence,

And will not take their flight,

For all the morning light,

Or Lucifer that often warned them thence;

But in their glimmering Orbs did glow,

Until their Lord himself bespake, and bid them go.

VII

And though the shady gloom

Had given day her room,

The Sun himself with-held his wonted speed,

And hid his head for shame,                                          80

As his inferior flame,

The new enlightened world no more should need;

He saw a greater Sun appear

Then his bright Throne, or burning Axletree could bear.

VIII

The Shepherds on the Lawn,

Or ere the point of dawn,

Sate simply chatting in a rustic row;

Full little thought they than,

That the mighty Pan

Was kindly com to live with them below;                              90

Perhaps their loves, or els their sheep,

Was all that did their silly thoughts so busie keep.

IX

When such Musick sweet

Their hearts and ears did greet,

As never was by mortal finger strook,

Divinely-warbled voice

Answering the stringed noise,

As all their souls in blisfull rapture took:

The Air such pleasure loth to lose,

With  thousand echo's still prolongs each heav'nly close.           100

X

Nature that heard such  sound

Beneath  the hollow round

of Cynthia's seat the Airy region thrilling,

Now was almost won

To think her part was don

And that her raign had here its last fulfilling;

She knew such harmony alone

Could hold all Heav'n and Earth in happier union.

XI

At last surrounds their sight

A globe of circular light,                                          110

That with long beams the shame faced night arrayed

The helmed Cherubim

And sworded Seraphim,

Are seen in glittering ranks with wings displaid,

Harping in loud and solemn quire,

With unexpressive notes to Heav'ns new-born Heir.

XII

Such Musick (as 'tis said)

Before was never made,

But when of old the sons of morning sung,

While the Creator Great

His constellations set,                                             120

And the well-ballanc't world on hinges hung,

And cast the dark foundations deep,

And bid the weltring waves their oozy channel keep.

XIII

Ring out ye Crystall sphears,

Once bless our human ears,

(If ye have power to touch our senses so)

And let your silver chime

Move in melodious time;

And let the Base of Heav'ns deep Organ blow,                        130

And with your ninefold harmony

Make up full consort to th'Angelike symphony.

XIV

For if such holy Song

Enwrap our fancy long,

Time will run back, and fetch the age of gold,

And speckl'd vanity

Will sicken soon and die,

And leprous sin will melt from earthly mould,

And Hell it self will pass away

And leave her dolorous mansions to the peering day.                 140

XV

Yea Truth, and Justice then

Will down return to men,

Th'enameld Arras of the Rain-bow wearing,

And Mercy set between

Thron'd in Celestiall sheen,

With radiant feet the tissued clouds down stearing,

And Heav'n as at som festivall,

Will open wide the gates of her high Palace Hall.

XVI

But wisest Fate sayes  no,

This must not yet be so,                                            150

The Babe lies yet in smiling Infancy,

That on the bitter cross

Must redeem our loss;

So both himself and us to glorifie:

Yet first to those ychain'd in sleep,

The Wakeful trump of doom must thunder through the deep,

XVII

With such a horrid clang

As on Mount Sinai rang

While the red fire, and smouldring clouds out brake:

The aged Earth agast                                                160

With terrour of that blast,

Shall from the surface to the center shake;

When at the worlds last session,

The dreadfull Judge in middle Air shall spread his throne.

XVIII

And then at last  our bliss

Full and perfect is,

But now begins; for from this happy day

Th'old Dragon under ground

In straiter limits bound,

Not half so far casts his usurped sway,                             170

And wrath to see his Kingdom fail,

Swindges the scaly Horrour of his foulded tail.

XIX

The Oracles are dumm,

No voice or hideous humm

Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.

Apollo from his shrine

Can no more divine,

With hollow shreik the steep of Delphos leaving.

No nightly trance, or breathed spell,

Inspire's the pale-ey'd Priest from the prophetic cell.             180

XX

The lonely mountains o're,

And the resounding shore,

A voice of weeping heard, and loud lament;

>From haunted spring, and dale

Edg'd with poplar pale

The parting Genius is with sighing sent,

With flowre-inwov'n tresses torn

The Nimphs in twilight shade of tangled thickets mourn.

XXI

In consecrated Earth,

And on the holy Hearth,                                             190

The Lars, and Lemures moan with midnight plaint,

In Urns, and Altars round,

A drear, and dying sound

Affrights the Flamins at their service quaint;

And the chill Marble seems to sweat,

While each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat.

