We, that are of purer fire, Imitate the starry quire, Who, in their nightly watchful spheres, The sounds and seas, with all their finny drove, Trip the pert fairies and the dapper elves. In this passage there are several inversions, but the language of 'Comus' does not countenance the notion that unusual order of words is a convention of verse. On the other hand, 'it would appear that Mr. Morris consciously uses the inverted sentence as one of the regular poetic forms, and often prefers it when the direct order would have been most suitable '.-Bain. 1. The whole poem is an allegory: Comus, with his crew of licentious revellers, represents (1) the vice of the Court; (2) the Romanising tendencies of Laud; while the Lady, the Spirit, and the Brothers, stand for that virtue which alone is free'. In Milton's time, the conventional refinements of the Court were but 'glozing courtesy,' assumed by people given over to sensuality, and glorying in their shame. ‘And they, so perfect is their misery, Not once perceive their foul disfigurement, In their hands entertainments such as Masques were mere instruments of vice, while their literature, like the speeches of Comus, was a mere special pleading for iniquity. It is in protest against such moral degradation that Milton expounds his great defence of 'divine philosophy, not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose, but musical as is Apollo's lute, and a perpetual feast of nectared sweets, where no crude surfeit reigns'. In Milton's time, again, the Church was being dragooned into Ritualism by Laud. In section four, chapter eight, of his Short History, Mr. Green gives a vivid account of Laud's manner of driving Puritanism from the Church to America. Backed as Laud was by the power of the Crown, the struggle became more hopeless every day. The Puritan saw his ministers silenced or deprived, his Sabbath profaned [e.g. by 'wakes'], the most sacred act of his worship brought near, as he fancied, to the Roman mass. the pulpit, Roman practices met him in the Church.' And so the Church, beaten down, sat, like the Lady, 'in stony fetters fixed and motionless'. Nor is the triumph of the Brothers (Puritans and Presbyterians?) over the false shepherd complete. They fail to seize the enchanter, and have to call in the aid of the nymph Sabrina. Milton has his doubts of the complete success of the expedient, the sorcerer may entice with some other new device,' but these fall from him as the Spirit closes the poem with an exultant eulogium of Virtue. Roman doctrine met him from 2. While the style of Comus' is not so laden with figures as to be termed ornate, a large part of the charm of the poem is due to the subtle way in which the language is interwoven with figurative expression. Exelamation and Interrogation both occur, but the examples do not call for special comment. The Transferred Epithet is illustrated in chaste footing' (1. 146) and ‘suspicious flight' (1. 158). The kind of Epigram called Oxymoron is exemplified in 'sweet poison' (1. 47), 'sweet' madness' (1. 261), 'pleasing poison' (1. 526). 'Spot' (1. 5), 'age' (1. 40), 'youth' (1. 55), 'feet' (1. 180), are Synecdoches. A very fine example of Apostrophe passing into Vision is seen in lines 213-216: O welcome, pure-eyed Faith, white-hande Thou hovering angel girt with golden wings, A strong Contrast is afforded between the vicious Comus and his crew and the lofty purity of the Spirit, the Lady, and the Brothers. There are two Hyperboles that call for special attention. The first 'And sweetened every muskrose of the dale' (1.496)— is remarkable for the softness of the language: the second 'I was all ear, And took in strains that might create a soul for the degree of elevation excited by the grandeur of the conception. Both turn on the pleasure of music, which with Milton was a high pleasure; his only recreation, besides conversation, was music'. As Dr. Bain points out, in speaking of the second figure, the emotion appealed to is not strong enough in many to respond to such intensity of expression; the force of the figures depends in the second case on originality and grandeur, in the first on musical expression. The remaining figures are figures of comparison, and most numerous among these are Personifications. Among these again most of the examples are personifications of abstract qualities. These do not become such vivid flesh and blood as in Spenser, but touches of humanity relieve their cold and shadowy nature. See, for example, 11. 385-403. Of a different kind is the fine figure in 11. 188-190, already quoted: see Section III. As might be inferred from what has been said of Milton's brevity, Metaphors are more numerous than Similes. For metaphors, see ll. 7, 13, 34, 100, 131, 147, 154, 181, 341, 520, 532, 646, 716, 760, 809; of these " spongy air' may be noted as highly expressive. Similes occur in Il. 22, 80, 303, 478, 534, 556, 743. Of these, 'swift as the sparkle of a glancing star' is at once picturesque and expressive, while a hush of expectation is induced by the grand simile: 'At last a soft and solemn breathing sound Rose like a steam of rich distilled perfumes, And stole upon the air'. V. THE VERSE. (A) The dialogue is in blank verse (Milton's first use of this measure); that is, in lines whose type is a line of ten syllables, with every second syllable accented. For example: 'Fair maidenhood she loves, and will be swift To aíd a Vírgin, súch as wás herself'. |