“In these lines, Milton, with a musical perception not common amongst poets, exactly indicates the great merit of Lawes, which distinguishes his compositions from those of many of his contemporaries and successors. His careful attention to the words of the poet, the manner in which his music seems to grow from those words, the perfect coincidence of the musical with the metrical accent, all put Lawes’s songs on a level with those of Schumann or Liszt.”—Encyclopædia Britannica.
See introductory notes to [Comus] and [Arcades].
[3-4. not to scan With Midas’ ears.] The god Apollo, during the time of his servitude to Laomedon, had a quarrel with Pan, who insisted that the flute was a better instrument than the lyre. The decision was left to Midas, king of Lydia, who decided in favor of Pan. To punish Midas, Apollo changed his ears into those of an ass.
[4. committing short and long:] setting long syllables and short ones to fight against each other, and so destroying harmony.
[5.] The subject is conceived as a single idea, and so takes the verb in the singular. exempts thee: singles thee out, selects thee.
[8. couldst humor best our tongue:] couldst best adapt or accommodate itself to our language.
[10. Phœbus’ quire:] the poets. Quire is Milton’s spelling of choir.
[12-14.] Read the story of Dante’s meeting with his friend, the musician Casella, in the second canto of Purgatory.
XV (1648).
The taking of Colchester by the parliamentary army under Fairfax, Aug. 28, 1648, was one of the most important events of the Civil War.