Mean, or in her fumm'd up, in her contain'd And into all things from her air inspir'd She disappear'd, and left me dark; I wak'd 475 Her lofs, and other pleasures all abjure: 480 When out of hope, behold her, not far off, The very fame compliment Marino Ne prefente vi fu crearà cofa, 478. She disappear'd, and left me dark, Sue that was my light vanish'd, and left me dark and comfortiefs. For light is in almoft all languages a metaphor for joy and comfort, and darkness for the contrary. As Dr. Pearce obferves, it is fomething of the fame way of thinking that Milton ufes in his having defcribed her as appearing to Sonnet on his deceas'd wife; after him, he fays. Adone. Cant. 2 St. 125 The l'alian poet, with a furprifing redundancy of fancy and beauty of expreflion, carries on and explains the fame thought for fix flanzes together, but the graver turn of our 48: Led by her beav'nly Maker,] author's poem, and the divine cha- For the Scripture fays, Gen. II. 22. She fled, and day brought back my night. that Led by her heav'nly Maker, though unseen, Grace was in all her steps, Heav'n in her eye, I overjoy'd could not forbear aloud. 485 490 This turn hath made amends; thou haft fulfill'd i Thy words, Creator bounteous and benign, Of all thy gifts, nor envieft. I now see that the Lord God brought her unto the Man; and our author still allud ing to this text fays afterwards, ver. 500. that he was divinely brought. 488. — Heav'n in her eye,] Give me leave to quote a paffage from Shakefpear's Troilus, which feems to have been in our author's view. A& IV. Diom Lady Creffid, So please you, fave the thanks this prince expects: The luftre in your eye, Heav'n in your cheek, Pleads your fair usage. 494- nor envieft.] The verb enviet is join'd in conftruction to tbou baft fulfill'd: There is then no fuch loofe fyntax here, as Dr. Bent ley imagins: nor will the words nor 495 Extracted; for this cause he shall forgo Father and mother, and to' his wife adhere; Her virtue and the confcience of her worth, 501 That would be woo'd, and not unfought be won, Not obvious, not obtrusive, but retir'd, The more defirable, or to say all, that he was not only afleep, but intranc'd too, by which he faw all that was done to him, and underfood the mystery of it, God informing his understanding in his ecftafy. Hume. 498 and to his wife adhere:] Adhærebit uxori fuæ, as it is in the vulgar Latin; fhall cleave unto his wife, fays the English Bible But we will fet down the whole paffage in Genefis at length, that the reader may compare it with our author. Gen. II. 23, 24. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and fief of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because he was taken out of Man. Therefore fhall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto bis wife; and they shall be one fefb. How has Milton improv'd upon the laft words, and they shall be one flesh; and what an admirable climax has he form'd ? And they shall be one flesh, one heart, one foul. 505 Nature And by the way we may observe, that there may be great force and beauty in a verfe, that confifls all of monofyllables. It is true indeed that ten low words oft creep in one dull line: but there are feveral monofyllable verfes in Milton as ftrong and fublime, as beautiful and harmonious, as can poffibly be written. No number of fyllables can equal the force of these monofyllables, II. 621. and 950. Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and fhades of death. And swims, or finks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. And abundance of other inftances might eafily be cited. And certainly much to the ftrength and concifenefs monofyllables ufed properly add of our language. 502. Her virtue and the confcience of her worth,] Dr. Bentley proposes to read, Her Nature herself, though pure of finful thought, I led her blushing like the morn: all Heaven, 510 Joyous Her virtue and her consciousness of nature. We mention this because Joyous the birds; fresh gales and gentle airs -Glad earth perceives, and from her bofom pours Unbidden herbs, and voluntary There golden clouds conceal the with air; Celestial dews, defcending o'er the ground, Perfume the mount, and breathe Ambrofia round. Pope. But Milton has greatly improv'd this, as he improves every thing, in the imitation. In all his copies of the beautiful paffages of other authors he fudioully varies and difguiles them, the better to give himself the air of an original, and to make by his additions and improvements what he borrowed the more fairly his own; the only regular wey of acquiring a property in thoughts taken from other writers, if we may believe Horace, whofe laws in poetry are of undoubted authority. De Art. Poet. 131 Publica materies privati juris erit, fi 515 520 519. and bid hafte the evening ftar On his bill top, to light the bridal to light the bridal lamp, as it was lamp. The evening far is faid the fignal among the ancients to light their lamps and torches in or der |