XXII

Peor, and Baalim,

Forsake their Temples dim,

With that twise-batter'd god of Palestine,

And mooned Ashtaroth,                                               200

Heav'ns Queen and Mother both,

Now sits not girt with Tapers holy shine,

The Libyc Hammon shrinks his horn,

In vain the Tyrian Maids their wounded Thamuz mourn.

XXIII

And sullen Moloch fled,

Hath left in shadows dred,

His burning Idol all of blackest hue,

In vain with Cymbals ring,

They call the grisly king,

In dismall dance about the furnace Blue;                            210

And Brutish gods of Nile as fast,

lsis and Orus, and the Dog Anubis hast.

THE PASSION.

I

ERE-while of Musick, and Ethereal mirth,

Wherwith the stage of Ayr and Earth did ring,

And joyous news of heav'nly Infants birth,

My muse with Angels did divide to sing;

But headlong joy is ever on the wing,

In Wintry solstice like the shortn'd light

Soon swallow'd up in dark and long out-living night.

II

For now to sorrow must I tune my song,

And set my Harpe to notes of saddest wo,

Which on our dearest Lord did sease er'e long,

Dangers, and snares, and wrongs, and worse then so,                  10

Which he for us did freely undergo.

Most perfect Heroe, try'd in heaviest plight

Of labours huge and hard, too hard for human wight.

III

He sov'ran Priest stooping his regall head

That dropt with odorous oil down his fair eyes,

Poor fleshly Tabernacle entered,

His starry front low-rooft beneath the skies;

O what a Mask was there, what a disguise!

Yet more; the stroke of death he must abide,                         20

Then lies him meekly down fast by his Brethrens side.

IV

These latter scenes confine my roving vers,

To this Horizon is my Phoebus bound,

His Godlike acts, and his temptations fierce,

And former sufferings other where are found;

Loud o're the rest Cremona's Trump doth sound;

Me softer airs befit, and softer strings

Of Lute, or Viol still, more apt for mournful things.

Note: 22 latter] latest 1673.

V

Befriend me night best Patroness of grief,

Over the Pole thy thickest mantle throw,                             30

And work my flatterd fancy to belief,

That Heav'n and Earth are colour'd with my wo;

My sorrows are too dark for day to know:

The leaves should all be black wheron I write,

And letters where my tears have washt a wannish white.

VI

See see the Chariot, and those rushing wheels,

That whirl'd the Prophet up at Chebar flood,

My spirit som transporting Cherub feels,

To bear me where the Towers of Salem stood,

Once glorious Towers, now sunk in guiltles blood;                    40

There doth my soul in holy vision sit

In pensive trance, and anguish, and ecstatick fit.

VII

Mine eye hath found that sad Sepulchral rock

That was the Casket of Heav'ns richest store,

And here though grief my feeble hands up-lock,

Yet on the softned Quarry would I score

My plaining vers as lively as before;

For sure so well instructed are my tears,

They would fitly fall in order'd Characters.

VIII

I thence hurried on viewles wing,                                    50

Take up a weeping on the Mountains wilde,

The gentle neighbourhood of grove and spring

Would soon unboosom all their Echoes milde,

And I (for grief is easily beguild)

Might think th'infection of my sorrows bound,

Had got a race of mourners on som pregnant cloud.

Note: This subject the Author finding to be above the yeers he had,

when he wrote it, and nothing satisfi'd with what was begun,

left it unfinish'd.

On Time.

FLY envious Time, till thou run out thy race,

Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,

Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;

And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,

Which is no more then what is false and vain,

And meerly mortal dross;

So little is our loss,

So little is thy gain.

For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb'd,

And last of all, thy greedy self consum'd,                           10

Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss

With an individual kiss;

And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,

When every thing that is sincerely good

And perfectly divine,

With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine

About the supreme Throne

Of him, t'whose happy-making sight alone,

When once our heav'nly-guided soul shall clime,

Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,                                   20

Attir'd with Stars, we shall for ever sit,

Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.

Note: See the appendix for the manuscript version.

UPON THE CIRCUMCISION.

YE flaming Powers, and winged Warriours bright,

That erst with Musick, and triumphant song

First heard by happy watchful Shepherds ear,

So sweetly sung your Joy the Clouds along

Through the soft silence of the list'ning night;

Now mourn, and if sad share with us to bear

Your fiery essence can distill no tear,

Burn in your sighs, and borrow

Seas wept from our deep sorrow,

He who with all Heav'ns heraldry whileare                            10

Enter'd the world, now bleeds to give us ease;

Alas, how soon our sin

Sore doth begin

His Infancy to sease!

O more exceeding love or law more just?

Just law indeed, but more exceeding love !

