And steal his dust away!
Oh! ill-requited bard! Neglect
Thy living worth repaid,
And blind idolatrous respect
As much affronts thee dead.
1 This shocking outrage took place in I790 whilst the Church of St. Giles,
Cripplegate, was repairing. The overseers (for the sake of gain) opened a coffin
supposed to be Milton's, found a body, extracted its teeth, cut off its hair,
and left the remains to the grave-diggers, who exhibited them for money to the
public.
Forsitan & nostros ducat de marmore vultus,
Nectens aut Paphia myrti aut Parnasside lauri
Fronde comas, at ego secura pace quiescam.
--Milton. "Mansus" ("Manso")
Cowper's translation :
To honour me, and with the graceful wreath
Or of Parnassus or the Paphian isle
Shall bind my brows--but I shall rest the while."
POEMATA
1. ELEGIES
ELEGY I
To Charles Diodati.1
At length, my friend, the far-sent letters come,
Charged with thy kindness, to their destin'd home,
They come, at length, from Deva's2 Western side,
Where prone she seeks the salt Vergivian tide.3
Trust me, my joy is great that thou shouldst be,
Though born of foreign race, yet born for me,
And that my sprightly friend, now free to roam,
Must seek again so soon his wonted home.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25