what the Swede intends, and what the French: Sweden was then at war with Poland, and France with the Spanish Netherlands.
Poem 79.
Sydneian showers: either in allusion to the conversations in the "Arcadia," or to Sidney himself as a model of "gentleness" in spirit and demeanour.
Poem 84.
Elizabeth of Bohemia: Daughter to James I., and ancestor to Sophia of Hanover. These lines are a fine specimen of gallant and courtly compliment.
Poem 85.
Lady M. Ley was daughter to Sir J. Ley, afterwards Earl of Marlborough, who died March, 1628-9, coincidently with the dissolution of the third Parliament of Charles's reign. Hence Milton poetically compares his death to that of the Orator Isocrates of Athens, after Philip's victory in 328 B.C.
Poems 92, 93.
These are quite a Painter's poems.
Poem 99.