The Annotated Milton: Complete English Poems (174 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
1233
extended across
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1234
pulled around him
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1236
the Latin
urget,
which Horace uses here, means “presses down on”
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1238
elegance, style
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1239
unaccustomed
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1240
to be surprised, astonished, to marvel at
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1241
too readily believed
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1242
at leisure, unoccupied
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1245
votive offering
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1246
[noun: the Latin is
tabula sacer votiva
]: David Ferry’s 1997 translation renders these lines “The votive tablet on the temple wall / Is witness that in tribute to the god / I have hung up my sea-soaked garment there.”
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1247
i.e., dedicated/given them to the god
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1249
(1) episcopacy had been formally abolished in 1643 (bishops having been members of the House of Lords); (2) in addition, the chief prelate had been the much-hated Archbishop William Laud—whose name, in British English, is virtually a homonym of “lord”
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1250
resolute, inflexible
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1251
in 1645 the House of Commons banned either public or private use of the
Book of Common Prayer
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1252
i.e., holding more than one clerical post at a time, as Anglicans had, was a practice being indulged in by Presbyterian clergymen as well
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1253
swear an oath (to)
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1254
presbyterian synod (unit of administration)
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1255
Adam Stewart, member of Parliament and propagandist for orthodox Pres byterianism; he affixed only his initials to the pamphlets he published
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1256
Samuel Rutherford, a Scot, author of
Plea for Presbytery
(1642)
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1257
Thomas Edwards, author of
Gangraena: a catalogue and discovery of many of the errors, heresies, blasphemies, and pernicious practices of the sectaries of this time
(1646)
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1258
Robert Baillie, a Scot who attacked the Independents
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1259
the Council of Trent, 1545–63, attempted but failed to effect Church reforms
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1260
leather accouterments worn, at prayer, by Jews: here, a symbol of open hypocrisy
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1261
already cropped: William Prynne (a barrister), the onetime Puritan pamphleteer and then member of the House of Commons, had been thus punished in 1634 (and punished again, for the same offense, in 1637, at which time his cheeks were branded) for criticizing the bishops
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1262
Psalms 80–88, rather dully translated in 1648—that is, five years earlier than Psalms 1–8—are here omitted; they make no significant contribution either to Milton’s English poetry or to the study thereof
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1263
grain husks, separated out by threshing or winnowing
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1264
winnowed, threshed
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1265
endure, withstand
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1266
put up with, endure
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1268
heathen, pagans
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1271
stand erect
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1272
meetings, assemblies
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1273
deride, mock
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1274
rigorous, unsparing
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1275
fierce, terrible, dire
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1277
anger, wrath
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1279
ruled, governed
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1281
(1) fully, (2) finally, at last
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1282
disinclined
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1283
be conversant with
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1284
in the way = thereby
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1286
support, reliance
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1288
his rebellious son
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1291
mob, rabble, herd
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1292
set, arrange
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1295
righteous deeds, conformity to the requirements of divine law
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1296
sore need, difficulties
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1297
liberate, deliver from bondage
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1299
tolerated, endured
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1300
what time = when
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1301
terrified, filled with reverential fear
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1302
faithful, rightful, correct, appropriate [adjective]
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1303
kind, crowd
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1304
excessive quantity
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1305
supplies, stocks
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1309
devotional/contemplative exercise
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1310
i.e., “give weight to my meditations”
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1311
deliberate judgment
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1313
tarrying, expectation
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1316
deceitful, treacherous
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1317
in Thy fear = in fear of You
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1319
watch, notice, inspect
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1321
in front of (the place)
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1322
i.e., he who has a….
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1323
unreliable, vacillating
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1325
destroyed, crushed
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1326
continually, always
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1327
rebuke, find fault with
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1328
set right, repair
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1330
wastes, burns away
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1332
watch, notice
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1334
petition, entreaty
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1335
acknowledge
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1336
nonplussed, prostrated
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1337
struck, destroyed, confounded, frustrated
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1338
disconcerted
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1339
belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, one of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel
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1340
King David, the Psalmist
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1341
worked, done
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1342
given in return
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1343
nothing—i.e., without any fee or ransom
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1345
deposit, place
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1346
anger, wrath
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1347
press forward, drive, pursue
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1350
appease, soften, mitigate
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1351
i.e., on earth
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1352
pledge, promise
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1354
wrongly (“do” = “act”)
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1355
set up, place
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1357
separates, distinguishes
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1359
ultimately, in the end
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1360
strict, rigorous, unsparing
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1361
desist, abstain
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1364
pursue (maliciously), hunt, harass, oppress
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1365
he who (
not
God)
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