The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems (167 page)
Read The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems Online
Authors: John Milton,Burton Raffel
Tags: #Fiction, #General, #Literary Collections, #Poetry, #Classics, #English; Irish; Scottish; Welsh, #English poetry
258
Chaeronéa marked the end of Greek independence; Isocrates committed suicide four days after hearing the news
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259
recount, tell
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260
block of wood attached to the feet of men or horses, to impede movement
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261
by the writing of two tracts on divorce, one of which was entitled
Tetrachordon
: see Sonnet 12, below
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262
surrounds, besieges, besets
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263
rustics, boors
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264
Apollo and Diana, twin children of Latona and Jupiter; peasants who refused water to Latona were turned into frogs by Jupiter
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266
Milton’s 1645 book on divorce was shaped by the “foure chief places in Scripture which treat of Marriage”
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267
read, studied
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269
in the time that
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270
James Gordon, Lord Aboyne, Scots royalist
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271
Alexander MacDonnell, known also as MacColkitto and MacGillespie, general in the royalist army of James Graham, Earl Montrose
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272
see footnote 50, above
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273
see footnote 50, above
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274
Roman rhetorician
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275
first professor of Greek at Cambridge, and tutor to Prince (later King) Edward
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276
Henry Lawes, 1596–1662, master musician, who composed the music for
Comus
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278
measure out, extend
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279
proper, right, correct
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280
Midas having judged Pan a better flutist than Apollo, Apollo gave him donkey ears
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281
perpetrating
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282
melody, tune
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283
musician of Florence, Dante’s friend, who appears, and sings, in
Purgatorio
2:76ff.
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284
Catherine, wife of George Thomason, London bookseller and publisher; died in 1646
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286
Sir Thomas Fairfax, commander in chief of the Parliamentarian army
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288
a covenant of friendship made in 1643 between Parliament and the Scots was broken a month later by a Scottish invasion
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289
to engraft new feathers onto damaged wings
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290
the covenant with Parliament, being unserpentlike, broke Scotland’s “serpent wings,” but invading England and breaking that covenant restored her native serpentlike qualities
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291
plunder, pillage, robbery
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292
slander, defamations, calumnies
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294
battle of 1648
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296
battle of 1650
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297
battle of 1651 [bisyllabic, as if written “
WOOS
ter”]
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298
mouth, appetite
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299
Sir Henry Vane (the Younger), statesman and councilor
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300
i.e., the togas worn by the senators of Rome
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301
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, invaded Rome in the third century
B.C
.
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302
Hannibal of Carthage, in Africa, also invaded Rome in the third century
B.C
.
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303
purpose, intent
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304
pun on “Holland”
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305
gibe at the spelling and pronunciation of Dutch
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307
the Vaudois, Swiss Protestants, attacked and killed by Catholic partisans in 1655
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309
sheep pen: here, of course, metaphorical
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313
used up, exhausted
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315
in biblical times, “talent” also meant a monetary unit: see Matthew 25:14ff, the parable of the talents
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316
devoted, bound
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317
bring/show to God [verb]
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318
as per the parable of the talents
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319
scold, rebuke
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321
Edward Lawrence, member of Parliament; his father, Henry Lawrence, was president of Cromwell’s Council of State
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322
roads, lanes, paths
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323
boggy, slushy, muddy
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324
gloomy, dark, dismal, dull
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326
winter, with its ice
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327
which is gaining on us/coming closer and closer
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328
the west wind
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329
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin”: Matthew 6:28
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330
dainty, elegant
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332
afford? spare time for? leave off, forbear?
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333
introduce, or delay
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334
Cyriack Skinner, 1627–1700, Milton’s student, friend, helper, and more than likely his amanuensis
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335
Sir Edward Coke, 1552–1634, chief justice of the King’s Bench and a legendary figure in the law to this day
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336
goddess of justice
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337
petty, insignificant
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338
as a judge handing down (“pronouncing”) decisions
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339
notably
The Institutes of the Law of England
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340
i.e., other lawyers, members of the bar
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341
twist, stretch, alter
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345
speedily, in good time
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346
sober, sound, practical
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348
useless, inactive; unemployed
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349
lessen, reduce
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350
the smallest of small amounts
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351
overworked/employed/worked/used
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352
probably, but not certainly, Milton’s second wife, Katherine Woodcock, to whom he was married in 1656, and who died in 1658, not long after giving birth to a daughter
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353
Admetus, her husband, had his life extended in return for her voluntarily dying in his stead; Hercules, Jove’s son, successfully wrestled with Death, and then brought her back to life
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354
stain, blemish
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355
see Leviticus 12:5
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356
limitation, reserve
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357
clothed, dressed
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358
bent, leaned
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359
the Muses were the daughters of Memory
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360
slow-striving
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362
invaluable, priceless
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363
inspired by Apollo, god of poetry, who lived in the city of Delphi
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364
(1) heavy, (2) profound: see footnote 46, below
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365
(1) mold, cast, copy (as in printing), (2) effect, influence
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366
depriving, stripping
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367
(1) stone, such as is used in tombs and gravestones, or rigid/cold/white like marble, (2) the marbled pattern or paper used in ornamenting/binding books
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369
buried (metaphorical: “absorbed”)
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370
splendor, magnificence
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372
temporary idleness
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373
also a renter of horses: the proverbial phrase “Hobson’s choice” stems from his insisting that a would-be customer either accepted whatever horse was nearest to the door or else got no horse at all
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374
belt or band (leather or cloth) around a horse’s body, securing saddle/pack/etc.; possibly also a pun on Hobson’s own girt(h) and Death having broken
him
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377
trickster, con man
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379
to dodge = to give (someone) the slip, to avoid, to baffle
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380
inn in London, located on a main thoroughfare
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381
habitual path, route
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382
Death = the “kind…chamberlain,” or inn servant
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