968. ~so goodly grown~, _i.e._ grown so goodly. _Goodly_ = handsome (A.S.
_gódlic_ = goodlike).
970. ~timely~. Here an adverb: in l. 689 it is an adjective. Comp. the two
phrases in _Macbeth_: "To gain the _timely_ inn," iii. 3. 7; and "To
call _timely_ on him," ii. 3. 51.
972. ~assays~, trials, temptations. _Assay_ is used by Milton in the
sense of 'attempt' as well as of 'trial': see _Arc._ 80, "I will
_assay_, her worth to celebrate." The former meaning is now confined to
the form _essay_ (radically the same word); and the use of _assay_ has
been still further restricted from its being used chiefly of the testing
of metals. Comp. _Par. Lost_, iv. 932, "hard _assays_ and ill
successes"; _Par. Reg._ i. 264, iv. 478.
974, 5. ~To triumph~. The whole purpose of the poem is succinctly
expressed in these lines. _Stage Direction_: ~Spirit epiloguizes~, _i.e._
sings the epilogue or concluding stanzas. In one of Lawes' manuscripts
of the mask, the epilogue consists of twelve lines only, those numbered
1012-1023. From the same copy we find that line 976 had been altered by
Lawes in such a manner as to convert the first part of the epilogue into
a prologue which, in his character as Attendant Spirit, he sang whilst
descending upon the stage:--
_From the heavens_ now I fly,
And those happy climes that lie
Where day never shuts his eye,
Up in the broad _field_ of the sky.
There I suck the liquid air
All amidst the gardens fair
Of Hesperus, and his daughters three
That sing about the golden tree.
There eternal summer dwells,
And west winds, with musky wing,
About the cedarn alleys fling
Nard and cassia's balmy smells.
Iris there with humid bow
Waters the odorous banks, that blow
Flowers of more mingled hue
Than her purfled scarf can show,
_Yellow, watchet, green, and blue_,
And drenches oft with _Manna_ dew
Beds of hyacinth and roses,
Where _many a cherub soft_ reposes.
Doubtless this was the arrangement in the actual performance of the
mask.
976. ~To the ocean~, etc. The resemblance of this song, in rhythm and
rhyme, to the song of Ariel in the _Tempest_, v. 1. 88-94, has been
frequently pointed out: "Where the bee sucks, there suck I," etc.
Compare also the song of Johphiel in _The Fortunate Isles_ (Ben Jonson):
"Like a lightning from the sky," etc. The epilogue as sung by Lawes (ll.
1012-1023) may also be compared with the epilogue of the _Tempest_: "Now
my charms are all o'erthrown," etc.
977. ~happy climes~. Comp. _Odyssey_, iv. 566: "The deathless gods will
convey thee to the Elysian plain and the world's end ... where life is
easiest for men. No snow is there, nor yet great storm, nor any rain;
but always ocean sendeth forth the breeze of the shrill west to blow
cool on men": see also l. 14. 'Clime,' radically the same as _climate_,
is still used in its literal sense = a region of the earth; while
'climate' has the secondary meaning of 'atmospheric conditions.' Comp.
_Son._ viii. 8: "Whatever _clime_ the sun's bright circle warms."
978. ~day ... eye~. Comp. _Son._ i. 5: "the _eye_ of day"; and _Lyc._ 26:
"the opening _eyelids_ of the Morn."
979. ~broad fields of the sky~. Comp. Virgil's "_Aëris in campis latis_,"
_Aen._ vi. 888.
980. ~suck the liquid air~, inhale the pure air. 'Liquid' (lit. flowing)
is used figuratively and generally in the sense of pure and sweet: comp.
_Son._ i. 5, "thy liquid notes."
981. ~All amidst~. For this adverbial use of _all_ (here modifying the
following prepositional phrase), compare _Il Pens._ 33, "_all_ in a robe
of darkest grain."
982. ~Hesperus~: see note, l. 393. Hesperus, the brother of Atlas, had
three daughters--Aegle, Cynthia, and Hesperia. They were famed for their
sweet song. In Milton's MS. _Hesperus_ is written over _Atlas_: Spenser
makes them daughters of Atlas, as does Jonson in _Pleasure reconciled to
Virtue_.
