Class. Book. PKKSKNTIilJ BY L'ALLEGRO. L'A L L E G R O. JOHN MILTON. ILLUSTP,A.TED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. PHILADELPHIA : J B. LIPPINOOTT COMPANY 715 AND 717 MARKET STREET. -L \^^G^0 Gift from Mrs. Etta F. Winter Sept. 20 1932 ILLUSTRATIONS. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Hence, loathed 3|elancholy 13 Till the dappled dawn doth rise 15 Come and trip it as you gi On the light fantastic toe Eight against the eastern gate, | Where the sun begins his state ) And at my window hid good-morrow 22 The hounds and horn ) [ 23 Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn ) And the milkmaid singeth blithe 25 And every shepherd tells his tale ] Under the hawthorn in the dale | Shallow brooks, and rivers wide 28 LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. PAGE Towers and battlements it sees ) I 29 Bosom'd high in tufted trees ) Hard by a cottage chimney smokes 31 And then in haste her bower she leaves 33 And young and old come forth to pla_y 1 On a sunshine holiday j Then to the spicy nut-brown ale 37 And he by friar's lantern led 38 How the drudging Goblin sweat ] To earn his cream-bowl duly set ) < Tower'd cities please us then 41 Throngs of knights, and barons bold 42 Sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child 43 Lap me in soft Lydian airs 46 L'ALLEGRO. TTENCE, loathed Melancholy, Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born, In Stygian cave forlorn, 'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights unholy ; Find out some uncouth cell, Where brooding Darkness spreads his jealous wings, And the night-raven sings; There, under ebon shades, and low-brow'd rocks, As ragged as thy locks. In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell. ^■^^-T-'y^ =""?^'^^---' But come, thou goddess fair and free, In heaven yelep'd Euphrosyne, 15 And by men, heart-easing Mirth, Whom lovely Yenus at a birth, With two sister Graces more, To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore; Or whether (as some sager sing) The frolic wind that breathes the spring, Zephyr with Aurora playing, As he met her once a-maying. There on beds of violets blue. And fresh-blown roses wash'd in dew, Fill'd her with thee a daughter fair, So buxom, blithe, and debonair. ^^*«> . Haste thee, nympli, and bring with thee Jest, and youthful Jolhty, Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles, ISTods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, Such as hang on Hebe's cheek, And love to live on dimple sleek; Sport that wrinkled Care derides. And Laughter holding both his sides. 18 Come and trip it as you go On the light fantastic toe; And in thy right hand lead with thee The mountain-nymph, sweet Liberty : And, if I give thee honor due, Mirth, admit me of thy crew, To live with her, and live with thee. In unreproved pleasures free : To hear the lark begin his flight. And singing startle the dull night, From his watch-tow'r in the skies. Till the dappled dawn doth rise; Then to come, in spite of sorrow, And at ray window bid good-morrow. Through the sweetbrier, or the vine, Or the twisted eglantine ; While the cock with lively din Scatters the rear of darkness thin, And to the stack, or the barn door, Stoutly struts his dames before : Oft list'ning how the hounds and horn Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn, From the side of some hoar hill, Through the high wood echoing shrill : Sometimes walking not unseen By hedgerow elms, on hillocks green, Right against the eastern gate, Where the great sun begins his state. Robed in flames, and amber light. The clouds in thousand liveries dight; While the ploughman near at hand Whistles o'er the furrow'd land. And the milkmaid singeth blithe. And the mower whets his scythe, W' JN, And every shepherd tells his tale, Under the hawthorn in the dale. Straight mine eye hath caught new pleasures, Whilst the landscape round it measures; Russet lawns, and fallows gray, Where the nibbling flocks do stray: Mountains, on whose barren breast The laboring clouds do often rest; Meadows trim with daisies pied; Shallow brooks, and rivers wide : Towers and battlements it sees Bosom'd high in tufted trees, Where perhaps some beauty lies, The Cynosure of neighboring eyes. Hard b}^ a cottage chimney smokes, From betwixt two aged oaks. Where Corydon and Thyrsis met Are at their savory dinner set .>4- 1^'. Of herbs, and other country messes, Which the neat-handed Phyllis dresses; And then in haste her bower she leaves, With Thestylis to bind the sheaves; Or, if the earlier season lead, To the tann'd haycock in the mead. Sometimes, with secure delight, The upland hamlets will invite, "When the merry bells ring round, And the jocund rebecks sound To many a youth and many a maid. Dancing in the chequer'd shade, And young and old come forth to play On a sunshine holiday. Till the livelong daylight fail; Then to the spicy nut-brown ale, With stories told of many a feat, How Fairy Mab the junkets eat; She was pinch'd and pull'd, she said, And he by friar's lantern led; Tells how the drudging Goblin sweat To earn his cream-bowl duly set, When in one night, ere glimpse of morn. His shadowy flail had thresh'd the corn, That ten clay-laborers could not end, Then lays him down, the lubber fiend, And, stretch' d out all the chimney's length. Basks at the fire his hairy strength ; And cropfal out of doors he flings Ere the first cock his matin rings. Thus done the tales, to bed they creep. By whispering winds soon lull'd to sleep. <««ar^>-^>^ Tower'd cities please us then, And the busy hum of men, Where throngs of knights, and barons bold, In weeds of peace high triumphs hold, "With store of ladies, whose bright eyes Rain influence, and judge the prize Of wit or arms, while both contend To win her grace whom all commend. There let Hymen oft appear In saffron robe, with taper clear. And pomp, and feast, and revelry, With mask and antique pageantry. Such sights as youthful poets dreato On summer eves by haunted stream. Then to the well-trod stage anon. If Jonson's learned sock be on, Or sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child. Warble his native wood-notes wild. And ever, against eating cares, Lap me in soft Lyclian airs, Married to immortal verse, Sucli as the melting soul may pierce In notes, with many a winding bout Of linked sweetness long drawn out, With wanton heed, and giddy cunning, The melting voice through mazes running: Untwisting all the chains that tie The hidden soul of Harmony; That Orpheus' self may heave his head From golden slumber on a bed Of heap'd Elysian flowers, and hear Such strains as would have won the ear Of Pluto, to have quite set free His half-regain'd Eurydice. /> '■ / h'l These delights if thou canst give, Mirth, with thee I mean to live. .^T^