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And poft o'er land and ocean without reft;
They alfo ferve who only stand and wait.

XX.

* To Mr. LAWRENCE.

Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous fon,
Now that the fields are dank, and ways are mire,
Where fhall we fometimes meet, and by the fire
Help waste a fullen day, what may be won
From the hard feafon gaining? time will run

5

On smoother, till Favonius re-infpire The frozen earth, and clothe in fresh attire The lilly' and rofe, that neither fow'd nor fpun. What neat repast fhall feaft us, light and choice, Of Attic tafte, with wine, whence we may rife 10 To hear the lute well touch'd, or artful voice Warble immortal notes and Tuscan air?

6. Favonius] The fame as Zephyrus, or the western wind that blows in the fpring. Plin. Lib. 16. Sect. 39. Hic eft genitalis fpiritus mundi, a fovendo dictus, ut quidam exiftimavere. Flat ab occafu æquinoctiali, ver inchoans. And fo Lucretius I. 10.

He

Nam fimul ac fpecies patefacta
eft verna dici,

Et referata viget genitabilis aura
Favoni.

8.

that neither fow'd' nor fpun.] Alluding to Mat. VI. 26, 28. they fow not, neither do they fpin. R 2 Cyriac

He who of those delights can judge, and spare

To interpose them oft, is not unwise.

XXI.

+ To CYRIAC SKINNER, Cyriac, whofe grandfire on the royal bench Of British Themis, with no mean applaufe Pronounc'd and in his volumes taught our laws, Which others at their bar fo often wrench; To day deep thoughts refolve with me to drench 5 In mirth, that after no repenting draws;

Let Euclid reft and Archimedes pause,

And what the Swede intends, and what the French.

+ Cyriac Skinner was the fon of William Skinner Efq; and grand"fon of Sir Vincent Skinner, and his mother was Bridget, one of the daughters of the famous Sir Edward Coke Lord Chief Juftice of the King's Bench. Mr. Wood informs us that he was one of Harrington's political club, and fometimes held the chair; and farther adds, that he was a merchant's fon of London, an ingenious young gentleman, and fcholar to John Milton. Athen. Ox. Vol. 2. p. 591. No wonder then that Milton was fo intimate with him, and has addrefs'd two fonnets to him, this first of which was printed in the edition of 1673.

Το

8. And what the Swede intends,] We have printed it as it is in the Manufcript. In the first edition it was And what the Swede intend, which in others is alter'd to And what the Swedes intend. Charles Guftavus, king of Sweden, was at this time waging war with Poland, and the French with the Spaniards in the Netherlands: and what Milton fays is fomewhat in the fpirit and manner of Horace. Od. II. XI. 1.

Quid bellicofus Cantaber, et
Scythes
Hirpine Quinti, cogitet, Hadria
Divifus objecto, remittas
Quærere: &c.

The

To measure life learn thou betimes, and know Toward folid good what leads the nearest way; For other things mild Heav'n a time ordains, And disapproves that care, though wise in show, That with fuperfluous burden loads the day, And when God fends a chearful hour, refrains. XXII.

*To the fame.

9

Cyriac, this three years day these eyes, though clear,
To outward view, of blemish or of spot,
Bereft of light their seeing have forgot,
Nor to their idle orbs doth fight appear

Of

fonnet likewife is very incorrect, but we fhall restore it by the affiftance of the Manufcript.

it

3. Bereft of light th ir feeing have forgot,] In the printed copies is abfurdly,

*The two fonnets to Cyriac man. In the printed editions this Skinner we have printed in the fame order as they are number'd in the Manufcript. This latter was never printed in Milton's lifetime, but was first publish'd feveral years after his death at the fame time and in the fame manner with the foregoing ones to General Fairfax, Cromwell, and Sir Henry Vane: and tho' the perfon, to whom it is addrefs'd, was not fo obnoxious as any of those before mention'd, yet it might not have been fafe for Milton to have publifh'd fuch a commendation of his Defense of the people, which the government had order'd to be burnt by the hands of the common hang

Bereft of fight their seeing have forgot.

4. Nor to their idle orbs doth fight

appear

Of fun, or moon, &c.] In the printed editions it is,

Nor to their idle orbs doth day

appear, Or fun, or moon, &'c. R 3 7. Against

Of fun, or moon, or ftar throughout the

Or man, or woman.

Yet I argue not

year,

Against Heav'n's hand or will, nor bate a jot

up

Of heart or hope, but still bear and fteer Right onward. What fupports me, doft thou ask? The confcience, Friend, to' have loft them overply'd In liberty's defenfe, my noble task,

Of which all Europe talks from fide to side.

II

This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask

Content though blind, had I no better guide.

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Mine, as whom wash'd from spot of child-bed taint 5 Purification in the old Law did fave,

And fuch, as yet once more I trust to have Full fight of her in Heav'n without reftraint, Came vested all in white, pure as her mind: Her face was veil'd, yet to my fancied fight Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shin'd So clear, as in no face with more delight. But O as to embrace me the inclin'd,

I wak'd, fhe fled, and day brought back my

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