1723. nothing but, nothing that is not,' 'nothing but what is.' See Abbott, § 123. This constr. seems better than taking 'but' as a preposition meaning 'except' governing well and fair' as substantives.

1724. quiet us, 'calm the violence of our grief.'

6

1725. go find, go to find.' The sign of the infinitive is often omitted after verbs of motion; cf. Shak. Hamlet, ii. 1. 101, "I will go seek the king. See Abbott, § 349. Conversely, when the prep. 'to' is expressed, the verb of motion is often omitted; see 1. 1250.

1726. from the stream, by hyperbaton, to be placed after 'with lavers,' next line.

1727. lavers pure, 'vessels for washing, full of pure water.'

1728. with what speed, sc. I can'; 'with all possible speed.' the while, 'meanwhile,' adv. qualifying 'will send.'

The

1729. to say us nay, 'to refuse,' sc. 'to accede to my wish that my kindred should come to take away Samson's body. The expression to say nay' is old, and occurs in Havelock the Dane (1280); cf. Shak. Rich. III. iii. 1. 119, "You'll say a beggar nay. phrase seems to have survived the doing away of the distinction between 'nay' and 'no' (as set forth in Sir T. More's attack on Tyndale's translation of the N. T.), for Shakspere uses the forms "by yea and no," "the very yea and the no is."

1730. Judges, xvi. 31, "Then his brethren and all the house of his father came down and took him, and brought him up, and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the burying-place of Manoah his father."

1732. silent. Although loud lamentations were characteristic of Jewish mourning, there are passages in Scripture pointing to silence as one of its features also. Thus Job's friends sit on the ground seven days and seven nights with him, "and none spake a word unto him." In Ezek. xxiv. 17, "covering the lips" is one of the signs of mourning. The loud wailing was chiefly done by hired mourners, while silence for a time was observed by the relatives and friends. obsequy. This singular is unusual; it occurs in Spenser, F. Q. ii. 1. 60, "But ere they did their utmost obsequy"; in Fabyan, Chron. Pref. They (ij tapers and ij candilstykks) do be sett at my grave and to brenne the tyme of the hole obsequy"; and in Daniel, Civil Wars, is mentioned the "solemn obsequy" of Richard II. Usually in English the pl. is used like the Lat. obsequiae. It is possible that by using the sing. Milton here means to give the word the meaning of 'train (lit. 'a following'), and then as is not unusual with him repeats the idea immediately afterwards in "funeral train." The funeral

66

ceremonies properly so called would not be performed on Philistine ground, very likely.

1734, 1735. shade Of laurel, hendiadys for 'shady laurel.'

1735. branching palm; the palm has no branches, but Milton twice repeats this epithet, P. L. iv. 39, vi. 885, by which of course is meant the tufted crown of leaves.

1736. trophies; see 1. 1470, n. The hanging up of trophies at the tomb of a hero is a custom of chivalry. Although among the heathen Canaanites it was a custom to hang up trophies in the temples of their gods (1 Sam. xxxi. 10), such a proceeding would be obnoxious to the Jews; see Josephus, Antiq. xv. 8. 1. rolled. 'recorded'; see l. 653, n.

en

1737. legend, biographical narrative,' lit. 'something to be read' (Lat. legendus), e.g. the inscription on the edge of a coin. The meaning in the text occurs in the titles of books, e.g. of the Lives of the Saints, or The Golden Legend (Lat. Legenda Aurea). The Legend of Charlemagne, Barbour's Legendes of the Saints, Chaucer's Legende of Good Women, and even Drayton's Legends, which are lives of historical personages, like Rollo, Gaveston, etc. In Piers Plowman occurs the expression 'the legende of life' for 'the book of life.' A passage in Hooker's Eccl. Polity, v. 20, and another in Bacon's Essays, show how the Golden Legend came to be discredited from the supposed fables and exaggerations introduced into it, until the word 'legend' acquired its present meaning. The word 'geste' (properly deeds, history,' e.g. 'a geste of Robin Hood') has undergone a similar degeneration into 'jeste' ('a joke'). song. Such were the songs of deliverance and victory sung by Moses (Exod. xv.), and by Deborah and Barak (Judges, v.), and by David (Ps. xviii., lxviii.). Such, too, were the Epinician Odes of Pindar.

1738. The object evidently was to do honour to Samson's memory, with athletic and martial exercises; like those performed at the funeral itself of Patroclus (Hom. Il. xxiii.). Alexander the Great on reaching Ilium offered libations at the tomb of Achilles, and "ran round it with his friends naked" (an act apparently symbolic of athletic exercises), Plutarch, Alex.