984. ~crispéd shades~. 'Crisped,' like 'curled' (comp. "curl the grove,"
_Arc._ 46) is a common expression in the poetry of the time, and has the
same meaning. The original form is the adjective 'crisp' (Lat. _crispus_
= curled), from which comes the verb _to crisp_ and the participle
_crisped_. Compare "the _crisped_ brooks ... ran nectar," _Par. Lost_,
iv. 237, where the word is best rendered 'rippled'; also Tennyson's
_Claribel_, 19, "the babbling runnel _crispeth_." In the present case
the reference is to the foliage of the trees.
985. ~spruce~, gay. This word, now applied to persons with a touch of
levity, was formerly used both of things and persons in the sense of gay
or neat. Compare the present and earlier uses of the word _jolly_, on
which Pattison says:--"This is an instance of the disadvantage under
which poetry in a living language labours. No knowledge of the meaning
which a word bore in 1631 can wholly banish the later and vulgar
associations which may have gathered round it since. Apart from direct
parody and burlesque, the tendency of living speech is gradually to
degrade the noble; so that as time goes on the range of poetical
expression grows from generation to generation more and more
restricted." The origin of the word _spruce_ is disputed: Skeat holds
that it is a corruption of Pruce (old Fr. _Pruce_, mod. Fr. _Prusse_) =
Prussia; we read in the 14th century of persons dressed after the
fashion of Prussia or Spruce, and Prussia was called Sprussia by some
English writers up to the beginning of the 17th century. See also
Trench, _Select Glossary_.
986. ~The Graces~. The three Graces of classical mythology were
Euphrosyne (the light-hearted one), Aglaia (the bright one), and Thalia
(the blooming one). See _L'Alleg._ 12: "Euphrosyne ... Whom lovely
Venus, at a birth, With two sister Graces more, To ivy-crownèd Bacchus
bore." They were sometimes represented as daughters of Zeus, and as the
goddesses who purified and enhanced all the innocent pleasures of life.
~rosy-bosomed Hours~. The Hours (Horæ) of classical mythology were the
goddesses of the Seasons, whose course was described as the dance of the
Horæ. The Hora of Spring accompanied Persephone every year on her ascent
from the lower world, and the expression "The chamber of the Horæ opens"
is equivalent to "The Spring is coming." 'Rosy-bosomed'; the Gk.
+rhodokolpos+: compare the epithets 'rosy-fingered' (applied by Homer to
the dawn), 'rosy-armed,' etc.
989. ~musky ... fling~. Compare _Par. Lost_, viii. 515: "Fresh gales and
gentle airs Whispered it to the woods, and from their wings Flung rose,
flung odours from the spicy shrub." In this passage the verb _fling_ is
similarly used. 'Musky' = fragrant: comp. 'musk-rose,' l. 496.
990. ~cedarn alleys~, _i.e._ alleys of cedar trees. For 'alley,' comp. l.
311. For the form of 'cedarn,' see note on 'azurn,' l. 893. Tennyson
uses the word 'cedarn' in _Recoll. of Arab. Nights_, 115.
991. ~Nard and cassia~; two aromatic plants. Cassia is a name sometimes
applied to the wild cinnamon: nard is also called _spike-nard_; see
allusion in the Bible, _Mark_, xiv. 3; _Exod._ xxx. 24, etc.
992. ~Iris ... humid bow~: see note, l. 83. The allusion is, of course, to
the rainbow.
993. ~blow~, here used actively = cause to blossom: comp. Jonson, _Mask at
Highgate_, "For thee, Favonius, here shall _blow_ New flowers."
995. ~purfled~ = having an embroidered edge (O.F. _pourfiler_): the verb
_to purfle_ survives in the contracted form _to purl_, and is cognate
with profile = a front line or edge. ~shew~: here rhymes with _dew_; comp.
l. 511, 512. This points to the fact that in Milton's time the present
pronunciation of _shew_, though familiar, was not the only one
recognised.
996. ~drenches with Elysian dew~, _i.e._ soaks with heavenly dew. The
Homeric Elysium is described in _Odyssey_, iv.: see note, l. 977; it
was afterwards identified with the abode of the blessed, l. 257.
