Hæc tibi, si teneris vacat inter prælia Musis, Sera quidem, sed vera fuit, quam casta recepit Ast ego quid volui manifestum tollere crimen, Et pudet officium deseruisse suum. Sæpe sarissiferi crudelia pectora Thracis Neve moras ultra ducere passus Amor; Nam vaga Fama refert, heu nuntia vera malorum ! Teque tuamque urbem truculento milite cingi, 55. The allusion is to a wellknown Epistle of Ovid. 55 60 65 70 1626, when this Elegy was written, the imperialists under General Tilly, were often encountered by Christian, Duke of Brunswick, and the Dukes of Saxony, particularly Duke William of Saxon Wiemar, and the Duke of Saxon Lawenburgh, in Lower Saxony, of which Hamburgh, where Young resided, is the capital. See v. 77. Germany, Te circum late campos populatur Enyo, Creditur ad superas justa volasse domos. Siccine in externam ferrea cogis humum, in general, either by invasion, or interior commotions, was a scene of the most bloody war from the year 1618, till later than 1640. Gustavus Adolphus conquered the greater part of Germany about 1631. See note on El. iii. supr. v. 9. 84. Vivis et ignoto solus inopsque solo ;] Ovid, of Achæmenides, Metam. xiv. 217. Solus, inops, exspes. These circumstances, added to others, leave us strongly to suspect, that Young was a nonconformist, and probably compelled to quit England on account of his religious opinions and practice. He seems to have been driven back to England, by the 75 80 85 90 war in the Netherlands, not long after this Elegy was written. See v. 71. seq. and the first note. re 86. Sede peregrina quæris egenus opem.] Before and after 1630, many English ministers, puritanically affected, left their cures, and settled in Holland, where they became pastors of separate congregations: when matters took another turn in England, they returned, and were warded for their unconforming obstinacy, in the new presbyterian establishment. Among these were Nye, Burroughs, Thomas Goodwin, Simpson, and Bridge, eminent members of the Assembly of Divines. See Wood, Ath. Oxon. ii. 504, Neale's Hist. Pur. iii. 376. Et qui læta ferunt de cœlo nuntia, quique Quæ via post cineres ducat ad astra, docent? Digna quidem Stygiis quæ vivas clausa tenebris, Æternaque animæ digna perire fame! Haud aliter vates terræ Thesbitidis olim Pressit inassueto devia tesqua pede, Desertasque Arabum salebras, dum regis Achabi Effugit, atque tuas, Sidoni dira, manus: 100.-Sidoni dira,] Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, was the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. Sidoni is a vocative, from Sidonis, often applied by Ovid to Europa the daughter of Agenor king of Sidon or Syria. Fast. b. v. 610. Sidoni, sic fueras accipienda Jovi. Some of these scriptural allusions are highly poetical, and much in Milton's manner. His friend, who bears a sacred character, forced abroad for his piety and religious constancy by the persecutions of a tyrannic tribunal, and distressed by war and want in a foreign country, is compared to Elijah the Tishbite wandering alone over the Arabian deserts, to avoid the menaces of Ahab, and the violence of Jezebel. See 1 Kings xix. 3. seq. He then selects a most striking miracle, under which the power of the Deity is displayed in Scripture as a protection in battle, with reference to his friend's situation, from the surrounding dangers of war. "You are safe under the radiant "shield of him, who in the dead "of night suddenly dispersed the Assyrians, while the sound of an unseen trumpet was clearly "heard in the empty air, and "the noises of invisible horses 95 100 "and chariots rushing to battle, " and the distant hum of clash ing arms and groaning men, "terrified their numerous army." Terruit et densas pavido cum rege cohortes, &c. See 2 Kings vii. 5. "For the "Lord had made the host of "the Syrians to hear a noise of "chariots and a noise of horses, " even the noise of a great host, "&c." Sionaa arx is the city of Samaria, now besieged by the Syrians, and where the king of Israel now resided. It was the capital of Samaria. Prisca Damascus was the capital of Syria. Pavido cum rege is Benhadad, the king of Syria. In the sequel of the narrative of this wonderful consternation and flight of the Syrians, the solitude of their vast deserted camp affords a most affecting image, even without any poetical enlargement. "We came to the camp of the Syrians, " and behold there was no man "there, neither voice of man; "but horses tied, and asses tied, "and the tents as they were.' Ibid. vii. 10. This is like a scene of inchantment in romance. 100. Mr. Warton properly refers to 2 Kings vii. for the miracle alluded to in ver. 115—122. But Milton had another miracle Talis et horrisono laceratus membra flagello, Finibus ingratus jussit abire suis. At tu sume animos, nec spes cadat anxia curis, 105 Nec tua concutiat decolor ossa metus. Sis etenim quamvis fulgentibus obsitus armis, At nullis vel inerme latus violabitur armis, Namque eris ipse Dei radiante sub ægide tutus, 110 Ille Sionææ qui tot sub moenibus arcis Inque fugam vertit quos in Samaritidas oras 115 Misit ab antiquis prisca Damascus agris, Aere dum vacuo buccina clara sonat, also in view, v. 113. the deliver- 101. Talis et horrisono laceratus membra flagello, &c.] Whip 120 ping and imprisonment were among the punishments of the arbitrary Star-chamber, the threats Regis Achabi, which Young fled to avoid. 109. At nullis vel inerme latus, &c.] See the same philosophy in Comus, v. 421. 123. Et tu (quod superest, &c.] For many obvious reasons, at is likely to be the true reading. Nec dubites quandoque frui melioribus annis, ELEG. V. Anno Etatis 20.* In adventum veris. IN se perpetuo Tempus revolubile gyro 125. This wish, as we have seen, came to pass. He returned: and when at length his party became superior, he was rewarded with appointments of opulence and honour. * In point of poetry, sentiment, selection of imagery, facility of versification, and Latinity, this Elegy, written by a boy, is far superior to one of Buchanan's on the same subject, entitled Maiæ Calendæ. See his El. ii. p. 33. Opp. edit. 1715. 1. In se perpetuo Tempus revolubile gyro] Buchanan, De Sphæra, p. 133. ibid. In se præcipiti semper revolubilis orbe. 5. Falior? an et, &c.] So in the Epigram, Prodit. Bombard. v. 3. Fallor? An et mitis, &c. Fallor? An et radios hinc quoque This formulary is not uncommon 123 Fallor? An arma sonant? non falli mur, arma sonabant. 5 See also Buchanan's Epithala- Fallimur? an nitidæ, &c. Was I deceiv'd? &c. 6. Ingeniumque mihi munere veris adest ?] See v. 23. There is a notion that Milton could write verses only in the spring or summer, which perhaps is countenanced by these passages. But what poetical mind does not feel an expansion or invigoration at the return of the spring, at that renovation of the face of nature with which every mind is in some degree affected? In one of the Letters to Deodate he says, "such is the impetuosity of my temper, that no delay, no rest, no care or thought of any thing "else can stop me, till I come to "my journey's end, and put a period to my present study." Prose Works, ii. 567. In the Paradise Lost, he speaks of his aptitude for composition in the night, b. ix. 20. |