1, n. 12. Albion (ll. 27–28), son of Neptune, gave his name to the island and its inhabitants.

2 Pluto, king of hell and father of the avenging spirits. Acheron and Phlegethon (l. 74) were rivers of hell. Pluto’s likeness to Satan in these lines has been noted by most editors since Warton.

3 an ancient god of nightly storms, identified with Pluto.

4 Albion was Killed aiding his brother Lestrygon, who was fighting in Gaul against Hercules, son of Amphitryon’s wife.

5 a giant, whom Jove struck with a thunderbolt and buried under Sicily; his head lay beneath Mt. Etna, whose eruptions he spewed forth.

6 a sea-nymph. The Tiber empties into the Tyrrhene Sea through a delta.

7 That is, Satan arrives in Rome. The Pope, whose tiara consists of three crowns, in procession with other church dignitaries, carried the Host through the streets to St. Peter’s Cathedral on the eve of St. Peter’s Day, June 28.

8 a mountain in Boeotia. Asopus is a river, and Cithaeron, a range of hills lying nearby.

9 Night and her brother Erebus (primeval darkness) were the parents of Day. The names of her team were created by Milton.

10 St. Francis of Assisi.

11 Elizabeth.

12 one of Rome’s seven hills.

13 meaning both a Catholic age (from Mary) and an age of civil war (from Marius, who fought Sulla in 83–82 B.C.).

14 Memnon, son of the goddess of dawn and Tithonus, was slain by Achilles.

15 the Pope.

16 See n. 1. to the poem on the Gunpowder Plot, beginning “Thus did you strive.…”

17 Psalm ii. 4: “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.”

18 Ovid’s description of Fame (Meta., XII, 39–63) furnished most of the details here. She is called a Titaness by Virgil (Aen., IV, 173–87) because she is the daughter of Earth, who is often abused by men (see l. 181). The Tower of Fame seems to stand in Egypt, for Lake Mareotis was in Lower Egypt near Alexandria. However, this may be an error for “Maeotidas undas” (the waters near Lake Maeotis), which lay between Europe and Asia, at the mouth of the Tanais River (Lucan, III, 272–78).

19 The giants Otus and Ephialtes piled Mt. Pelion on Mt. Ossa (in Thessaly) in their attempt to overthrow the gods. Mt. Athos was in Macedonia, opposite Lemnos.

20 Sirius; see Lycidas, n. 31.

21 Jealous Juno had hundred-eyed Argus guard Io after she had been changed into a heifer by Jove.

22 Temesa, a town in Italy, was famous for copper mines.

Elegia quarta

AD THOMAM JUNIUM, PRÆCEPTOREM SUUM, APUD MERCATORES ANGLICOS HAMBURGÆ AGENTES PASTORIS MUNERE FUNGENTEM1

               Curre per immensum subitò, mea littera, pontum,

                 I, pete Teutonicos læve per æquor agros,

               Segnes rumpe moras, et nil, precor, obstet eunti,

                 Et festinantis nil remoretur iter.

5

   5          Ipse ego Sicanio frænantem carcere ventos

                 Æolon,2 et virides sollicitabo Deos;

               Cæruleamque suis comitatam Dorida Nymphis,3

                 Ut tibi dent placidam per sua regna viam.

               At tu, si poteris, celeres tibi sume jugales,

10

  10                Vecta quibus Colchis4 fugit ab ore viri;

               Aut queis Triptolemus5 Scythicas devenit in oras

                 Gratus Eleusinâ missus ab urbe puer.

               Atque ubi Germanas flavere videbis arenas

                 Ditis ad Hamburgæ mœnia flecte gradum,

15

   15        Dicitur occiso quæ ducere nomen ab Hamâ,6

                 Cimbrica quem fertur clava dedisse neci.

               Vivit ibi antiquæ clarus pietatis honore

                 Præsul Christicolas pascere doctus oves;

               Ille quidem est animæ plusquam pars altera nostræ,

20

  20                Dimidio vitæ vivere cogor ego.

               Hei mihi, quot pelagi, quot montes interjecti

                 Me faciunt aliâ parte carere mei!

               Charior ille mihi quam tu, doctissime Graium,

                 Cliniadi,7 pronepos qui Telamonis erat;

25

   25        Quámque Stagirites8 generoso magnus alumno,

                 Quem peperit Libyco Chaonis alma Jovi.

               Qualis Amyntorides, qualis Philyrëius Heros

                 Myrmidonum regi,9 talis et ille mihi.

               Primus ego Aonios illo præeunte recessus

30

  30                Lustrabam, et bifidi sacra vireta jugi,10

               Pieriosque hausi latices, Clioque favente,

                 Castalio sparsi læta ter ora mero.

               Flammeus at signum ter viderat arietis Æthon,

                 Induxitque auro lanea terga novo,

35

   35        Bisque novo terram sparsisti, Chlori, senilem

                 Gramine, bisque tuas abstulit Auster opes:

               Necdum ejus licuit mihi lumina pascere vultu,

                 Aut linguæ dulces aure bibisse sonos.11

               Vade igitur, cursuque Eurum12 præverte sonorum,

40

  40                Quàm sit opus monitis res docet, ipsa vides.

               Invenies dulci cum conjuge forte sedentem,

                 Mulcentem gremio pignora chara suo,

               Forsitan aut veterum prælarga vohimina patrum

                 Versantem, aut veri biblia sacra Dei,

45

   45        Cælestive animas saturantem rore tenellas,

                 Grande salutiferæ religionis opus.