For we by rightfull doom remediles

Were lost in death, till he that dwelt above

High thron'd in secret bliss, for us frail dust

Emptied his glory, ev'n to nakednes;                                 20

And that great Cov'nant which we still transgress

Intirely satisfi'd,

And the full wrath beside

Of vengeful Justice bore for our excess,

And seals obedience first with wounding smart

This day, but O ere long

Huge pangs and strong

Will pierce more neer his heart.

AT A SOLEMN MUSICK.

BLEST pair of Sirens, pledges of Heav'ns joy,

Sphear-born harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers,

Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ

Dead things with inbreath'd sense able to pierce,

And to our high-rais'd phantasie present,

That undisturbed Song of pure content,

Ay sung before the saphire-colour'd throne

To him that sits theron

With Saintly shout, and solemn Jubily,

Where the bright Seraphim in burning row                             10

Their loud up-lifted Angel trumpets blow,

And the Cherubick host in thousand quires

Touch their immortal Harps of golden wires,

With those just Spirits that wear victorious Palms,

Hymns devout and holy Psalms

Singing everlastingly;

That we on Earth with undiscording voice

May rightly answer that melodious noise;

As  once we did, till disproportion'd sin

Jarr'd against natures chime, and with harsh din                     20

The fair musick that all creatures made

To their great Lord, whose love their motion sway'd

In perfect Diapason, whilst they stood

In first obedience, and their state of good.

O may we soon again renew that Song,

And keep in tune with Heav'n, till God ere long

To his celestial consort us unite,

To live with him, and sing in endles morn of light.

Note: 6 content]  Manuscript reads concent as does the Second

Edition; so that content is probably a misprint. 

AN EPITAPH ON THE MARCHIONESS OF WINCHESTER.

THIS rich Marble doth enterr

The honour'd Wife of Winchester,

A Vicounts daughter, an Earls heir,

Besides what her vertues fair

Added to her noble birth,

More then she could own from Earth.

Summers three times eight save one

She had told, alas too soon,

After so short time of breath,

To house with darknes, and with death.                               10

Yet had the number of her days

Bin as compleat as was her praise,

Nature and fate had had no strife

In giving limit to her life.

Her high birth, and her graces sweet,

Quickly found a lover meet;

The Virgin quire for her request

The God that sits at marriage feast;

He at their invoking came

But with a scarce-wel-lighted flame;                                 20

And in his Garland as he stood,

Ye might discern a Cipress bud.

Once had the early Matrons run

To greet her of a lovely son,

And now with second hope she goes,

And calls Lucina to her throws;

But whether by mischance or blame

Atropos for Lucina came;

And with remorsles cruelty,

Spoil'd at once both fruit and tree:                                 30

The haples Babe before his birth

Had burial, yet not laid in earth,

And the languisht Mothers Womb

Was not long a living Tomb.

So have I seen som tender slip

Sav'd with care from Winters nip,

The pride of her carnation train,

Pluck't up by som unheedy swain,

Who onely thought to crop the flowr

New shot up from vernall showr;                                      40

But the fair blossom hangs the head

Side-ways as on a dying bed,

And those Pearls of dew she wears,

Prove to be presaging tears

Which the sad morn had let fall

On her hast'ning funerall.

Gentle Lady may thy grave

Peace and quiet ever have;

After this thy travail sore

Sweet rest sease thee evermore,                                      50

That to give the world encrease,

Shortned hast thy own lives lease;

Here besides the sorrowing

That thy noble House doth bring,

Here be tears of perfect moan

Weept for thee in Helicon,

And som Flowers, and som Bays,

For thy Hears to strew the ways,

Sent thee from the banks of Came,

Devoted to thy vertuous name;                                        60

Whilst thou bright Saint high sit'st in glory,

Next her much like to thee in story,

That fair Syrian Shepherdess,

Who after yeers of barrennes,

The highly favour'd Joseph bore

To him that serv'd for her before,

And at her next birth much like thee,

Through pangs fled to felicity,

Far within the boosom bright

of blazing Majesty and Light,                                        70

There with thee, new welcom Saint,

Like fortunes may her soul acquaint,

With thee there clad in radiant sheen,

No Marchioness, but now a Queen.

SONG ON MAY MORNING.

Now the bright morning Star, Dayes harbinger,

Comes dancing from the East, and leads with her

The Flowry May, who from her green lap throws

The yellow Cowslip, and the pale Primrose.

Hail bounteous May that dost inspire

Mirth and youth, and warm desire,

Woods and Groves, are of thy dressing,

Hill and Dale, doth boast thy blessing.

