The Complete Poetry of John Milton Read Free

people he did bless
                    In the wastfull Wildernes.
    60
      60                  For,.
                    In bloody battail he brought down
                    Kings of prowess and renown.
                      For,.
    65
       65         He foild bold
Seon
and his host,
                    That rul’d the
Amorrean
coast.
                      For,.
                    And large-limb’d
Og
he did subdue,
    70
       70         With all his over-hardy crew.
                      For,.
                    And to his servant
Israel
                    He gave their Land therin to dwell.
    75
      75                  For,.
                    He hath with a piteous eye
                    Beheld us in our misery.
    80
      80                  For,.
                    And freed us from the slavery
                    Of the invading enemy.
                      For,.
    85
       85         All living creatures he doth feed,
                    And with full hand supplies their need.
                      For,.
                    Let us therfore warble forth
    90
       90         His mighty Majesty and worth.
                      For,.
                    That his mansion hath on high
                    Above the reach of mortall eye.
    95
      95                  For his mercies ay endure,
                      Ever faithfull, ever sure.
    (
1624
)
----
    1 Though this paraphrase elaborates upon the Hebrew, its result, unlike that in
Ps.
114, is relative simplicity of language and image. Phrases have been traced to George Buchanan (in his Latin paraphrases of the psalms) and to Joshua Sylvester (in his translation of DuBartas’
Divine Weeks and Works
). Milton omitted verses 12, 18, and 22 of the original.
    2 the Red Sea.
    3 dark-complexioned.
Apologus de Rustico et Hero
1
                    Rusticus ex Malo sapidissima poma quotannis
                      Legit, et urbano lecta dedit Domino:
                    Hic incredibili fructûs dulcedine Captus
                      Malum ipsam in proprias transtulit areolas.
    5
       5           Hactenus illa ferax, sed longo debilis ævo,
                      Mota solo assueto, protinùs aret iners.
                    Quod tandem ut patuit Domino, spe lusus inani,
                      Damnavit celeres in sua damna manus.
                    Atque ait, Heu quantò satius fuit illa Coloni
    10
      10                  (Parva licet) grato dona tulisse animo!
                    Possem Ego avaritiam frœnare, gulamque voracem:
                      Nunc periere mihi et fœtus et ipsa parens.
The Fable of the Peasant and the Overlord
1
    Every year a peasant gathered from an appletree the most savory fruit / and gave the choice apples to his overlord who lived in the city. / He, pleased with the unbelievable sweetness of the fruit, / transferred the apple tree itself to his own gardens. / The tree, fruitful up to this time but weak from old age, [5] / when moved from its accustomed soil, instantly withered to inactivity. / When at last it was evident to the overlord that he had been deceived / by a vain hope, he cursed the hands so swift in bringing loss. / And he cried, “Alas, how much more satisfactory it was to receive / with a grateful heart these gifts, although small, from my tenant. [10] / Would I could curb my greed and my voracious gullet: / now both the fruit and its parent are lost to me.”
    (
1624–25
)
----
    1 A version of a popular