XIX.
The sonnet, says Masson, may have been written any time between 1652 and 1655.
[2. Ere half my days.] Milton’s blindness is considered to have become total in 1652, when he was at the age of forty-four. How shall we understand these words?
[3.] See the Parable of the Talents, Matthew XXV.
[8. I fondly ask.] See [note on Il Pens. 6].
XX.
Probable date, 1655. Of the Mr. Lawrence to whom the sonnet is addressed nothing is certainly known.
[6. Favonius] is the Latin name for Zephyrus, the west wind.
[10. Attic:] refined, delicate, poignant.
[13. and spare To interpose them oft:] refrain from too free enjoyment of them.