Thus we salute thee with our early Song,

And welcom thee, and wish thee long.                                 10

ON SHAKESPEAR.  1630.

WHAT needs my Shakespear for his honour'd Bones,

The labour of an age in piled Stones,

Or that his hallow'd reliques should be hid

Under a Star-ypointing Pyramid?

Dear son of memory, great heir of Fame,

What need'st thou such weak witnes of thy name?

Thou in our wonder and astonishment

Hast built thy self a live-long Monument.

For whilst to th'sharne of slow-endeavouring art,

Thy easie numbers flow, and that each heart                          10

Hath from the Leaves of thy unvalu'd Book,

Those Delphick lines with deep impression took,

Then thou our fancy of it self bereaving,

Dost make us Marble with too much conceaving;

And so Sepulcher'd in such pomp dost lie,

That Kings for such a Tomb would wish to die.

Notes: On Shakespear.  Reprinted 1632 in the second folio

Shakespeare:

Title] An epitaph on the admirable dramaticke poet W.

Shakespeare

1 needs] neede

6 weak] dull

8 live-long] lasting

10 heart] part

13 it] her

ON THE UNIVERSITY CARRIER WHO SICKN'D IN THE TIME OF HIS

VACANCY, BEING FORBID TO GO TO LONDON, BY REASON OF THE

PLAGUE.

HERE lies old Hobson, Death hath broke his girt,

And here alas, hath laid him in the dirt,

Or els the ways being foul, twenty to one,

He's here stuck in a slough, and overthrown.

'Twas such a shifter, that if truth were known,

Death was half glad when he had got him down;

For he had any time this ten yeers full,

Dodg'd with him, betwixt Cambridge and the Bull.

And surely, Death could never have prevail'd,

Had not his weekly cours of carriage fail'd;                         10

But lately finding him so long at home,

And thinking now his journeys end was come,

And that he had tane up his latest Inne,

In the kind office of a Chamberlin

Shew'd him his room where he must lodge that night,

Pull'd off his Boots, and took away the light:

If any ask for him, it shall be sed,

Hobson has supt, and 's newly gon to bed.

ANOTHER ON THE SAME.

HERE lieth one who did most truly prove,

That he could never die while he could move,

So hung his destiny never to rot

While he might still jogg on, and keep his trot,

Made of sphear-metal, never to decay

Untill his revolution was at stay.

Time numbers motion, yet (without a crime

'Gainst old truth) motion number'd out his time:

And like an Engin mov'd with wheel and waight,

His principles being ceast, he ended strait.                         10

Rest that gives all men life, gave him his death,

And too much breathing put him out of breath;

Nor were it contradiction to affirm

Too long vacation hastned on his term.

Meerly to drive the time away he sickn'd,

Fainted, and died, nor would with Ale be quickn'd;

Nay, quoth he, on his swooning bed out-stretch'd,

If I may not carry, sure Ile ne're be fetch'd,

But vow though the cross Doctors all stood hearers,

For one Carrier put down to make six bearers.                        20

Ease was his chief disease, and to judge right,

He di'd for heavines that his Cart went light,

His leasure told him that his time was com,

And lack of load, made his life burdensom

That even to his last breath (ther be that say't)

As he were prest to death, he cry'd more waight;

But had his doings lasted as they were,

He had bin an immortall Carrier.

Obedient to the Moon he spent his date

In cours reciprocal, and had his fate                                30

Linkt to the mutual flowing of the Seas,

Yet (strange to think) his wain was his increase:

His Letters are deliver'd all and gon,

Onely remains this superscription.

L'ALLEGRO.

HENCE loathed Melancholy

Of Cerberus, and blackest midnight born,

In Stygian Cave forlorn

'Mongst horrid shapes, and shreiks, and sights unholy,

Find out som uncouth cell,

Where brooding darknes spreads his jealous wings,

And the night-Raven sings;

There under Ebon shades and low-brow'd Rocks,

As ragged as thy Locks,

In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.                                 10

But com thou Goddes fair and free,

In Heav'n ycleap'd Euphrosyne,

And by men, heart-easing Mirth,

Whom lovely Venus at a birth

With two sister Graces more

To Ivy-crowned Bacchus bore;

Or whether (as som Sager sing)

The frolick Wind that breathes the Spring,

Zephir with Aurora playing,

As he met her once a Maying,                                         20

There on Beds of Violets blew,

And fresh-blown Roses washt in dew,

Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair,

So bucksom, blith, and debonair.

