The Muses, were his rivals: they in wrath,
Him of his sight at once and power of song
Amerced, and bade his hand forget the lyre.'
—Earl of Derby's Translation, 692-697.
P. 97. [35]. Mæonides: a patronymic of Homer.
P. 97. [36]. Tiresias: the famous blind soothsayer of Thebes, 'cui profundum cæcitas lumen dedit' (to whom his blindness gave deep sight), says Milton, in his De Idea Platonica, v. 25.
P. 97. [36]. Phineus: a blind soothsayer, who, according to some authorities, was king of Salmydessus, in Thrace. By reason of his cruelty to his sons, who had been falsely accused, he was tormented by the Harpies, until delivered from them by the Argonauts, in return for prophetic information in regard to their voyage.
P. 97. [39]. darkling: in the dark.
P. 97. [42]. Day: note the emphasis imparted to this initial monosyllabic word, which receives the ictus and is followed by a pause; Milton felt that the loss of sight was fully compensated for by an inward celestial light.
P. 98. [1]. Urania: the Heavenly Muse invoked in the opening of the poem.