               Utque solet, multam sit dicere cura salutem,

                 Dicere quam decuit, si modo adesset, herum.

               Hæc quoque paulum oculos in humum defixa modestos,

50

  50                Verba verecundo sis memor ore loqui:

               Hæc tibi, si teneris vacat inter prælia13 Musis,

                 Mittit ab Angliaco littore fida manus.

               Accipe sinceram, quamvis sit sera, salutem

                 Fiat et hoc ipso gratior illa tibi.

55

   55        Sera quidem, sed vera fuit, quam casta recepit

                 Icaris a lento Penelopeia viro.14

               Ast ego quid volui manifestum tollere crimen,

                 Ipse quod ex omni parte levare nequit?

               Arguitur tardus meritò, noxamque fatetur,

60

  60                Et pudet officium deseruisse suum.

               Tu modò da veniam fasso, veniamque roganti,

                 Crimina diminui, quæ patuere, solent.

               Non ferus in pavidos rictus diducit hiantes,

                 Vulnifico pronos nec rapit ungue leo.

65

   65        Sæpe sarissiferi crudelia pectora Thracis15

                 Supplicis ad mœstas delicuere preces.

               Extensæque manus avertunt fulminis ictus,

                 Placat et iratos hostia parva Deos.

               Jamque diu scripsisse tibi fuit impetus illi,

70

  70                Neve moras ultra ducere passus Amor.

               Nam vaga Fama refert, heu nuntia vera malorum!

                 In tibi finitimis bella tumere locis,

               Teque tuàmque urbem truculento milite cingi,

                 Et jam Saxonicos arma parasse duces.

75

   75        Te circum latè campos populatur Enyo,

                 Et sata carne virum jam cruor arva rigat.

               Germanisque suum concessit Thracia Martem,

                 Illuc Odrysios Mars pater egit equos.

               Perpetuóque comans jam deflorescit oliva,

80

  80                Fugit et ærisonam Diva16 perosa tubam,

               Fugit io terris, et jam non ultima virgo

                 Creditur ad superas justa volasse domos.

               Te tamen intereà belli circumsonat horror,

                 Vivis et ignoto solus inópsque solo;

85

   85        Et, tibi quam patrii non exhibuere penates

                 Sede peregrinâ quæris egenus opem.

               Patria, dura parens, et saxis sævior albis

                 Spumea quæ pulsat littoris unda tui,

               Siccine te decet innocuous exponere fœtus,

90

  90                Siccine in externam ferrea cogis humum,

               Et sinis ut terris quærant alimenta remotis

                 Quos tibi prospiciens miserat ipse Deus,

               Et qui læta ferunt de cælo nuntia, quique

                 Quæ via post cineres ducat ad astra, docent?17

95

   95        Digna quidem Stygiis quæ vivas clausa tenebris,

                 Æternâque animæ digna perire fame!

               Haud aliter vates terræ Thesbitidis18 olim

                 Pressit inassueto devia tesqua pede,

               Desertasque Arabum salebras, dum regis Achabi

100

   100               Effugit atque tuas, Sidoni dira, manus.

               Talis et horrisono laceratus membra flagello,

                        Paulus19 ab Æmathiâ pellitur urbe Cilix.

               Piscosæque ipsum Gergessæ civis Jësum

                        Finibus ingratus jussit abire suis.20

105

   105     At tu sume animos, nec spes cadat anxia curis

                        Nec tua concutiat decolor ossa metus.

               Sis etenim quamvis fulgentibus obsitus armis,

                        Intententque tibi millia tela necem,

               At nullis vel inerme latus violabitur armis,

110

   110               Deque tuo cuspis nulla cruore bibet.

               Namque eris ipse Dei radiante sub ægide21 tutus,

                        Ille tibi custos, et pugil ille tibi;

               Ille Sionææ qui tot sub mœnibus arcis

                        Assyrios fudit nocte silente viros;22

115

   115     Inque fugam vertit quos in Samaritidas oras

                        Misit ab antiquis prisca Damascus agris,23

               Terruit et densas pavido cum rege cohortes,

                        Aëre dum vacuo buccina clara sonat,

               Cornea pulvereum dum verberat ungula campum,

120

   120               Currus arenosam dum quatit actus humum,

               Auditurque hinnitus equorum ad bella ruentûm,

                        Et strepitus ferri, murmuraque alta virûm.

               Et tu (quod superest miseris) sperare memento,

                        Et tua magnanimo pectore vince mala.

125

   125     Nec dubites quandoque frui melioribus annis,

                        Atque iterum patrios posse videre lares.

Elegy 4

TO THOMAS YOUNG, HIS TUTOR, DISCHARGING THE DUTY OF PASTOR AMONG THE ENGLISH MERCHANTS IN BUSINESS IN HAMBURG1

Quickly, my letter, run through the boundless deep; / go, seek Teutonic lands through the smooth sea; / break off dilatory delays, and let nothing, I pray, thwart your voyage, / and let nothing obstruct the path of your hastening. / I myself Aeolus2 bridling the winds in his Sicanian cave [5] / will exhort, and the vigorous gods, / and cerulian Doris, attended by her nymphs,3 / to give you a peaceful journey through their realms. / But you, if you are able, arrogate for yourself the swift team, / borne by which the Colchian4 fled from the face of her husband, [10] / or that by which Triptolemus5 reached the Scythian borders, / the beloved boy sent from the Eleusinian city. / But when you see the German sands become golden, / turn your steps to the walls of affluent Hamburg, / which is said to derive its name from slain Hama,6 [15] / who it is told was brought to violent death by a Cimbrian club.