Who ripe, and frolic of his full grown age,
Roving the Celtic and Iberian fields,
At last betakes him to this ominous wood,
And in thick shelter of black shades imbow'r'd

Excels his mother at her mighty art,
Offering to every weary traveller
His orient liquor in a crystal glass,
To quench the drought of Phœbus, which as they taste,
(For most do taste through fond intemp'rate thirst)
Soon as the potion works, their human count'nance,
Th' express resemblance of the Gods, is chang'd
Into some brutish form of wolf, or bear,

65

70

L

Or ounce, or tiger, hog, or bearded goat,
All other parts remaining as they were ;

it is shade: and covert was written
first, then shelter.

63. Excels his mother at her mighty art,] In the Trinity Manuscript he had first written potent art, which are Shakespeare's words, and better. Warburton.

65. His orient liquor] That is, of an extreme bright and vivid colour. Warburton.

See the note, P. L. i. 546. Ε. 67. -through fond] So altered in the Manuscript from through weak intemperate thirst.

68. -their human countnance,
Th' express resemblance of the
Gods,]

The same thought is again very
finely expressed in the following
lines of this poem, where the at-
tendant Spirit is describing to the
two brothers the effects of this
charmed cup.

-whose pleasing poison

The visage quite transforms of him
that drinks,

And the inglorious likeness of a beast
Fixes instead, unmoulding reason's

mintage

Character'd in the face.

He gives us much the same idea in his Paradise Lost, where he

calls the human face divine, iii. 44. Thyer.

72. All other parts remaining as they were;] It was at first in the Manuscript, as before. There is a remarkable difference in the transformations wrought by Circe and those by her son Comus. In Homer the persons are entirely changed, their mind only remaining as it was before, Odyss. x. 239.

Οἱ δε συων μεν εχον κεφαλας, φωνην τε, δεμας τε,

Και τρίχας· αυταρ νους ην εμπεδος, ὡς

το παρος περ.

but here only their head or countenance is changed,

All other parts remaining as they were; and for a very good reason, because they were to appear upon the stage, which they might do in masks. In Homer too they are sorry for the exchange, ver.

241.

Ως οἱ μεν κλαιοντες εερχατο but here the allegory is finely improved, and they have no notion of their disfigurement,

But boast themselves more comely than before,

And they, so perfect is their misery,
Not once perceive their foul disfigurement,
But boast themselves more comely than before,
And all their friends and native home forget,
To roll with pleasure in a sensual stye.
Therefore when any favour'd of high Jove
Chances to pass through this advent'rous glade,

75

Or as Mr. Thyer conceives, it
might possibly be suggested to
Milton by Spenser in his bower
of bliss, where relating how the
Palmer restored to human shape
those whom Acrasia had changed
into beasts, he says, b. ii. cant.
xii. st. 86.

But one above the rest in special,
That had an hog been late (height
Grill by name)

Repined greatly, and did him mis-
call,

That had from hoggish form him
brought to natural.

75. But boast themselves] He certainly alludes to that fine

satire in a dialogue of Plutarch, Opp. tom. ii. Francof. fol. 1620. p. 985. where some of Ulysses's companions, disgusted with the vices and vanities of human life, refuse to be restored by Circe into the shape of men. Dr. J. Warton.

Or, perhaps, to J. Baptista Gelli's Italian Dialogues, called Circe, formed on Plutarch's plan. T. Warton.

78. -when any favour'd of high Jove] Virgil, Æn. vi. 129.

-Pauci quos æquus amavit
Jupiter-

78. The Spirit in Comus is the Satyre in Fletcher's Faithful Shepherdess. He is sent by Pan to guide shepherds passing through a forest by moonlight, and to protect innocence in distress. A. iii. s. 1. vol. iii. p. 145.

But to my charge. Here must I stay
To see what mortals lose their way,
And by a false fire, seeming bright,
Train them in, and set them right:
Then must I watch if any be
Forcing of a chastity;
If I find it, then in hast
I give my wreathed horn a blast,
And the Faeries all will run, &c.

See also above, v. 18. Where
our Spirit says,

But to my task.

T. Warton.

Swift as the sparkle of a glancing star

I shoot from heav'n, to give him safe convoy, As now I do: but first I must put off

These my sky robes spun out of Iris' woof,

And take the weeds and likeness of a swain,

That to the service of this house belongs,
Who with his soft pipe, and smooth-dittied song,
Well knows to still the wild winds when they roar,
And hush the waving woods, nor of less faith,

85

And in this office of his mountain watch,

Likeliest, and nearest to the present aid

90

Of this occasion. But I hear the tread

Of hateful steps, I must be viewless now.

Comus enters with a charming rod in one hand, his glass in the other; with him a rout of monsters, headed like sundry sorts of wild beasts, but otherwise like men and women, their apparel glistering; they come in making a riotous and unruly noise, with torches in their hands.

COMUS.

The star that bids the shepherd fold,

Now the top of heav'n doth hold,

86. Who with his soft pipe, &c.] These three lines were designed as a compliment to Mr. H. Lawes, who acted the attendant Spirit himself. Warburton.

See the Preliminary Notes. Lawes himself, no bad poet, in "A pastorall Elegie to the me" morie of his brother William," applies the same compliment to his brother's musical skill.

-He could allay the murmures of the wind;

He could appease
The sullen seas,

And calme the fury of the winds. See "Choice Psalms put into musick, &c. By H. and W. Lawes, &c. Lond. 1648." To this book is prefixed Milton's Sonnet to H. Lawes. I have

mentioned Lawes's verses prefixed to Cartwright's Poems. And he wrote a poem also in praise of Dr. Wilson, King Charles's favourite lutenist, prefixed to Wilson's Psalterium Carolinum, &c. fol. 1657. T. Warton.

90. Likeliest, and nearest to the present aid] In Milton's Manuscript it stands Nearest and likeliest to &c. It was at first, to give present aid; and virgin steps, which was altered to hateful steps. Then follows in the Manuscript Goes out. And the title of the following scene runs thus. Comus enters with a charming rod and glass of liquor, with his rout all headed like some wild beasts, their garments some like men's and some like women's; they come on