1740. adventures high. Todd says this also is a term of chiv. alry and romance, and quotes from Don Quixote and Hawes' Pastime of Pleasure.

1742. Flowers. To scatter flowers on tombs was a custom among the ancients. Thus the Thessalians adorned the tomb of Achilles with amaranthus and lilies; cf. Virg. Aen. vi. 884. Electra on approaching Agamemnon's tomb sees TEPLOTEDĤ Kúkλw | πάντων ὅσ ̓ ἐστίν ἀνθέων θήκην πατρός, “ The sepulchre, | Wherein

he lies inurned, with wreaths of flowers, | Glowing in all their various dyes, hung round." Soph. El. 896. The custom, however, does not seem to have existed among the Jews. St. Ambrose and St. Jerome mention it as prevalent among the early Christians (Brand, Pop. Antiq.). Only bewailing, finding but one cause of lamentation' in the history of his life, but otherwise finding in it nothing but cause for national pride and glory.

1744. Manoah here departs.

1745. All is best, 'all is for the best.' The Alcestis, Andromache, Bacchae, Helena, and Medea of Euripides, all conclude with the same sentiment in the same words, but without that touch of Christian (or Hebrew) resignation conveyed by the words “ all is best”; πολλαὶ μορφαὶ τῶν δαιμονίων, | πολλὰ δ ̓ ἀέλπτως κραίνουσι θεοί, καὶ τὰ δοκηθέντ ̓ οὐκ ἐτελέσθη, ἡ τῶν δ ̓ ἀδοκήτων πόρον nupe Ocós, "With various hand the gods dispense our fates; | Now showering various blessings, which our hopes | Dared not aspire to; now controlling ills | We deemed inevitable: thus the god | To these hath given an end exceeding thought." Cf. also Plato, Rep. x. 12, οὕτως ἄρα ὑποληπτέον περί τοῦ δικαίου ἀνδρός, ἐάν τ ̓ ἐν πενίᾳ γίγνεται ἐάν τ ̓ ἐν νόσοις ἤ τινι ἄλλῳ τῶν δοκούντων κακῶν, ὡς τούτῳ ταῦτα εἰς ἀγαθόν τι τελευτήσει ζῶντι ἢ καὶ ἀποθανόντι, "Hence in the case of the just man, we must assume that, whether poverty be his lot, or sickness, or any other reputed evil, all will work for his final advantage, either in this life, or in the next." In the Greek drama the last words are almost always spoken by the Chorus. Exceptions occur in the Prometheus of Aeschylus and the Trachiniae of Sophocles. though oft we doubt; as the Chorus had done in ll. 667-704.

1746. dispense, 'dispensation,' 'disposal'; verb for noun.

1748. Cf. Shak. Meas. for Meas. iv. 6. 7, ""Tis a physic that's bitter to sweet end."

1749. hide his face; an expression common in Scripture for the displeasure of God; e.g. Ps. xxx. 7, "Thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled."

1751. in place; 'in this place,'' on this occasion,' or perhaps in the proper place,' opportunely,' like Gr. év kaup, and opposed to out of place.' The phrase occurs very often in Spenser in various shades of meaning; e.g. F. Q. i. 2. 38, “Then was she faire alone, when none was fair in place"; i. 3. 37, "Deare sir, whatever that thou be in place"; i. 5. 36, "They all beholding worldly wight in place"; i. 10. 65, "And many bloody battles fought in place

1753. them, 'themselves.'

1755. aquist, 'acquisition.' Todd quotes from Howell's Letters, Fanshaw's trans. of the Lusiad, and other contemporary writings to illustrate the use of this word. Richardson quotes from Hale, Origination of Mankind, "His (man's) acquests are like the acquests of a servant," and Bacon, Of a War with Spain, "To aspire to monarchy and new acquests.” Cf. also Sir T. Browne, Christian Morals, ii. 4, "Let not mere acquests in minor parts of learning gain thy pre-existimation." This word, and 'intent' above, are substantives formed from the Latin past pt. acquisitum, intentum.

1758. And calm of mind, and with calm of mind.' passion, nom. abs. This beautiful conclusion has a double application. It refers to the fulfilment of the object of the tragedy by purging the mind of passion, and to the condition of Milton's own mind after he had fought the good fight of religion and freedom.

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INDEX TO NOTES.