11).

3 Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, the Fates who controlled birth and death.

In eandem

               Siccine tentasti cælo donâsse Jäcobum

                 Quæ septemgemino Bellua monte lates?1

               Ni meliora tuum poterit dare munera numen,

                 Parce precor donis insidiosa tuis.

5

   5          Die quidem sine te consortia serus2 adivit

                 Astra, nec infemi pulveris usus ope.

               Sic potiùs fœdos in cælum pelle cucullos,3

                 Et quot habet brutos Roma profana Deos,

               Namque hac aut aliâ nisi quemque adjuveris arte,

10

  10                Crede mihi, cæli vix bene scandet iter.

On the same

Thus did you strive to vouchsafe James to Heaven, / O Beast, who lurks on the seven hills?1 / Unless your divine majesty can bestow better favors, / spare, I pray, your insidious gifts. / Indeed he has departed ripe in years,2 without your help [5] / and without the employment of infernal powder, to his comrades, the stars. / Thus instead, banish to the sky your detestable cowls3 / and all the brute gods profane Rome possesses; / for unless you aid each one firmly in this or some other way, / believe me, they will hardly mount the path to heaven successfully. [10]

(Nov. 1626 ?)

1 the Papacy; Rome, built on seven hills, was identified by many Protestants with the whore of Babylon, who sat on a beast with seven heads (hills) and ten horns (Rev. xvii. 3-7).

2 James died on Mar. 27, 1625.

3 priests.

In eandem

               Purgatorem animæ derisit Jäcobus ignem,1

                 Et sine quo superûm non adeunda domus.

               Frenduit hoc trinâ monstrum Latiale coronâ2

                 Movit et horrificùm cornua dena minax.

5

   5          Et nec inultus ait, temnes mea sacra, Britanne,

                 Supplicium spretâ relligione dabis.

               Et si stelligeras unquam penetraveris arces,

                 Non nisi per flammas triste patebit iter.

               O quàm funesto cecinisti proxima vero,

10

  10                Verbaque ponderibus vix caritura suis!

               Nam prope Tartareo3 sublime rotatus ab igni

                 Ibat ad æthereas umbra perusta plagas.

On the same

James derided the Purgatorial fire1 of the soul, / without which there is no approaching of the celestial mansions. / The Latin monster with triple crown2 gnashed its teeth at this / and moved its ten horns with frightful menace / and, it cried, “You shall not scorn my sacred rites with impunity, Englishman; [5] / you shall suffer punishment for your contempt of religion. / And if ever you enter the starry citadels, / the only way open is the sad one through the flames.” / O how close you came to a calamitous truth / and only barely were your words deprived of their consequences, [10] / for he nearly ascended to the eternal regions, / a scorched ghost, whirled on high by the Tartarean3 fire.

(Nov. 1626 ?)

1 James’ denial of Purgatory is found in A Premonition to All Most Mightie Monarches (Works, [Harvard Univ. Press, 1918], p. 125).

2 the Papacy; the Pope’s tiara is a triple crown. Milton thought both of the beast in Revelation and Daniel’s vision of the beast with great iron teeth and ten horns, which “shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,… and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces” (Dan. vii. 7, 23).

3 Tartarus was the part of the underworld where punishment for sins was exacted.

In eandem

               Quem modò Roma suis devoverat impia diris,1

                 Et Styge damnarât Tænarioque sinu,2

               Hunc vice mutatâ jam tollere gestit ad astra,

                 Et cupit ad superos evehere usque Deos.

On the same

Whom impious Rome had just marked out for her curses1 / and condemned to the Styx and the Taenarian gulf,2 / him, on the contrary, she now desires to lift to the stars / and wishes to elevate even to the higher Gods.

(Nov. 1626 ?)

1 In addition to reimposing recusancy fines in Feb. 1605, James had banished all Roman Catholic priests in Feb. 1604.

2 the infernal regions.

In inventorem Bombardæ

               Japetionidem1 laudavit cæca vetustas,

                 Qui tulit ætheream solis ab axe facem;

               At mihi major erit, qui lurida creditur arma,

                 Et trifidum fulmen surripuisse Jovi.2

On the inventor of Gunpowder

Antiquity in blindness praised the son of Iapetus,1 / who brought down celestial fire from the chariot of the sun, / but to me he will be greater who is believed to have stolen / the ghastly weapons and threeforked thunderbolt from Jove.2

(Nov. 1626 ?)

