But he, her fears to cease, Sent down the meek-eyed Peace: She, crowned with olive green, came softly sliding Down through the turning sphere," His ready harbinger? With turtles wing the amorous clouds divid- Was all that did their silly17 thoughts so busy ing; And waving wide her myrtle wand, keep. Their hearts and ears did greet She strikes a universal peace through sea and land. No war, or battle's sound, Was heard the world around; As never was by mortal finger strook,18 Divinely-warbled voice Answering the stringèd noise, The idle spear and shield were high uphung; The air, such pleasure loath to lose, As all their souls in blissful rapture took: The hooked9 chariot stood Unstained with hostile blood; The trumpet spake not to the armèd throng; And kings sat still with awful10 eye, As if they surely knew their sovran Lord was by. But peaceful was the night Wherein the Prince of Light His reign of peace upon the earth began: Whispering new joys to the mild ocean, 60 While birds of calm sit brooding on the With thousand echoes still prolongs each heav The helmèd cherubim And sworded seraphim The Babe yet lies in smiling infancy Are seen in glittering ranks with wings dis- Must redeem our loss, played, Harping in loud and solemn quíre, With unexpressive20 notes, to Heaven's newborn heir. Such music (as 'tis said) Before was never made, But when of old the sons of morning sung,21 While the Creator great His constellations set, 120 So both himself and us to glorify: The wakeful trump of doom must thunder With such a horrid clang As on Mount Sinai rang,24 While the red fire and smouldering clouds outbrake: The aged earth, aghast And the well-balanced world on hinges hung, With terror of that blast,25 And cast the dark foundations deep, 160 Shall from the surface to the centre shake, And bid the weltering waves their oozy chan- When, at the world's last session, nel keep. Ring out, ye crystal spheres! Once bless our human ears The dreadful Judge in middle air shall spread his throne. (If ye have power to touch our senses so), And then at last our bliss Full and perfect is,26 And let your silver chime Move in melodious time; And let the bass of heaven's deep organ blow; And with your ninefold22 harmony 131 But now begins; for from this happy day The old Dragon under ground, In straiter limits bound, Not half so far casts his usurped sway; 170 Make up full consort to the angelic symphony. And wroth to see his kingdom fail, For if such holy song Enwrap our fancy long, Swinges27 the scaly horror of his folded tail. The oracles are dumb;28 Time will run back and fetch the age of No voice or hideous hum gold; And speckled Vanity Will sicken soon and die, Runs through the archèd roof in words deceiving. Apollo from his shrine And leprous Sin will melt from earthly Can no more divine, Orbed in a rainbow; and, like glories | And the resounding shore, 180 A voice of weeping heard and loud lament; From haunted spring, and dale Edged with poplar pale, The parting Genius29 is with sighing sent; With flower-inwoven tresses torn, The Nymphs in twilight shade of tangled In consecrated earth, 23? the air 24 When God gave Moses 25 Cp. 1. 156. in 26 will be 27 lashes 190 28 Christ's coming is conceived as putting to naught the heathen divinities. 29 singular of geniispirits The Lars and Lemures30 moan with midnight plaint; In urns and altars round, A drear and dying sound The rays of Bethlehem blind his dusky eyn; Nor all the gods beside Longer dare abide, Not Typhon+2 huge ending in snaky twine: Affrights the flamens31 at their service Our Babe, to show his Godhead true, quaint; And the chill marble seems to sweat, While each peculiar power forgoes his wonted seat. Peor32 and Baälim32 Forsake their temples dim, Can in his swaddling bands control the damnèd crew. So when the sun in bed, Curtained with cloudy red, Pillows his chin upon an orient wave, With that twice-battered god of Palestine;38 Troop to the infernal jail, Heaven's queen and mother both, Now sits not girt with tapers' holy shine; The Libyc Hammon35 shrinks his horn; 200 In vain the Tyrian maids their wounded Thammuz36 mourn. And sullen Moloch,37 fled, Hath left in shadows dread His burning idol all of blackest hue; In vain with cymbals' ring They call the grisly king, In dismal dance about the furnace blue; 210 The brutish gods of Nile as fast, Isis38 and Orus39 and the dog Anubis, 10 haste. Bright-harnessed angels sit in order serviceable. He feels from Juda's land 221 Thy easy numbers flow, and that each heart Hath from the leaves of thy unvalued45 book the Those Delphic46 lines with deep impression took; who is below con- Then thou, our fancy of itself bereaving, fused with the bull- Dost make us marble with too much conceivgod Apis. ing;47 god of the Nile, 39 Their son. 40 An Egyptian divin- And so sepulchred in such pomp dost lie, ity in the form of 41 He was captured by 36 Adonis, a god of the Syrians, who having been That kings for such a tomb would wish to die. 42 A mythological snake- slain by a wild boar, was said to die every 43 born (the Star of year and revive again. Bethlehem) 37 Chief god of the Phoenicians; his image was of 44 The form has no war- rant, but the mean- 45 invaluable L'ALLEGRO1 HENCE, loathed Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born In Stygian cave forlorn, 'Mongst horrid shapes and shrieks and sights unholy! Find out some uncouths cell, Then to come11 in spite of sorrow, Scatters the rear of darkness thin; Where brooding darkness spreads his jealous Stoutly struts his dames before: wings, And the night-raven sings; There under ebon shades and low-browed rocks, As ragged as thy locks, In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore; Or whether (as some sagers sing) The frolic wind that breathes the spring, Zephyr, with Aurora playing, As he met her once a-Maying, There on beds of violets blue And fresh-blown roses washed in dew, Quips and cranks8 and wanton wiles, And in thy right hand lead with thee Oft listening how the hounds and horn 10 By hedge-row elms, on hillocks green, 20 And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower whets his scythe, And every shepherd tells his tale14 Straight mine eye hath caught new pleas ures, Whilst the landskip round it measures: Of herbs and other country messes, 40 And then in haste her bower she leaves, goddesses of festive 6 more sagely (The mythology that follows is Milton's own invention). 7 lithe, lively 8 odd turns of speech 10 Daughter of Jupiter 11 i. e., arise and go (to 12 honeysuckle 14 counts his sheep 50 60 70 80 90 16 center of observation 17 Common names of rustics in pastoral poetry. 18 Instruments like vio lins. Dancing in the chequered shade; Till the livelong daylight fail: When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, Basks at the fire his hairy strength, Where throngs of knights and barons bold, Such as the meeting soul may pierce, And therefore to our weaker view O'erlaid with black, staid Wisdom's hue; Prince Memnon's sisters might beseem, Or that starred Ethiop queen' that strove 130 The sea nymphs, and their powers offended. Yet thou art higher far descended: Thee bright-haired Vestas long of yore To solitary Saturn bore; His daughter she (in Saturn's reign Such mixture was not held a stain). Of woody Ida 's inmost grove, 20 140 30 Stones and trees and beasts followed his music and by it he even drew his wife Eurydice forth from Hades, but lost her because he looked back to see whether she were coming. 23 processions, shows, revels 24 The god of marriage. 25 A form of entertainment. 26 low-heeled shoe, symbol of comedy 27 One of the three moods of Grecian music. 28 turn 29 freedom and combined care |