325 Title Lycidas the name occurs in both Greek and Roman pastoral poetry Monody* poem lamenting someone’s death learned Friend Edward King 1 Yet once more cp. Hebrews 12:26–7 ’Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain’ 1–2 Laurels… Myrtles… Ivy evergreen leaves traditionally associated with poetic fame 2 never-sear* never dry, never withered; evergreen 3 crude unripe, sour 4 rude unskilled, inexperienced 5 mellowing* ripening, maturing 6 dear dire, hard, grievous 10 Who… Lycidas? cp. Virgil, Eclogues 10.3 ‘neget quis carmina Gallo?’ (‘who could refuse Gallo a little song?’) 12 bear bier 13 welter be tossed, tumbled, rolled about parching scorching 14 meed reward, recompense tear elegiac verses were often collected under the title of Lacrymae Musarum (‘The tears of the Muses’)
325 15 Sisters the Muses well Aganippe 19 Muse poet 22 sable shrowd* black winding-sheet for corpses 24 rill brook, small stream 25 Lawns glades, open spaces between woods 27 drove a field drove animals to the fields 28 Gray-fly* dung-beetle winds sounds 29 Batt’ning feeding, fattening 30 Star Hesperus 31 westering* declining to the west 36 Damœtas a traditional name for a shepherd; no particular individual need be intended 40 gadding wandering, straggling 45 Canker canker-worm 46 Taint-worm worm that infects cattle weanling* recently weaned
325 47 wardrop wardrobe 48 White thorn hawthorn 50–5 cp. Theocritus, Idylls 1.66–9 and Virgil, Eclogues 10.9–12 ‘Where were you, gentle Naiads, in what high woods or in what glades, while Gallus lay dying of unrequited love? Nothing detained you on Parnassus; nothing on any ridge of Pindus; and nothing at Aonian Aganippe’s spring’ 52 steep slope of a mountain 54 shaggy covered with rough, tangled growth Mona the island of Anglesey 55 Deva the river Dee; the rise and fall of its flow were supposed to presage good or ill fortune for England and Wales wisard* magic, enchanted 56 fondly foolishly 58–63 for Milton’s revisions to this passage, see the textual note on the poem 58 Muse Calliope 59 inchanting that enchants, lays under a spell 64 boots profits, avails 66 meditate… Muse* occupy oneself in poetry, song, cp. Virgil, Eclogues 1.2 ‘musam meditaris’ 67 cp. Virgil, Eclogues 2.14–15 ‘Would it not have been better to put up with the sulky moods of Amaryllis and the airs she gives herself?’ use are wont to do 68 cp. Virgil, Eclogues 1.4–5 ‘and you lie sprawling in the shade, teaching the woods to echo back the charms of Amaryllis’ 69 with withe, twist, wind, bind (?) Neæra’s in classical and Renaissance literature, hair is frequently mentioned in connection with Neaera
325 71 cp. Tacitus, Histories 4.6 ‘Even with wise men, the desire for glory is the last thing to be abandoned’ 73 Guerdon reward 75 Fury Atropos 76 thin-spun* 77 cp. Virgil, Eclogues 6.3–4 ‘Apollo plucked my ear and gave me his advice’ 79 foil gold or silver leaf used to show off a jewel more brilliantly 84 meed reward, deserving 88 Oate* pipe made of oaten straw 89 Herald Triton 90 plea apology, excuse 91 Fellon savage, wild, murderous 96 Hippotades Aeolus 101 in th’eclipse at an ill-omened time
325 103 Camus the river Cam in Cambridge 105 Inwrought* decorated 106 flower Hyacinth 107 pledge child as a token of married love 109 Pilot St Peter, the Galilean fisherman 110 cp. Matthew 16:19 ‘And I will give unto thee [Peter] the keys of the kingdom of heaven’ massy massive, heavy 111 amain suddenly, with force 112 Miter’d wearing a mitre; traditionally, St Peter was the Church’s first bishop 114 Anow enough 115 cp. John 10:1 ‘He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber’ 118 worthy… guest cp. Matthew 22:8 ‘The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy’ 119 Blind lacking spiritual light 122 What… them what do they care about it? sped prospering, doing well 123 list please, choose lean poor, meagre flashy trashy, meaningless 124 scrannel* harsh, unmel-odious; thin, weak; cp. Virgil, Eclogues 3.27 ‘All you were good for was to stand at the crossroads and scrape a miserable tune out of one squeaking straw’ 126 rank corrupt, stinking, foul draw inhale, breathe in
325 128 Woolf the Roman Catholic Church, especially in its attempts to convert English Protestants 130–1 the exact meaning and significance of this ‘engine’ of God’s justice are uncertain, but it is an emblem of apocalyptic justice; cp. Revelation 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door, and knock’, 1:16 ‘and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword’ and 19:15 ‘And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations’ 130 two-handed wielded with two hands (cp. no. 356 1.15) 133 Sicilian Muse Theocritus 135 Bels flowers with bell-shaped heads Flourets flowerets, little flowers 136 use frequent, haunt 138 swart* producing swarthiness, darkness Star Sirius sparely sparingly, rarely 139 quaint beautiful, pretty enameld beautified with colours 142–50 a similar catalogue of flowers is in Spenser’s The shepheardes calender, ‘Aprill’, 11.136–44; for Milton’s insertion and revision of this passage in the MS, see the textual note on this poem 142 rathe early forsaken deserted, left solitary 143 tufted growing in tufts Crow-toe wild hyacinth Gessamine jasmine 144 freakt* flecked, streaked 146 well attir’d* richly arrayed Woodbine honeysuckle 149 Amaranthus an imaginary flower which never fades 151 Herse hearse; tomb, grave
325 153 false surmise since King’s body was not recovered, his hearse cannot be covered with flowers; the flowers only appear to the mourner to be responding to King’s death 157 whelming* engulfing, submerging 158 monstrous* full of monsters 159 moist vows tearful prayers 161 Mount St Michael’s Mount, where St Michael was said to have appeared to monks 162 Namancos a district in northwest Spain Bayona’s a fortress town in Spain 163 Angel St Michael ruth pity 164 the line is usually taken to allude to the story of Arion waft convey by water 168 day-star sun 170 tricks decks, adorns 173 him Christ; cp. Matthew 14:25–6 where He is described as ‘walking on the sea’ 175 laves washes 176 unexpressive inexpressible (cp. no. 2701.116) nuptiall Song cp. Revelation 19:9 ‘Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb’
325 181 cp. Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 ‘And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes’ 183 Genius local deity 186 uncouth unknown 188 stops finger-holes Quills reed pipes 189 Dorick rustic, not refined 190 cp. Virgil, Eclogues 1.83 ‘shadows of the mountain crests are falling farther out’