1 Prometheus.

2 Compare the description of the Son after the War in Heaven in PL VI, 763-64.

In quintum Novembris

               Jam pius extremâ veniens Jäcobus ab arcto

               Teucrigenas populos,1 latéque patentia regna

               Albionum tenuit, jamque inviolabile fœdus

               Sceptra Caledoniis conjunxerat Anglica Scotis:

5

   5          Pacificusque novo felix divesque sedebat

               In solio, occultique doli securus et hostis:

               Cum ferus ignifluo regnans Acheronte tyrannus,2

               Eumenidum pater, æthereo vagus exul Olympo,

               Forte per immensum terrarum erraverat orbem,

10

   10        Dinumerans sceleris socios, vernasque fideles,

               Participes regni post funera mœsta futuros;

               Hic tempestates medio ciet aëre diras,

               Illic unanimes odium struit inter amicos,

               Armat et invictas in mutua viscera gentes;

15

   15        Regnaque olivifera vertit florentia pace,

               Et quoscunque videt puræ virtutis amantes,

               Hos cupit adjicere imperio, fraudumque magister

               Tentat inaccessum sceleri corrumpere pectus,

               Insidiasque locat tacitas, cassesque latentes

20

   20        Tendit, ut incautos rapiat, ceu Caspia Tigris

               Insequitur trepidam deserta per avia prædam

               Nocte sub illuni, et somno nictantibus astris.

               Talibus infestat populos Summanus3 et urbes

               Cinctus cæruleæ fumanti turbine flammæ.

25

   25        Jamque fluentisonis albentia rupibus arva

               Apparent, et terra Deo dilecta marino,

               Cui nomen dederat quondam Neptunia proles

               Amphitryoniaden qui non dubitavit atrocem

               Æquore tranato furiali poscere bello,

30

   30        Ante expugnatæ crudelia sæcula Troiæ.4

                 At simul hanc opibusque et festâ pace beatam

               Aspicit, et pingues donis Cerealibus agros,

               Quodque magis doluit, venerantem numina veri

               Sancta Dei populum, tandem suspiria rupit

35

   35        Tartareos ignes et luridum olentia sulphur.

               Qualia Trinacriâ trux ab Jove clausus in Ætna

               Efflat tabifico monstrosus ab ore Tiphœus.5

               Ignescunt oculi, stridetque adamantinus ordo

               Dentis, ut armorum fragor, ictaque cuspide cupis.

40

   40        Atque pererrato solum hoc lacrymabile mundo

               Inveni, dixit, gens hæc mihi sola rebellis,

               Contemtrixque jugi, nostrâque potentior arte.

               Illa tamen, mea si quicquam tentamina possunt,

               Non feret hoc impune díu, non ibit inulta.

45

   45        Hactenus; et piceis liquido natat aëre pennis;

               Quà volat, adversi præcursant agmine venti,

               Densantur nubes, et crebra tonitrua fulgent.

                 Jamque pruinosas velox superaverat alpes,

               Et tenet Ausoniæ fines; à parte sinistrâ

50

   50        Nimbifer Appenninus erat, priscique Sabini,

               Dextra veneficiis infamis Hetruria, nec non

               Te furtiva, Tibris, Thetidi6 videt oscula dantem;

               Hinc Mavortigenæ consistit in arce Quirini.7

               Reddiderant dubiam jam sera crepuscula lucem,

55

   55        Cum circumgreditur totam Tricoronifer urbem,

               Panificosque Deos portat, scapulisque virorum

               Evehitur, præeunt summisso poplite reges,

               Et mendicantum series longissima fratrum;

               Cereaque in manibus gestant funalia cæci,

60

   60        Cimmeriis nati in tenebris, vitamque trahentes.

               Templa dein multis subeunt lucentia tædis

               (Vesper erat sacer iste Petro) fremitúsque canentum

               Sæpe tholos implet vacuos, et inane locorum.

               Qualiter exululat Bromius, Bromiique caterva,

65

   65        Orgia cantantes in Echionio Aracyntho,8

               Dum tremit attonitus vitreis Asopus in undis,

               Et procul ipse cavâ responsat rupe Cithæron.