Haste thee nymph, and bring with thee

Jest and youthful Jollity,

Quips and Cranks, and wanton Wiles,

Nods, and Becks, and Wreathed Smiles,

Such as hang on Hebe's cheek,

And love to live in dimple sleek;                                    30

Sport that wrincled Care derides,

And Laughter holding both his sides.

Com, and trip it as ye go

On the light fantastick toe,

And in thy right hand lead with thee,

The Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty;

And if I give thee honour due,

Mirth, admit me of thy crue

To live with her, and live with thee,

In unreproved pleasures free;                                        40

To hear the Lark begin his flight,

And singing startle the dull night,

>From his watch-towre in the skies,

Till the dappled dawn doth rise;

Then to com in spight of sorrow,

And at my window bid good morrow,

Through the Sweet-Briar, or the Vine,

Or the twisted Eglantine.

While the Cock with lively din,

Scatters the rear of darknes thin,                                   50

And to the stack, or the Barn dore,

Stoutly struts his Dames before,

Oft list'ning how the Hounds and horn

Chearly rouse the slumbring morn,

>From the side of som Hoar Hill,

Through the high wood echoing shrill.

Som time walking not unseen

By Hedge-row Elms, on Hillocks green,

Right against the Eastern gate,

Wher the great Sun begins his state,                                 60

Rob'd in flames, and Amber light,

The clouds in thousand Liveries dight.

While the Plowman neer at hand,

Whistles ore the Furrow'd Land,

And the Milkmaid singeth blithe,

And the Mower whets his sithe,

And every Shepherd tells his tale

Under the Hawthorn in the dale.

Streit mine eye hath caught new pleasures

Whilst the Lantskip round it measures,                               70

Russet Lawns, and Fallows Gray,

Where the nibling flocks do stray,

Mountains on whose barren brest

The labouring clouds do often rest:

Meadows trim with Daisies pide,

Shallow Brooks, and Rivers wide.

Towers, and Battlements it sees

Boosom'd high in tufted Trees,

Wher perhaps som beauty lies,

The Cynosure of neighbouring eyes.                                   80

Hard by, a Cottage chimney smokes,

>From betwixt two aged Okes,

Where Corydon and Thyrsis met,

Are at their savory dinner set

Of Hearbs, and other Country Messes,

Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses;

And then in haste her Bowre she leaves,

With Thestylis to bind the Sheaves;

Or if the earlier season lead

To the tann'd Haycock in the Mead,                                   90

Som times with secure delight

The up-land Hamlets will invite,

When the merry Bells ring round,

And the jocond rebecks sound

To many a youth, and many a maid,

Dancing in the Chequer'd shade;

And young and old com forth to play

On a Sunshine Holyday,

Till the live-long day-light fail,

Then to the Spicy Nut-brown Ale,                                    100

With stories told of many a feat,

How Faery Mab the junkets eat,

She was pincht, and pull'd she sed,

And he by Friars Lanthorn led

Tells how the drudging Goblin swet,

To ern his Cream-bowle duly set,

When in one night, ere glimps of morn,

His shadowy Flale hath thresh'd the Corn

That ten day-labourers could not end,

Then lies him down the Lubbar Fend.                                 110

And stretch'd out all the Chimney's length,

Basks at the fire his hairy strength;

And Crop-full out of dores he flings,

Ere the first Cock his Mattin rings.

Thus don the Tales, to bed they creep,

By whispering Windes soon lull'd asleep.

Towred Cities please us then,

And the busie humm of men,

Where throngs of Knights and Barons bold,

In weeds of Peace high triumphs hold,                               120

With store of Ladies, whose bright eies

Rain influence, and judge the prise

Of Wit, or Arms, while both contend

To win her Grace, whom all commend.

There let Hymen oft appear

In Saffron robe, with Taper clear,

And pomp, and feast, and revelry,

With mask, and antique Pageantry,

Such sights as youthfull Poets dream

On Summer eeves by haunted stream.                                  130

Then to the well-trod stage anon,

If Jonsons learned Sock be on,

Or sweetest Shakespear fancies childe,

Warble his native Wood-notes wilde,

And ever against eating Cares,

Lap me in soft Lydian Aires,

Married to immortal verse

Such as the meeting soul may pierce

In notes, with many a winding bout

Of lincked sweetnes long drawn out,                                 140

With wanton heed, and giddy cunning,

The melting voice through mazes running;

Untwisting all the chains that ty

The hidden soul of harmony.

That Orpheus self may heave his head

>From golden slumber on a bed

Of heapt Elysian flowres, and hear

Such streins as would have won the ear

Of Pluto, to have quite set free

His half regain'd Eurydice.                                         150

These delights, if thou canst give,

Mirth with thee, I mean to live.