_Drench_ is the causative of _drink_: here the nominative of the verb is
'Iris' and the object 'beds.'
997. ~if your ears be true~, _i.e._ if your ears be pure: the poet is
about to speak of that which cannot be understood by those with "gross
unpurgèd ear" (_Arc._ 73, and _Com._ l. 458). He alludes to that pure
Love which "leads up to Heaven," _Par. Lost_, viii. 612.
998. ~hyacinth~. This is the "sanguine flower inscribed with woe" of
_Lycidas_, 106: it sprang from the blood of Hyacinthus, a youth beloved
by Apollo.
999. ~Adonis~, the beloved of Venus, died of a wound which he received
from a boar during the chase. The grief of Venus was so great that the
gods of the lower world allowed him to spend six months of every year on
earth. The story is of Asiatic origin, and is supposed to be symbolic of
the revival of nature in spring and its death in winter. Comp. _Par.
Lost_, ix. 439, "those gardens feigned Or of revived Adonis," etc.
1000. ~waxing well of~, _i.e._ recovering from. The A.S. _weaxan_ = to
grow or increase: Shakespeare has 'man of wax' = adult, _Rom. and Jul._
i. 3. 76; see also Index to Globe _Shakespeare_.
1002. ~Assyrian queen~, _i.e._ Venus, whose worship came from the East,
probably from Assyria. She was originally identical with Astarte, called
by the Hebrews Ashteroth: see _Par. Lost_, i. 438-452, where Adonis
appears as Thammuz.
1003, 4. ~far above ... advanced~. These words are to be read together:
'advanced' is an attribute to 'Cupid,' and is modified by 'far above.'
1003. ~spangled sheen~, glittering brightness. 'Spangled': _spangle_ is a
diminutive of _spang_ = a metal clasp, and hence 'a shining ornament.'
In poetry it is common to speak of the stars as 'spangles' and of the
heavens as 'spangled': comp. Addison's well-known lines:
"The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And _spangled_ heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim."
Comp. also _Lyc._ 170, "with _new-spangled_ ore." 'Sheen' is here used
as a noun, as in line 893; also in _Hymn Nat._ 145, "throned in
celestial _sheen_": _Epitaph on M. of W._ 73, "clad in radiant _sheen_."
The word occurs in Spenser as an adjective also: comp. "her dainty corse
so fair and _sheen_," _F. Q._ ii. 1. 10. In the line "By fountain clear
or spangled starlight _sheen_" (_M. N. D._ ii. l. 29) it is doubtful
whether the word is a noun or an adjective. Milton uses the adjective
_sheeny_ (_Death of Fair Infant_, 48).
1004. ~Celestial Cupid~. The ordinary view of Cupid is given in the
note to line 445; here he is the lover of Psyche (the human soul) to
whom he is united after she has been purified by a life of trial and
misfortune. The myth of Cupid and Psyche is as follows: Cupid was in
love with Psyche, but warned her that she must not seek to know who he
was. Yielding to curiosity, however, she drew near to him with a lamp
while he was asleep. A drop of the hot oil falling on him, he awoke, and
fled from her. She now wandered from place to place, persecuted by
Venus; but after great sorrow, during which she was secretly supported
by Cupid, she became immortal and was united to him for ever. In this
story Psyche represents the human soul (Gk. +psychê+), which is
disciplined and purified by earthly misfortune and so fitted for the
enjoyment of true happiness in heaven. Further, in Milton's Allegory it
is only the soul so purified that is capable of knowing true love: in
his _Apology for Smectymnuus_ he calls it that Love "whose charming cup
is only virtue," and whose "first and chiefest office ... begins and
ends in the soul, producing those happy twins of her divine generation,
Knowledge and Virtue." To this high and mystical love Milton again
alludes in _Epitaphium Damonis_:
"In other part, the expansive vault above,
And there too, even there the god of love;
With quiver armed he mounts, his torch displays
A vivid light, his gem-tipt arrows blaze,
Around his bright and fiery eyes he rolls,
Nor aims at vulgar minds or little souls,
Nor deigns one look below, but aiming high
Sends every arrow to the lofty sky;
Hence forms divine, and minds immortal, learn
The power of Cupid, and enamoured burn."
_Cowper's translation._