                 His igitur tandem solenni more peractis,

               Nox9 senis amplexus Erebi taciturna reliquit,

70

   70        Præcipitesque impellit equos stimulante flagello,

               Captum oculis Typhlonta, Melanchætemque ferocem,

               Atque Acherontæo prognatam patre Siopen

               Torpidam, et hirsutis horrentem Phrica capillis.

               Interea regum domitor, Phlegetontius hæres,

75

   75        Ingreditur thalamos (neque enim secretus adulter

               Producit steriles molli sine pellice noctes);

               At vix compositos somnus claudebat ocellos,

               Cum niger umbrarum dominus, rectorque silentum,

               Prædatorque hominum falsâ sub imagine tectus.

80

   80        Astitit, assumptis micuerunt tempora canis,

               Barba sinus promissa tegit, cineracea longo

               Syrmate verrit humum vestis, pendetque cucullus

               Vertice de raso, et ne quicquam desit ad artes,

               Cannabeo lumbos constrinxit fune salaces,

85

   85        Tarda fenestratis figens vestigia calcëis.

               Talis, uti fama est, vastâ Franciscus10 eremo

               Tetra vagabatur solus per lustra ferarum,

               Sylvestrique tulit genti pia verba salutis

               Impius, atque lupos domuit, Lybicosque leones.

90

  90                Subdolus at tali Serpens velatus amictu

               Solvit in has fallax ora execrantia voces;

               Dormis, nate? Etiamne tuos sopor opprimit artus?

               Immemor O fidei, pecorumque oblite tuorum,

               Dum cathedram, venerande, tuam, diademaque triplex

95

   95        Ridet Hyperboreo gens barbara nata sub axe,

               Dumque pharetrati spernunt tua jura Britanni;

               Surge, age, surge piger, Latius quem Cæsar adorat,

               Cui reserata patet convexi janua cæli,

               Turgentes animos, et fastus frange procaces,

100

   100     Sacrilegique sciant, tua quid maledictio possit,

               Et quid Apostolicæ possit custodia clavis;

               Et memor Hesperiæ disjectam ulciscere classem,

               Mersaque Iberorum lato vexilla profundo,

               Sanctorumque cruci tot corpora fixa probrosæ,

105

   105     Thermodoontéa nuper regnante puella.11

               At tu si tenero mavis torpescere lecto

               Crescentesque negas hosti contundere vires,

               Tyrrhenum implebit numeroso milite Pontum,

               Signaque Aventino12 ponet fulgentia colle:

110

   110     Relliquias veterum franget, flammisque cremabit,

               Sacraque calcabit pedibus tua colla profanis,

               Cujus gaudebant soleïs dare basia reges.

               Nec tamen hunc bellis et aperto Marte lacesses,

               Irritus ille labor, tu callidus utere fraude,

115

   115     Quælibet hæreticis disponere retia fas est;

               Jamque ad consilium extremis rex magnus ab oris

               Patricios vocat, et procerum de stirpe creatos,

               Grandævosque patres trabeâ, canisque verendos;

               Hos tu membratim poteris conspergere in auras,

120

   120     Atque dare in cineres, nitrati pulveris igne

               Ædibus injecto, quà convenere, sub imis.

               Prontinus ipse igitur quoscumque habet Anglia fidos

               Propositi, factique mone, quisquámne tuorum

               Audebit summi non jussa facessere Papæ?

125

   125     Perculsosque metu subito, casúmque stupentes

               Invadat vel Gallus atrox, vel sævus Iberus.

               Sæcula sic illic tandem Mariana13 redibunt,

               Tuque in belligeros iterum dominaberis Anglos.

               Et nequid timeas, divos divasque secundas

130

   130     Accipe, quotque tuis celebrantur numina fastis.

               Dixit et adscitos ponens malefidus amictus

               Fugit ad infandam, regnum illætabile, Lethen.

                        Jam rosea Eoas pandens Tithonia portas

               Vestit inauratas redeunti lumine terras;

135

   135     Mæstaque adhuc nigri deplorans funera nati14

               Irrigat ambrosiis montana cacumina guttis;

               Cum somnos pepulit stellatæ janitor15 aulæ

               Nocturnos visus, et somnia grata revolvens.