Notes:

33 Ye] You 1673

104 And he by] And by the 1673

IL PENSEROSO.

Hence vain deluding joyes,

The brood of folly without father bred,

How little you bested,

Or fill the fixed mind with all your toyes;

Dwell in som idle brain

And fancies fond with gaudy shapes possess,

As thick and numberless

As the gay motes that people the Sun Beams,

Or likest hovering dreams

The fickle Pensioners of Morpheus train.                             10

But hail thou Goddess, sage and holy,

Hail divinest Melancholy

Whose Saintly visage is too bright

To hit the Sense of human sight;

And therefore to our weaker view,

Ore laid with black staid Wisdoms hue.

Black, but such as in esteem,

Prince Memnons sister might beseem,

Or that Starr'd Ethiope Queen that strove

To set her beauties praise above                                     20

The Sea Nymphs, and their powers offended.

Yet thou art higher far descended,

Thee bright-hair'd Vesta long of yore,

To solitary Saturn bore;

His daughter she (in Saturns raign,

Such mixture was not held a stain)

Oft in glimmering Bowres, and glades

He met her, and in secret shades

Of woody Ida's inmost grove,

While yet there was no fear of Jove.                                 30

Com pensive Nun, devout and pure,

Sober, stedfast, and demure,

All in a robe of darkest grain,

Flowing with majestick train,

And sable stole of Cipres Lawn,

Over thy decent shoulders drawn.

Com, but keep thy wonted state,

With eev'n step, and musing gate,

And looks commercing with the skies,

Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes:                                 40

There held in holy passion still,

Forget thy self to Marble, till

With a sad Leaden downward cast,

Thou fix them on the earth as fast.

And joyn with thee calm Peace, and Quiet,

Spare Fast, that oft with gods doth diet,

And hears the Muses in a ring,

Ay round about Joves Altar sing.

And adde to these retired Leasure,

That in trim Gardens takes his pleasure;                             50

But first, and chiefest, with thee bring,

Him that yon soars on golden wing,

Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne,

The Cherub Contemplation,

And the mute Silence hist along,

'Less Philomel will daign a Song,

In her sweetest, saddest plight,

Smoothing the rugged brow of night,

While Cynthia checks her Dragon yoke,

Gently o're th'accustom'd Oke;                                       60

Sweet Bird that shunn'st the noise of folly

Most musical!, most melancholy!

Thee Chauntress oft the Woods among

I woo to hear thy eeven-Song;

And missing thee, I walk unseen

On the dry smooth-shaven Green,

To behold the wandring Moon,

Riding neer her highest noon,

Like one that had bin led astray

Through the Heav'ns wide pathles way;                                70

And oft, as if her head she bow'd,

Stooping through a fleecy cloud.

Oft on a Plat of rising ground,

I hear the far-off Curfeu sound,

Over som wide-water'd shoar,

Swinging slow with sullen roar;

Or if the Ayr will not permit,

Som still removed place will fit,

Where glowing Embers through the room

Teach light to counterfeit a gloom                                   80

Far from all resort of mirth,

Save the Cricket on the hearth,

Or the Belmans drowsie charm,

To bless the dores from nightly harm:

Or let my Lamp at midnight hour,

Be seen in som high lonely Towr,

Where I may oft out-watch the Bear,

With thrice great Hermes, or unsphear

The spirit of Plato to unfold

What Worlds, or what vast Regions hold                               90

The immortal mind that hath forsook

Her mansion in this fleshly nook:

And of those Daemons that are found

In fire, air, flood, or under ground,

Whose power hath a true consent

With planet or with Element.

Som time let Gorgeous Tragedy

In Scepter'd Pall com sweeping by,

Presenting Thebs, or Pelops line,

Or the tale of Troy divine.                                         100

Or what (though rare) of later age,

Ennobled hath the Buskind stage.

But, O sad Virgin, that thy power

Might raise Musaeus from his bower,

Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing

Such notes as warbled to the string,

Drew Iron tears down Pluto's cheek,

And made Hell grant what Love did seek.

