Diodatus, quo te divino nomine cuncti different attributes (Exodus vi. 3); 210 Diodatus] 'God-given,' hence divino nomine.' One of Diodati's letters begins with the words Θεοσδότος Μίλτωνι χαίρειν (see Introduction, p. 31). 211 silvis] i.e. by us shepherds. 212] Richardson comp. Ovid, Amor. 1. iii. 14, Nudaque simplicitas purpureusque pudor.' The latter is the rosy blush of modesty ; cf. Virg. Æn. i. 591, 'lumenque juventæ Purpureum' (see note on Lycidas, 141). 214] Warton observes that Diodati was unmarried, and quotes Rev. xiv. 3, 4. Cf. also Bp. Taylor, Holy Living, xi. 3 (quoted by Keble in the Christian Year, Wednesday before Easter), 'that little coronet or special reward, which God hath prepared for those "who have not defiled themselves with women, but follow the Lamb for ever.' 216 palmæ] Rev. vii. 9. 210 215 217 hymenæos] See Lycidas, 176 and note. 219 thyrso] the instrumental ablative, under the inspiration of the thyrsus,' the instrument which excited the Bacchantes to phrensy. We have here perhaps the most startling instance to be found in Milton's poetry of that blending of sacred with pagan imagery, to which reference has so often been made. Such a conception as is here presented to us can only be accounted for (and even then not wholly excused) on the hypothesis that partly from the custom of the period, partly from his own literary associations, the images derived from classical mythology had become so familiar to Milton's mind that their precise original import was for the time forgotten. To suppose that he would seriously have admitted any real comparison between the orgies of Dionysus and the joys of the saints in glory would be to contradict all that we know, from other sources, of his genuine piety and the intense sincerity of his devotion. TRANSLATION OF THE EPITAPHIUM DAMONIS. BY CHARLES SYMMONS, D.D. JESUS COLL. Oxon., 1806. DAMON, AN EPITAPHIAL ELEGY. YE nymphs of Himera (whose stream along Or Bion, once the shepherds' tuneful lord;) 5 The woes of Thyrsis on the banks of Thame; What plaints he murmured to the springs and floods, He roamed, and taught the sleepless night to groan. He poured his swelling heart in strains like these: 10 15 20 What powers shall I of earth or heaven invoke, 25 And shalt thou leave us thus? and shall thy worth 30 And sure, unless beneath some evil eye, 35 That blights me with its glance, my powers should die, Thou shalt not slumber on thy timeless bier 40 The springing meads, or Faunus haunts the groves; 45 Return unfed, my lambs; by fortune crost 50 55 To whom my bosom shall I now confide? At whose soft voice will now my cares subside? 60 65 In summer too, at noontide's sultry hour, When Pan lies sleeping in his beechen bower ; 70 75 Ah! now through meads and vales alone I stray, 80 My late trim fields their laboured culture scorn, Aegon the willow's pensile shade delights, 95 'Here are cool fountains; here is mossy grass; 'Here zephyrs softly whisper as they pass. 'From this light spring yon arbute draws her green, 100 105 'Speak! flows the poison from disastrous love? 'Or falls the mischief star-sent from above? 'For leaden Saturn, with his chill control, The wandering nymphs exclaim-' What, Thyrsis, now? 115 'Those heavy eyelids and that cloudy brow 'Become not youth; to youth the jocund song, 'Frolic and dance and wanton wiles belong. 'With these he courts the joys that suit his state; Whom should the falcon or the marksman strike, He soon repairs his loss and finds a like. But we, by Fate's severer frown oppressed, With war and sharp repulsion in the breast, Can scarcely meet amid the human throng One kindred soul, or met preserve him long. K |