                        Est locus æternâ septus caligine noctis

140

   140     Vasta ruinosi quondam fundamina tecti,

               Nunc torvi spelunca Phoni, Prodotæque bilinguis

               Effera quos uno peperit Discordia partu.

               Hic inter cæmenta jacent præruptaque saxa,

               Ossa inhumata virûm, et trajecta cadavera ferro;

145

   145     Hic Dolus intortis semper sedet ater ocellis,

               Jurgiaque, et stimulis armata Calumnia fauces,

               Et Furor, atque viæ moriendi mille videntur

               Et Timor, exanguisque locum circumvolat Horror,

               Perpetuosque leves per muta silentia Manes

150

   150     Exululant, tellus et sanguine conscia stagnat.

               Ipsi etiam pavidi latitant penetralibus antri

               Et Phonos, et Prodotes, nulloque sequente per antrum,

               Antrum horrens, scopulosum, atrum feralibus umbris.

               Diffugiunt sontes, et retrò lumina vortunt;

155

   155     Hos pugiles Romæ per sæcula longa fideles

               Evocat antistes Babylonius,16 atque ita fatur.

               Finibus occiduis circumfusum incolit æquor

               Gens exosa mihi, prudens natura negavit

               Indignam penitùs nostro conjungere mundo;

160

   160     Illuc, sic jubeo, celeri contendite gressu,

               Tartareoque leves difflentur pulvere in auras

               Et rex et pariter satrapæ, scelerata propago

               Et quotquot fidei caluere cupidine veræ

               Consilii socios adhibete, operisque ministros.

165

   165     Finierat, rigidi cupidè paruere gemelli.

                        Interea longo flectens curvamine cælos

               Despicit æthereâ dominus qui fulgurat arce,

               Vanaque perversæ ridet conamina turbæ,17

               Atque sui causam populi volet ipse tueri.

170

   170               Esse ferunt spatium, quà distat ab Aside terra

               Fertilis Europe, et spectat Mareotidas undas;

               Hic turris posita est Titanidos ardua Famæ18

               Ærea, lata, sonans, rutilis vicinior astris

               Quàm superimpositum vel Athos vel Pelion Ossæ.19

175

   175     Mille fores aditusque patent, totidemque fenestræ,

               Amplaque per tenues translucent atria muros;

               Excitat hic varios plebs agglomerata susurros;

               Qualiter instrepitant circum mulctralia bombis

               Agmina muscarum, aut texto per ovilia junco,

180

   180     Dum Canis20 æstivum cœli petit ardua culmen.

               Ipsa quidem summâ sedet ultrix matris in arce,

               Auribus innumeris cinctum caput eminet olli,

               Queis sonitum exiguum trahit, atque levissima captat

               Murmura, ab extremis patuli confinibus orbis.

185

   185     Nec tot, Aristoride21 servator inique juvencæ

               Isidos, immiti volvebas lumina vultu,

               Lumina non unquam tacito nutantia somno,

               Lumina subjectas late spectantia terras.

               Istis illa solet loca luce carentia sæpe

190

   190     Perlustrare, etiam radianti impervia soli.

               Millenisque loquax auditaque visaque linguis

               Cuilibet effundit temeraria, veráque mendax

               Nunc minuit, modò confictis sermonibus auget.

               Sed tamen a nostro meruisti carmine laudes

195

   195     Fama, bonum quo non aliud veracius ullum,

               Nobis digna cani, nec te memorasse pigebit

               Carmine tam longo, servati scilicet Angli

               Officiis, vaga diva, tuis, tibi reddimus æqua.

               Te Deus æternos motu qui temperat ignes,

200

   200     Fulmine præmisso alloquitur, terrâque tremente:

               Fama siles? an te latet impia Papistarum

               Conjurata cohors in meque meosque Britannos,

               Et nova sceptrigero cædes meditata Jäcobo?

               Nec plura, illa statim sensit mandata Tonantis,

205

   205     Et satis antè fugax stridentes induit alas,

               Induit et variis exilia corpora plumis;

               Dextra tubam gestat Temesæo22 ex ære sonoram.

