For who loves that, must first be wise and good; XIII. To Mr. H. LAWES on his Airs.* HARRY, whose tuneful and well measur'd song *This Sonnet was also first added in the edition of 1673, and in Milton's Manuscript it is dated Feb. 9, 1645, and said to be wrote to Mr. Lawes, on the publishing of his Airs. This Mr. Henry Lawes was a gentleman of his Majesty's chapel, and one of his band of music, and an intimate friend of Milton, as appears by his first publishing the Mask in 1637, the airs of which he set to music, and probably too those of his Arcades. He was educated under Signor Coperario, and introduced a softer mixture of Italian airs, than had been practised before in our nation; as Mr Fenton says in his 5 To after age thou shalt be writ the man, That with smooth air could'st humour best our tongue. Thou honour'st verse, and verse must lend her wing 7. -thou shalt be writ the man, &c.] This too in the style of Horace, Od. i. vi. 1. Scriberis Vario fortis, et hostium 10 Than his Caselle, whom Dante woo'd to sing &c. 13. Than his Casella, whom he woo'd to sing &c.] This refers to the second Canto of Dante's And in the Manuscript it was Purgatorio, where the poet rethus at first, -thou shalt be writ a man lates his meeting with Casella in purgatory, and wooing him That didst reform thy art, the chief to sing in these terms, -se nuoua legge non ti toglie Thyer. See Dante's Purgator. c. ii. v. 111. The Italian commentators on the passage say, that Casella, Dante's friend, was a musician of distinguished excellence. He must have died a little before the year 1300. In the Vatican library is a Ballatella, or Madrigal, inscribed Lemmo da Pistoja, e Casella diede il Suono. That is, Lemmo da Pistoja wrote the words, which were set to music by Casella. Num. 3214. f. 149. Crescimbeni mentions an ancient manuscript Ballatella, with Dante's words and his friend Schochetti's music. Inscribed Parole di Dante, e Suono di Schochetti. Ist. Volg. Poes. p. 409. From On the religious memory of Mrs. Catharine Thomson, my Christian friend, deceased 16 Dec. 1646.* WHEN faith and love, which parted from thee never, Of death, call'd life; which us from life doth sever. Thy works and alms and all thy good endeavour Stay'd not behind, nor in the grave were trod; But as faith pointed with her golden rod, Follow'd thee up to joy and bliss for ever. Love led them on, and faith who knew them best Thy hand-maids, clad them o'er with purple beams many parts of his writings, Dante appears to have been a judge and a lover of music. This is not the only circumstance in which Milton resembled Dante. By milder shades, our author means, shades comparatively much less horrible than those which Dante describes in the Inferno. T. Warton. *To this Sonnet, which was first printed in the edition of 1673, we have added the title which is in Milton's Manuscript. Who this Mrs. Thomson was, we cannot be certain; but I find in the accounts of Milton's life, that when he was first made Latin secretary, he lodged at one Thomson's, next door to the Bullhead tavern at Charing Cross. This Mrs. Thomson was in all probability one of that family. * Mr. Warton seems to have supposed that Mrs. Thomson was a Quaker. See Mr. Dunster's note on P. R. iv. 288. E. 5 3. Meekly thou didst resign &c.] In the Manuscript these lines were thus at first, Meekly thou didst resign this earthly Of flesh and sin, which man from 6. Stay'd not behind, &c.] Instead of this lines were the following at first in the Manuscript, Strait follow'd thee the path that saints have trod, Still as they journey'd from this dark abode ་ Up to the realm of peace and joy for And azure wings, that up they flew so drest, And spake the truth of thee on glorious themes Before the Judge, who thenceforth bid thee rest And drink thy fill of pure immortal streams. XV. To the Lord General FAIRFAX.* FAIRFAX, whose name in arms through Europe rings, Filling each mouth with envy or with praise, Compare Par. Lost, xi. 14. of the personification and ascent of the prayers of Adam and Eve. And see the notes, P. L. xi. 19. T. Warton. 12. And spake the truth] There are also three manuscript copies of this Sonnet, two by Milton, the second corrected, and the third by another hand; and in all of them we read And spake the truth, which is more agreeable to syntax, and better than And speak the truth, as it is in the printed copies. 14. And drink thy fill of pure immortal streams.] So in the Epitaph. Damonis, 306. Etherios haurit latices, et gaudia tion of Milton's poems in 1673, and the reason of omitting them in the reign of Charles II. is too obvious to need explaining. They were first printed at the end of Philips's life of Milton, prefixed to the English translation of his state-letters, in 1694, which was twenty years after his death; they were afterwards cited by Toland in his life of Milton, 1698; and as far as I can perceive, they were not inserted among his other poems till the fifth edition in 1713. But the printed copies, probably being taken at first from memory, are wonderfully incorrect; whole verses are omitted, and the beauty of these Sonnets is in great measure defaced and de Compare P. L. v. 632. seq. where stroyed. It is therefore a singu the angels Quaff immortality and joy, &c. The allusion is to the waters of life, and more particularly to Ps. xxxvi. 8, 9. "Thou shalt "make them drink of the river "of thy pleasures, for with thee "is the well of life." T. Warton. * This and the two following Sonnets are not found in the edi lar piece of good fortune, that they are still extant in Milton's Manuscript, the first in his own hand-writing, and the others by another hand, as he had then lost his sight: and having such an authentic copy, we shall make it our standard, and thereby restore these Sonnets to their original beauty. This to the Lord General Fairfax appears from the Manuscript to have been ad And all her jealous monarchs with amaze Thy firm unshaken virtue ever brings Victory home, though new rebellions raise dressed to him at the siege of Colchester, which was carried on in the summer of 1648. * These Sonnets, and the two to Cyriac Skinner, were the favourites of the republicans long after the Restoration: it was some consolation to a ruined party to have such good poetry remaining on their side of the question. T. Warton. 1.-rings,] Milton is fond of ring, for violence of sound; I mean in a good sense, and out of its appropriated, literal application. Sonn. xxii. 12. "Of "which all Europe rings from "side to side." Where see the note. Hymn. Nativ. v. "Ring "out ye crystal spheres." Par, Lost, ii. 495. "Hill and valley rings." Ib. iii. 347. "Heaven "6 rung with jubilee." Ib. vi. 204. "The faithful armies rung Ho"sanna." Ib. vii. 562. Ib. vii. 562. "All "the constellations rung." Ib. vii. 633. "The empyrean rung "with hallelujahs." Ib. ix. 737. "The sound yet rung of his "persuasive words." We may add, "No more with cymbals ring." H. Nativ. v. 208. But this is, perhaps, a literal use. T. Warton. 5 8. Her broken league] Because the English Parliament held, that the Scotch had broken their covenant, by Hamilton's march into England. Hurd. 8. to imp their serpent-wings.] In falconry, to imp a feather in a hawk's wing, is to add a new piece to a mutilated stump. From the Saxon impan, to ingraft. So Spenser, of a headless trunk, F. Q. iv. ix. 4. And having ympt the head to it agayne. 6. though new rebellions raise &c.] At this time there were several insurrections of the royalists, and the Scotch army was marching into England under To imp wings is not uncommon |