Or call up him that left half told

The story of Cambuscan bold,                                        110

Of Camball, and of Algarsife,

And who had Canace to wife,

That own'd the vertuous Ring and Glass,

And of the wondrous Hors of Brass,

On which the Tartar King did ride;

And if ought els, great Bards beside,

In sage and solemn tunes have sung,

Of Turneys and of Trophies hung;

Of Forests, and inchantments drear,

Where more is meant then meets the ear.                             120

Thus night oft see me in thy pale career,

Till civil-suited Morn appeer,

Not trickt and frounc't as she was wont,

With the Attick Boy to hunt,

But Cherchef't in a comly Cloud,

While rocking Winds are Piping loud,

Or usher'd with a shower still,

When the gust hath blown his fill,

Ending on the russling Leaves,

With minute drops from off the Eaves.                               130

And when the Sun begins to fling

His flaring beams, me Goddes bring

To arched walks of twilight groves,

And shadows brown that Sylvan loves

Of Pine, or monumental Oake,

Where the rude Ax with heaved stroke,

Was never heard the Nymphs to daunt,

Or fright them from their hallow'd haunt.

There in close covert by som Brook,

Where no profaner eye may look,                                     140

Hide me from Day's garish eie,

While the Bee with Honied thie,

That at her flowry work doth sing,

And the Waters murmuring

With such consort as they keep,

Entice the dewy-feather'd Sleep;

And let som strange mysterious dream,

Wave at his Wings in Airy stream,

Of lively portrature display'd,

Softly on my eye-lids laid.                                         150

And as I wake, sweet musick breath

Above, about, or underneath,

Sent by som spirit to mortals good,

Or th'unseen Genius of the Wood.

But let my due feet never fail,

To walk the studious Cloysters pale,

And love the high embowed Roof

With antick Pillars massy proof,

And storied Windows richly dight,

Casting a dimm religious light.                                     160

There let the pealing Organ blow,

To the full voic'd Quire below,

In Service high, and Anthems cleer,

As may with sweetnes, through mine ear,

Dissolve me into extasies,

And bring all Heav'n before mine eyes.

And may at last my weary age

Find out the peacefull hermitage,

The Hairy Gown and Mossy Cell,

Where I may sit and rightly spell                                   170

Of every Star that Heav'n doth shew,

And every Herb that sips the dew;

Till old  experience do attain

To somthing like prophetic strain.

These pleasures Melancholy give,

And I with thee will choose to live.

SONNETS.

I

O Nightingale, that on yon bloomy Spray

Warbl'st at eeve, when all the Woods are still,

Thou with fresh hope the Lovers heart dost fill,

While the jolly hours lead on propitious May,

Thy liquid notes that close the eye of Day,

First heard before the shallow Cuccoo's bill

Portend success in love; O if Jove's will

Have linkt that amorous power to thy soft lay,

Now timely sing, ere the rude Bird of Hate

Foretell my hopeles doom in som Grove ny:                            10

As thou from yeer to yeer hast sung too late

For my relief; yet hadst no reason why,

Whether the Muse, or Love call thee his mate,

Both them I serve, and of their train am I.

II

Donna leggiadra il cui bel nome honora

L'herbosa val di Rheno, e il nobil varco,

Ben e colui d'ogni valore scarco

Qual tuo spirto gentil non innamora,

Che dolcemente mostra si di fuora

De suoi atti soavi giamai parco,

E i don', che son d'amor saette ed arco,

La onde l' alta tua virtu s'infiora.

Quando tu vaga parli, O lieta canti

Che mover possa duro alpestre legno,                                 10

Guardi ciascun a gli occhi ed a gli orecchi

L'entrata, chi di te si truova indegno;

Gratia sola di su gli vaglia, inanti

Che'l disio amoroso al cuor s'invecchi.

III

Qual in colle aspro, al imbrunir di sera

L'avezza giovinetta pastorella

Va bagnando l'herbetta strana e bella

Che mal si spande a disusata spera

Fuor di sua natia alma primavera,

Cosi Amor meco insu la lingua snella

Desta il fior novo di strania favella,

Mentre io di te, vezzosamente altera,

Canto, dal mio buon popol non inteso

E'l bel Tamigi cangio col bel Arno                                   10

Amor lo volse, ed io a l'altrui peso

Seppi ch' Amor cosa mai volse indarno.

Deh!  foss' il mio cuor lento e'l duro seno

A chi pianta dal ciel si buon terreno.

Canzone.

Ridonsi donne e giovani amorosi

M' occostandosi attorno, e perche scrivi,

Perche tu scrivi in lingua ignota e strana

Verseggiando d'amor, e conie t'osi ?

Dinne, se la tua speme sia mai vana

E de pensieri lo miglior t' arrivi;

Cosi mi van burlando, altri rivi

Altri lidi t' aspettan, & altre onde

Nelle cui verdi sponde

Spuntati ad hor, ad hor a la tua chioma                              10

L'immortal guiderdon d 'eterne frondi

Perche alle spalle tue soverchia soma?

