In Quintum Novembris *. Anno ætatis 17. JAM pius extremâ veniens Iäcobus ab arcto * I have formerly remarked, that this little poem, as containing a council, conspiracy, and expedition of Satan, may be considered as an early and promising prolusion of Milton's genius to the Paradise Lost. T. WARTON. I have already observed that P. Fletcher exhibits, in his Locustæ, &c. a council and conspiracy of devils. See the Notes on Par. Lost, B. i. 795, B. ii. 285, and Par. Reg. B. i. 42. But this poem was written in 1626, and Fletcher's was not published till 1627. Fletcher's subject, however, is similar. There are certainly some coincidences of thought and expression in the two poems. Marino and Crashaw also afford, in their language and imagery, some resemblances. But here Milton's poem is earlier than Marino's Strage de gli Innocenti also, which did not appear till 1633: And Crashaw's translation not till many years afterwards. Milton seems to have been, in a slight degree, indebted perhaps to both, in his Paradise Lost. And with respect to Fletcher's Locustæ, it has been said that Milton himself acknowledged the obligations which he derived from that poem to his Paradise Lost. But see the Inquiry into the Origin of Paradise Lost, in this edition. I will now present the reader with some interesting extracts from a very scarce Latin poem, entitled PAREUS, and printed at Oxford by Joseph Barnes in 1585; which describing, in more than four hundred hexameters, the treasons practised by W. Parry against queen Elizabeth, sometimes introduces sentiments and imagery not dissimilar to what Milton has here exhibited. The poem thus opens: Qui Phrygio quondam certantes vertice divas, Nunc aliud canere adgredior, remóque paludem Albionum, tenuit; jámque inviolabile fœdus Cocyti tranare meo: juvat alta videre Tartara, et hinc sævam Parei deducere fraudem Solam autem immunem scelerum, cladísque jacere Sic secum: "Meáne hanc unam modò temnere gentem 66 Sic ait, atque imis excitam Acheruntis ab oris 5 In solio, occultíque doli securus et hostis: 66 "Vade age; et hunc proprium patri fer, nata, laborem. Romuleas, i, scande arces, atque atria nota "Pontificis, sævúmque inspira in pectora virus; "Communi ut cædem maturet callidus hosti, "Reginæ Britonum cædem, populóque ruinam. 10 15 Ver. 10. Dinumerans sceleris socios, &c.] As in Par. Lost, B. i. 606. "The fellows of his crime," &c. TODD. Ver. 13. Illic unanimes &c.] Virg. Æn. 385. "Tu potes unanimes armare in prælia fratres," &c. RICHARDSON. Ver. 15. Regnáque oliviferâ &c.] Olivifer is an Ovidian epithet, Fast. iii. 151. “Primus oliviferis Romam deductus ab arvis." A great fault of the versification of this poem is, that it is too monotonous, and that there is no intermixture of a variety of pauses. But it should be remembered, that young writers are misled by specious beauties. T. WARTon. Ver. 17. · fraudumque magister] He calls the devil, artificer of fraud, Par. Lost, B. iv. 121. In the beginning of Gregory Nazianzen's Christus Patiens, the old dragon is termed Tentat inaccessum sceleri corrumpere pectus; Ante expugnatæ crudelia sæcula Trojæ. At simul hanc, opibúsque et festâ pace beatam, 20 25 30 aykʊλoμýτηs, and in the Latin translation fraudis artifex, S. Greg. Naz. Opp. tom. ii. p. 254, edit. fol. Lut. Paris. 1611. TODD. Ver. 23. Summanus] Summanus is an obsolete and uncommon name for Pluto, or the god of ghosts and night, summus manium, which Milton most probably had from Ovid, Fast. vi. 731. The name occurs in Plautus, Cicero, Pliny, and other ancient criticks. T. WARTON. Ver. 24. Cinctus cæruleæ fumanti turbine flammæ.] Satan is robed with a mantle of flames, in Marino's Strage de gli Innocenti, 1633, Lib. i. st. vi. TODD. Ver. 27. Cui nomen dederat quondam Neptunia proles;] "Albion a giant, son of Neptune, who called the [this] island after his own name; and ruled it forty-four years. Till at length passing over into Gaul, in aid of his brother Lestrygon, against whom Hercules was hasting out of Spain into Italy, he was there slain in fight," &c. Milton's Hist. Eng. B. i. Drayton has the same fable, Polyolb. S. xviii. T. WARTON. Ver. 31. At simul hanc, opibúsque et festâ pace beatam, &c.] The whole context is from Ovid's Envy, Metam. ii. 794. 35 Aspicit, et pingues donis Cerealibus agros, 66 66 Contemtríxque jugi, nostrâque potentior arte. "Illa tamen, mea si quicquam tentamina possunt, "Non feret hoc impunè diu, non ibit inulta.” Hactenus; et piceis liquido natat aëre pennis: Quà volat, adversi præcursant agmine venti, Densantur nubes, et crebra tonitrua fulgent. "Tandem Tritonida conspicit arcem, Ver. 34. tandem suspiria rupit 45 Tartareos ignes et luridum olentia sulphur;] Crashaw thus amplifies Marino's description of the devil, Poems, Sospetto d'Herode, &c. edit. 1648, p. 59. "From his black nostrills, and blew lips, in spight "Of Hell's own stinke, a worser stench is spread, Ver. 38. Ignescunt oculi,] Satan has the same blazing eyes, Par. Lost, B. i. 193. TODD. Ver. 46. Quà volat, &c.] Compare Tasso, Gier. Lib. C. xvi. 70. "Calca i nubi, e tratta l'aure a volo, "Cinta di nembi e turbini sonori." TODD. Ver. 47. Densantur nubes,] When Satan steers his flight the air feels unusual weight, Par. Lost, B. i. 227. TODD. |