As to other points, what God may have determined for me I know not; but this I know, that if he ever instilled an intense love of moral beauty into the breast of any man, he has instilled it into mine. Ceres, in the fable, pursued not her daughter with a greater keenness of inquiry than I, day and night, the idea of perfection. -Milton: Letter to a Friend. JOHN MILTON. (1608-1674.) MILTON was at once poet, publicist, scholar, controversialist, statesman, and musician. From his twelfth year he hardly ever retired from his studies until midnight. This was the first source of injury to his eyes, the use of which he subsequently lost altogether. His father was a scrivener or writer, a musician, and a Protestant. The two last qualities were part of the son's inheritance. John was born in London, December 9, 1608, and at sixteen entered Cambridge University, from which he was graduated in due time with the Bachelor's and Master's degrees. After five years in retirement at Horton, Milton, in 1638, visited the Continent, being absent fifteen months. Upon his return he began at once to take part in the political and religious controversies of the time, and in 1649 became Secretary of Foreign Tongues under the new Commonwealth. After the Restoration he went into hiding until the Act of Indemnity assured him of safety. "Paradise Lost," for the copyright of which he received twentyfive dollars, was completed in 1663; and in 1670, "Paradise Regained" and Samson Agonistes" were published. November 8, 1674, he died. Milton was thrice married, and by his first wife he had three daughters. His family became extinct in the third generation. POEMS. Globe edition, edited by David Masson. COMUS. THE name "Comus" was given to this production after Milton's death. Its proper description is, “A Masque presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634, before the Earl of Bridgewater, Lord President of Wales." A "masque" is a species of drama, usually designed for a special festive occasion, and for family representation. Our selections include only the most notable passages. The teaching of this noble composition is, that purity is the cardinal virtue, the source of the highest beauty of character, and the fountain of invincible strength. COMUS. A young lady (Virtue) is separated from her two brothers in the depth of a wild wood at night. She is met by Comus (Temptation), who seeks to ply his arts upon her in vain. He proposes force; but the brothers, directed by the sister's Attendant Spirit, appear in time to put him and his revelers to rout. The motive of the poem is indicated in the soliloquy of the Attendant Spirit : Before the starry threshold of Jove's court Which men call Earth, and, with low-thoughted care, To lay their just hands on that golden key To such my errand is; and, but for such, THE STAY OF VIRTUE. The following beautiful passage occurs in the meditation of the young lady while she is combating her natural fear of being alone in the darkness and wildness of the forest: A thousand fantasies Begin to throng into my memory, Of calling shapes, and beckoning shadows dire, O, welcome, pure-eyed Faith, white-handed Hope, I see thee visibly, and now believe That He, the Supreme Good, to whom all things ill The brothers, who are debating the situation of their sister, whom they naturally suppose to be in peril, give utterance to their different convictions in the following dia |