Canzon dirotti, e tu per me rispondi

Dice mia Donna, e'l suo dir, e il mio cuore

Questa e lingua di cui si vanta Amore.

IV

Diodati, e te'l diro con maraviglia,

Quel ritroso io ch'amor spreggiar solea

E de suoi lacci spesso mi ridea

Gia caddi, ov'huom dabben talhor s'impiglia.

Ne treccie d'oro, ne guancia vermiglia

M' abbaglian si, ma sotto nova idea

Pellegrina bellezza che'l cuor bea,

Portamenti alti honesti, e nelle ciglia

Quel sereno fulgor d' amabil nero,

Parole adorne di lingua piu d'una,                                   10

E'l cantar che di mezzo l'hemispero

Traviar ben puo la faticosa Luna,

E degil occhi suoi auventa si gran fuoco

Che l 'incerar gli oreechi mi fia poco.

V

Per certo i bei vostr'occhi Donna mia

Esser non puo che non fian lo mio sole

Si mi percuoton forte, come ci suole

Per l'arene di Libia chi s'invia,

Mentre un caldo vapor (ne senti pria)

Da quel lato si spinge ove mi duole,

Che forsi amanti nelle lor parole

Chiaman sospir; io non so che si sia:

Parte rinchiusa, e turbida si cela

Scosso mi il petto, e poi n'uscendo poco                             10

Quivi d' attorno o s'agghiaccia, o s'ingiela;

Ma quanto a gli occhi giunge a trovar loco

Tutte le notti a me suol far piovose

Finche mia Alba rivien colma di rose.

VI

Giovane piano, e semplicetto amante

Poi che fuggir me stesso in dubbio sono,

Madonna a voi del mio cuor l'humil dono

Faro divoto; io certo a prove tante

L'hebbi fedele, intrepido, costante,

De pensieri leggiadro, accorto, e buono;

Quando rugge il gran mondo, e scocca il tuono,

S 'arma di se, e d' intero diamante,

Tanto del forse, e d' invidia sicuro,

Di timori, e speranze al popol use                                   10

Quanto d'ingegno, e d' alto valor vago,

E di cetra sonora, e delle muse:

Sol troverete in tal parte men duro

Ove amor mise l 'insanabil ago.

VII

How soon hath Time the suttle theef of youth,

Stoln on his wing my three and twentith yeer !

My hasting dayes flie on with full career,

But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th,

Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth,

That I to manhood am arriv'd so near,

And inward ripenes doth much less appear,

That som more timely-happy spirits indu'th.

Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow.

It shall be still in strictest measure eev'n,                        10

To that same lot, however mean, or high,

Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav'n;

All is, if I have grace to use it so,

As ever in my great task Masters eye.

VIII

Captain or Colonel, or Knight in Arms,

Whose chance on these defenceless dores may sease,

If ever deed of honour did thee please,

Guard them, and him within protect from harms,

He can requite thee, for he knows the charms

That call Fame on such gentle acts as these,

And he can spred thy Name o're Lands and Seas,

What ever clime the Suns bright circle warms.

Lift not thy spear against the Muses Bowre,

The great Emathian Conqueror bid spare                               10

The house of Pindarus, when Temple and Towre

Went to the ground: And the repeated air

Of sad Electra's Poet had the power

To save th' Athenian Walls from ruine bare.

Notes:

Camb. autograph supplies title, When the assault was intended

to the city.

3 If deed of honour did thee ever please,  1673.

IX

Lady that in the prime of earliest youth,

Wisely hath shun'd the broad way and the green,

And with those few art eminently seen,

That labour up the Hill of heav'nly Truth,

The better part with Mary and with Ruth,

Chosen thou hast, and they that overween,

And at thy growing vertues fret their spleen,

No anger find in thee, but pity and ruth.

Thy care is fixt and zealously attends

To fill thy odorous Lamp with deeds of light,

And Hope that reaps not shame.  Therefore be sure

Thou, when the Bridegroom with his feastfull friends

Passes to bliss at the mid hour of night,

Hast gain'd thy entrance, Virgin wise and pure.

Note: 5 with Ruth] the Ruth  1645.

X

Daughter to that good Earl, once President

Of Englands Counsel, and her Treasury,

Who liv'd in both, unstain'd with gold or fee,

And left them both, more in himself content,

Till the sad breaking of that Parlament

Broke him, as that dishonest victory

At Chaeronea, fatal to liberty

Kil'd with report that Old man eloquent,

Though later born, then to have known the dayes

Wherin your Father flourisht, yet by you                             10

Madam, me thinks I see him living yet;

So well your words his noble vertues praise,