               Nec mora, jam pennis cedentes remigat auras,

               Atque parum est cursu celeres prævertere nubes,

210

   210     Jam ventos, jam solis equos post terga reliquit:

               Et primò Angliacas solito de more per urbes

               Ambiguas voces, incertaque murmura spargit,

               Mox arguta dolos, et detestabile vulgat

               Proditionis opus, nec non facta horrida dictu,

215

   215     Authoresque addit sceleris, nec garrula cæcis

               Insidiis loca structa silet; stupuere relatis,

               Et pariter juvenes, pariter tremuere puellæ,

               Effætique senes pariter, tantæque ruinæ

               Sensus ad ætatem subitò penetraverat omnem.

220

   220     Attamen interea populi miserescit ab alto

               Æthereus pater, et crudelibus obstitit ausis

               Papicolûm; capti pœnas raptantur ad acres;

               At pia thura Deo, et grati solvuntur honores;

               Compita læta focis genialibus omnis fumant;

225

   225     Turba choros juvenilis agit: Quintoque Novembris

               Nulla Dies toto occurrit celebratior anno.

On the fifth of November

Now the devout James coming from the remote north / ruled over the Troy-descended people1 and the wide-stretching realms / of the English, and now an inviolable covenant / had joined the English kingdoms with Caledonian Scots: / and the peace-maker, happy and rich, was seated [5] / on his new throne, untroubled by secret conspiracy or foe: / when the cruel tyrant2 reigning over Acheron, which flows with fire, / the father of the Eumenides, the wandering outcast from celestial Olympus, / by chance strayed through the vast circle of the earth, / enumerating the companions of his wickedness and his faithful slaves, [10] / future participants of his rule after their woeful deaths. / Here he stirs ominous tempests in middle air; / there he contrives hatred among harmonious friends, / and arms invincible nations against mutual cordiality, / and turns flourishing kingdoms from olive-bearing peace; [15] / and whatever lovers of pure virtue he spies, / those he seeks to add to his empire, and master of guile, / he tries to corrupt the heart inaccessible to sin / and lays silent plots and stretches unseen snares, / so that he may assault the incautious, as the Caspian tigress [20] / pursues her anxious prey through the waste wildernesses / in the moonless night and under the stars winking in their drowsiness. / With like fears does Summanus3 harass the people and the cities, / he, wreathed with a smoking tornado of blue flames. / And now the white coasts with their wave-resounding cliffs [25] / appear, and the land highly esteemed by the sea god, / to which Neptune’s son gave his name so long ago, / who, having sailed across the sea, did not hesitate to challenge / fierce Hercules with furious battle / before the unmerciful times of conquered Troy.4 [30] /

But as soon as he beholds this land blessed with wealth / and joyful peace, and with fields rich in the gifts of Ceres, / and, what pained him more, a people revering the sacred divinity / of the true god, at length he breaks into sighs / emitting Tartarean fires and ghastly sulphur. [35] / Such sighs does grim and monstrous Typhoeus,5 enclosed by Jove / under Sicilian Aetna, breathe from his destructive mouth. / His eyes flash and his inflexible row of teeth / hisses like the crash of arms and the blow of spear against spear. / And then, “Throughout the travelled world I found this worthy of tears only,” [40] / he said; “this nation alone is rebellious toward me, / and contemptuous of my yoke and stronger than my art. / Yet if my attempts have power over anyone, it / shall not endure thus with impunity for long; it shall not go unavenged.” / No further did he speak, but floats away on pitch-black wings through [45] / the liquid air; wherever he flies adverse winds precede in a mass, / clouds are thickened, and repeated thunderbolts flash. /

And now his speed has surmounted the frosty Alps, / and he reaches the borders of Italy; on his left side / was the stormy Apennine range and the ancient Sabines; [50] / on his right Etruria with its infamous magic potions, and besides / he sees the furtive kisses which you are giving to Thetis,6 O Tiber; / next he stands still on the citadel of Quirinus, born of Mars.7 / Already had evening twilight bestowed uncertain light, / when the wearer of the triple crown walks around the entire city, [55] / and carries the gods made of bread, and on men’s shoulders / is elevated; kings precede him on bended knee, / and a most lengthy train of mendicant brothers; / and unable to see, they bear wax candles in their hands, / those bom and enduring life in Cimmerian darkness. [60] / Next they enter the temples glittering with many torches / (it was that eve sacred to St. Peter) and the noise of those singing / often fills the hollow domes and the void of those places.