The Complete Poetry of John Milton Read Free Page A

fable by Aesop, Milton’s twelve elegiac lines were derived from ten by Mantuan (
Sylvarum
, Bk. 4).
Carmina Elegiaca
1
                    Surge, age, surge, leves, iam convenit, excute somnos,
                      Lux oritur; tepidi fulcra relinque tori.
                    Iam canit excubitor gallus, prænuncius ales
                      Solis, et invigilans ad sua quemque vocat;
    5
       5           Flammiger Eois Titan 2 caput exerit undis,
                      Et spargit nitidum læta per arva iubar.
                    Daulias 3 argutum modulatur ab ilice carmen
                      Edit et excultos mitis alauda modos;
                    Iam rosa fragrantes spirat silvestris odores;
    10
      10                  Iam redolent violæ luxuriatque seges.
                    Ecce novo campos Zephyritis 4 gramine vestit
                      Fertilis, et vitreo rore madescit humus.
                    Segnes invenias molli vix talia lecto,
                      Cum premat imbellis lumina fessa sopor;
    15
       15         Illic languentes abrumpunt somnia somnos,
                      Et turbant animum tristia multa tuum.
                    Illic tabifici generantur semina morbi.
                      Qui pote torpentem posse valere virum?
                    Surge, age, surge, leves, iam convenit, excute somnos,
    20
      20                  Lux oritur; tepidi fulcra relinque tori.
Elegiac Verses
1
    Arise, up, arise. Now that it is time, shake off slumbers; / light is appearing; leave the props of your languid bed. / Now sings the sentinel cock, the harbinger bird / of the sun, and, watchful, calls everyone to his own affairs. / The flaming Titan 2 thrusts his head from the Eastern waves [5] / and scatters his glittering splendor through the joyful fields. / The Daulian 3 modulates her melodious song from the oak / and the gentle lark pours forth her perfect notes. / Now the wild rose breathes forth its fragrant perfumes; / now the violets diffuse their scent and the grain grows rapidly. [10] / Behold, the fruitful consort of Zephyr 4 clothes the fields with new growth, / and the soil becomes moist with glassy dew. / Lazy one, you are not likely to find such things in your soft bed, / when tranquil sleep weighs down your wearied eyes. / There dreams interrupt dull slumbers [15] / and many griefs disturb your mind. / There the seeds of a wasting malady are generated. / What strength can a listless man be capable of? / Arise, up, arise. Now that it is time, shake off slumbers; / light is appearing; leave the props of your languid bed. [20]
    (
1624-25
)
----
    1 These and the following verses were written on a loose sheet found in Milton’s Commonplace Book with only this title given for the first. Grammar school exercises, they versify a prose theme on early rising found on the reverse of the sheet: “Mane citus lectum fuge” (“Quick, hasten from your bed in the morning”).
    2 Hyperion, here identified with the Sun.
    3 the swallow.
    4 Chloris, wife of the West Wind.
“Ignavus satrapam dedecet …”
1
                    Ignavus satrapam dedecet inclytum
                    Somnus qui populo multifido præest.
                    Dum Dauni veteris filius armiger 2
                    Stratus purpureo procubuit thoro,
    5
       5           Audax Eurialus, Nisus et impiger
                    Invasere cati nocte sub horrida
                    Torpentes Rutilos castraque Volscia:
                    Hinc cædes oritur clamor et absonus.…
“Slothful sleep …”
1
    Slothful sleep is unbecoming to a famous governor / who presides over people divided into many sections