It has been observed, that those who have persisted in severe fasting have been liable to reveries and disorders of the imagination; here the poet means to speak of fasting as favourable to poetic enthusiasm.

Guiding the fiery-wheeled throne.-Milton does not tell what throne, but he seems to intend the throne of God. In the first chapter of Ezekiel there is a most sublime description of the throne of God supported by four living forms resembling men; they are no where called cherubs.-Contemplation guiding the throne of Providence is not an incongruous image, though Newton seems to think so in his note in this passage. If Milton had Ezekiel in his thoughts when he wrote this passage, it shows that in writing from memory he was sometimes inaccurate.

"And the mute Silence hist along,
Less Philomel will deign a song,

Smoothing the rugged brow of Night,

While Cynthia checks her dragon yoke,

Gently o'er th' accustom'd oak."

"And bring Silence (hist) hushed, along with thee; silence that shall not be broken, except by (Philomel) the nightingale, singing

in her most mournful strain, whose song softens the horrours of night, and seems to charm the moon that appears to pause over the oak, where thou art used to sing."

Deign.-Condescend to sing.

· Saddest plight-Plight means situation... Smoothing the rugged brow of Night.-This is a forced metaphor; it means, that the song of the nightingale pleases Night, and makes her brow free from the wrinkles of

care.

While Cynthia checks her dragon yoke.-Cynė thia, Diana, and Hecate, are names for the moon she is represented, particularly in the character of Hecate, as drawn by dragons who were supposed to be sleepless.

The word yoke means in this place, not the harness, but the animals which draw the chariot; the word yoke has frequently this meaning; a yoke of oxen means two oxen.

"Sweet bird, that shunn'st the noise of folly,
Most musical, most melancholy!

Thee, chauntress, oft the woods among

I woo to hear thy even-song,
And missing thee, I walk unseen,
On the dry smooth shaven green,
To behold the wand'ring moon
Riding near her highest noon,

Like one that had been led astray,
Through the heav'ns wide pathless way,
And oft, as if her head she bow'd,
Stooping through a fleecy cloud.”

Here the poet breaks from his subject, and, abandoning the description of Melancholy, he exclaims in praise of his favourite nightingale, Sweet bird that avoidest the noise of day and the folly of mankind, and singest by night in such musical and melancholy notes-thee I often wish to hear at evening in the woods; but if I miss thee, I walk unseen upon the smooth grass, to behold the moon when she has risen to the summit of the heavens, to the noon of night, unguided through the clouds, behind which she sometimes seems as if she lost her way, and sometimes from the reflection of her light upon the white clouds about her, she seems as if she stooped nearer to the earth."

Sweet bird. The nightingale is still spoken. of, as if she were courted by the poet.

Chauntress.-Songstress.

I woo to hear thy even song.-Even, for evening. I go to the woods to hear thee, as a lover goes to woe, or court his mistress.

Riding near her highest noon.--Riding in her chariot drawn by dragons.

"Oft, on a plat of rising ground,
I hear the far off curfew sound,
Over some wide water'd shore,
Swinging slow, with sullen roar,
Or, if the air will not permit,
Some still, removed place will fit,
Where glowing embers through the room,
Teach light to counterfeit a gloom,
Far from all resort of mirth,
Save the cricket on the hearth,
Or the bellman's drowsy charm,

To bless the doors from nightly harm;
Or let my lamp, at midnight hour,
Be seen in some high lonely tow'r,
Where I may oft outwatch the bear,
With thrice great Hermes, or unsphere
The spirit of Plato, to unfold

What worlds, or what vast regions hold,
The immortal mind that hath forsook

Her mansion in this fleshly nook,

And of those demons that are found
In fire, air, flood, or under ground,
Whose power hath a true consent
With planet or with element."

"Oft let me stand upon a small hill, and hear some distant bell sound slow and heavily across some lake or a wide arm of the sea; or if the weather will not permit me to be abroad, let me sit in some retired room, where a few embers may give only a faint and gloomy light, far from any sound that

can interrupt melancholy, except the chirping of the cricket, and the drowsy cry of the watchman; or let me sit by the light of a single lamp, in some high and lonely tower, beyond midnight, studying the philosophy of the egyptian Hermes, or of Plato, who endeavours to explore those unknown worlds which the soul inhabits after it has left the human body, and who taught his disciples to believe that certain genii, or inferiour spirits, preside over the elements of earth, air, fire, and water."

The poet still speaks of himself, laying aside his address to Melancholy.

Oft on a plat. This word is usually written and pronounced plot; it is however probably derived from platus, fiat. ·

Teach light to counterfeit a gloom.-This in prose would be nonsense; but in poetry, if any obscure or transitory feeling of the mind can be called up by words that convey no very distinct meaning, we pass over the inaccuracy of expression, and favour the intention of the poet. In another place Milton says, darkness visible, palpable darkness.Milton was blind; and whoever attend carefully to their own sensations will perceive, that when they shut their eyes entirely, or when they go into a room perfectly dark,