Sweet bird that fhunn'ft the noise of folly, Thee chauntrefs oft the woods among I woo to hear thy even-fong; And miffing thee, I walk unfeen ~65 On the dry smooth-fhaven green, To behold the wand'ring moon, Like one that had been led aftray Through the Heav'n's wide pathless way, Milton has somewhat of the fame thought again in his Latin poems. In obitum Præfulis Elienfis. Longeque fub pedibus deam Vidi triformem, dum coercebat fuos Frænis dracones aureis. 61. Sweet bird &c.] It is remarkable that 'here he begins his time from evening, as in L'Allegro from the early morning, and here with the nightingale as there with the lark. And as Mr. Thyer obferves, this rapturous ftart of the poet's fancy in praise of his favo 70 Over rite bird is extremely natural and beautiful: and 'tis worth the reader's while too to obferve, how finely he makes it ferve to connect his fubject, and infenfibly as it were to introduce the following charming night-scene. 74. I hear the far-off Curfeu found, &c] William the Conqueror, in the first year of his reign, commanded that in every town and village a bell fhould be rung every night at eight of the clock, and that all perfons should then put out their fire and candle, and go to bed; the ringing of Save the cricket on the hearth, Or the belman's droufy charm, To bless the doors from nightly harm : which bell was called Curfeu, Fr. Couvre-feu, that is Cover-fire. See the Gloffary to Chaucer. And the two following lines, with the frequent allitteration of the letter s, inimitably exprefs the motion and found of a great heavy bell. We almoft think we hear it. Over fome wide-water'd fhore, The poet no doubt remember'd 85 The No longer mourn for me when I am dead, Then you shall hear the furly ful- Give warning to the world that From this vile world, with vilest 87. Where I may oft out-watch the Bear,] The conftellation fo called, that never fets. Virg. Georg. I. 246. Arctos oceani metuentes æquore tingi. 88. With thrice great Hermes, ] Hermes Trifmegiftus, the EgypF 3 tian The spirit of Plato to unfold What worlds, or what vaft regions hold Her manfion in this fleshly nook: tian philofopher, florifhed a little 88. or unfphere The fpirit of Plato to unfold &c] The Spirit of Plato is rightly fummon'd to unfold thefe particular notions, for he has treated more largely than any of the philofophers, concerning the feparate ftate of the foul after death, and concerning Demons refiding in the elements, and influencing the planets, and directing the courfe of nature. I would not fwell this note with quotations from his works, because the English reader may fee a fummary of his doctrins at the end of Stanley's Life of that philofopher. And as Mr. Thyer obferves, the word unfphere alludes 99 95 Prefenting to the Platonic notion of different fpheres or regions being affign'd to fpirits of different degrees of perfection or impurity. The fame term is ufed in the Mak ver. 2. - where thofe immortal shapes Of bright aerial fpirits live inSpher❜d In regions mild of calm and ferene air. 98. In fcepter'd pall] The fame as Horace calls palla honefta. De Arte poet. 278. Poft hunc perfonæ pallaque re- 99. Prefenting Thebes, or Pelops Or the tale of Troy divine,] Thefe were the principal fubjects of the ancient tragedies; and he feems Presenting Thebes, or Pelops line, Or what (though rare) of later age Such notes, as warbled to the string, to allude particularly to the Septem contra Thebas of Æfchylus, and the Pheniffe of Euripides, and the Antigone of Sophocles, and the Thebais of Seneca, which prefent Thebes; and to the Thyeftes of Seneca, and the Agamemnon of Ef chylus, which prefent Pelops line; and to the Troades of Euripides and of Seneca, and other trage dies which prefent the tale of Troy divine, therefore called divine becaufe built by the Gods; for I think with Mr. Thyer, that diwine is not to be join'd with tale, as many understand it: and as Mr. Jortin notes, it is called in Homer Ix ipn. 104. Might raife Mufæus from his bower,] The poet Mufaus 1 100 105 Or Hunc habet, atque humeris ex tantem fufpicit altis. 105. Or bid the foul of Orpheus mufic, that the fame ftrains have a fing &c] It is a property of Power to excite pain or pleasure, as the ftate is in which it finds the hearer. Hence Milton makes the felf-fame ftrains of Orpheus proper to excite both the affections of mirth and melancholy, juft as the mind is then difpofed. If to mirth, he calls for fuch mufic, That Orpheus felf may heave his head &c. If to melancholy Or bid the foul of Orpheus fing &c. makes the moft diftinguifh'd figure See Warburton's Shakespear. Vol. in Virgil's Elyfium. Æn. VI. 667. Mufæum ante omnes, medium pam plurima turba 3. p. 118. And who had Canace to wife, That own'd the virtuous ring and glafs, On which the Tartar king did ride; 115 And if ought elfe great bards befide 120 Thus at the fame time his daughter Canace is prefented with a virtuous ring and glass, a glass by which she could difcover fecrets and future events, and a ring by which the could understand the language of birds. This tale was either never finish'd by Chaucer, or part of it is loft: but Spenfer has endevor'd to fupply the defect in his Faery Queen, and begins with fuch a handsome introduction and address to the fpirit of Chaucer, that I fhould be tempted to transcribe it, if it would not prolong this note beyond its due measure. See B. 4. Cant. 2. St. 32. &c. 116. And if ought elfe great bards befide &c] Ariofto, and Spenfer more particularly, of whofe al legorical |