Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.

Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear,

Compels me to disturb your season due;

For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime,

Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer.

Who would not sing for Lycidas? He knew

Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.

He must not float upon his wat'ry bier

Unwept, and welter to the parching wind,

Without the meed of some melodious tear.

Begin then, Sisters of the sacred well,

That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring,

Begin, and somewhat loudly sweep the string.

Hence with denial vain, and coy excuse,

So may some gentle Muse

With lucky words favour my destined urn,

And as he passes turn

And bid fair peace be to my sable shroud.

For we were nursed upon the selfsame hill,

Fed the same flock by fountain, shade, and rill.

Together both, ere the high lawns appeared

Under the opening eyelids of the morn,

We drove a-field, and both together heard

What time the gray-fly winds her sultry horn,

Batt'ning our flocks with the fresh dews of night,

Oft till the star that rose, at ev'ning, bright

Toward heav'n's descent had sloped his west'ring wheel.

Meanwhile the rural ditties were not mute,

Tempered to th' oaten flute;

Rough Satyrs danced, and Fauns with cloven heel

From the glad sound would not be absent long;

And old Damoetas loved to hear our song.

But O the heavy change now thou art gone,

Now thou art gone and never must return!

Thee, Shepherd, thee the woods, and desert caves,

With wild thyme and the gadding vine o'ergrown,

And all their echoes mourn.

The willows, and the hazel copses green,

Shall now no more be seen

Fanning their joyous leaves to thy soft lays.

As killing as the canker to the rose,

Or taint-worm to the weanling herds that graze,

Or frost to flow'rs, that their gay wardrobe wear,

When first the white-thorn blows;

Such, Lycidas, thy loss to shepherd's ear.

Where were ye, nymphs, when the remorseless deep

Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas?

For neither were ye playing on the steep

Where your old bards, the famous Druids, lie,

Nor on the shaggy top of Mona high,

Nor yet where Deva spreads her wizard stream.

Ay me, I fondly dream -

Had ye been there - for what could that have done?

What could the Muse herself that Orpheus bore,

The Muse herself for her enchanting son,

Whom universal nature did lament,

When, by the rout that made the hideous roar,

His gory visage down the stream was sent,

Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore?

Alas! what boots it with uncessant care

To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade,

And strictly meditate the thankless Muse?

Were it not better done as others use,

To sport with Amaryllis in the shade,

Or with the tangles of Neaera's hair?

Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise

(That last infirmity of noble mind)

To scorn delights, and live laborious days;

But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,

And think to burst out into sudden blaze,

Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorred shears,

Phoebus replied, and touched my trembling ears:

“Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil,

Nor in the glist'ring foil

Set off to the world, nor in broad rumour lies,

But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes

And perfect witness of all-judging Jove;

As he pronounces lastly on each deed,

Of so much fame in heav'n expect thy meed.”

O fountain Arethuse, and thou honoured flood,

Smooth-sliding Mincius, crowned with vocal reeds,

That strain I heard was of a higher mood;

But now my oat proceeds,

And listens to the herald of the sea

That came in Neptune's plea.

He asked the waves, and asked the felon winds,

What hard mishap hath doomed this gentle swain?

And questioned every gust of rugged wings

That blows from off each beaked promontory:

They knew not of his story,

And sage Hippotades their answer brings,

That not a blast was from his dungeon strayed;

The air was calm, and on the level brine

Sleek Panope with all her sisters played.

It was that fatal and perfidious bark,

Built in th' eclipse, and rigged with curses dark,

That sunk so low that sacred head of thine.

Next Camus, reverend sire, went footing slow,

His mantle hairy, and his bonnet sedge,

Inwrought with figures dim, and on the edge

Like to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe.

Last came, and last did go,

The Pilot of the Galilean lake.

Two massy keys he bore of metals twain,

(The golden opes, the iron shuts amain)

He shook his mitred locks, and stern bespake

“How well could I have spared for thee, young swain,

Enow of such as for their bellies' sake

Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold!

Of other care they little reckoning make

Than how to scramble at the shearers' feast,

And shove away the worthy bidden guest.

Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold

A sheep-hook, or have learned aught else the least

That to the faithful herdman's art belongs!

What recks it them? What need they? They are sped;

And when they list, their lean and flashy songs

Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw;

The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,

But swoll'n with wind, and the rank mist they draw,

Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread;

Besides what the grim wolf with privy paw

Daily devours apace, and nothing said;

But that two-handed engine at the door

Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more.”

Return, Alpheus, the dread voice is past

That shrunk thy streams; return, Sicilian Muse,

And call the vales, and bid them hither cast

Their bells and flow'rets of a thousand hues.

Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers use

Of shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks

On whose fresh lap the swart star sparely looks,

Throw hither all your quaint enamelled eyes,

That on the green turf suck the honeyed show'rs,

And purple all the ground with vernal flow'rs.

Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies,

The tufted crow-toe, and pale jessamine,

The white pink, and the pansy freaked with jet,

The glowing violet,

The musk-rose, and the well-attired woodbine,

With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head,

And every flower that sad embroidery wears.

Bid amaranthus all his beauty shed,

And daffadillies fill their cups with tears,

To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies.

For so to interpose a little ease,

Let our frail thoughts dally with false surmise.

Ay me! whilst thee the shores and sounding seas

Wash far away, where'er thy bones are hurled,

Whether beyond the stormy Hebrides,

Where thou perhaps under the whelming tide

Visit'st the bottom of the monstrous world;

Or whether thou, to our moist vows denied,

Sleep'st by the fable of Bellerus old,

Where the great vision of the guarded mount

Looks toward Namancos and Bayona's hold.

Look homeward, Angel, now, and melt with ruth;

And, O ye dolphins, waft the hapless youth.

Weep no more, woeful shepherds, weep no more,

For Lycidas your sorrow is not dead,

Sunk though he be beneath the wat'ry floor.

So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed,

And yet anon repairs his drooping head,

And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore

Flames in the forehead of the morning sky:

So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high,

Through the dear might of Him that walked the waves,

Where, other groves and other streams along,

With nectar pure his oozy locks he laves,

And hears the unexpressive nuptial song,

In the blest kingdoms meek of joy and love.

There entertain him all the saints above,

In solemn troops, and sweet societies,

That sing, and singing in their glory move,

And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes.

Now, Lycidas, the shepherds weep no more;

Henceforth thou art the genius of the shore,

In thy large recompense, and shalt be good

To all that wander in that perilous flood.

Thus sang the uncouth swain to th' oaks and rills,

While the still morn went out with sandals grey;

He touched the tender stops of various quills,

With eager thought warbling his Doric lay:

And now the sun had stretched out all the hills,

And now was dropped into the western bay.

At last he rose, and twitched his mantle blue:

Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.

中文译释

在这首挽歌中作者悼念一位博学的友人，

1637年他不幸在自切斯特城出发的旅程中

溺毙于爱尔兰海。同时偶然地预言了彼时如日中天的

我们的僧侣阶层的毁灭。

然而再一次，噢汝月桂树，再一次汝褐色的桃金娘，和永不枯涸的长春藤，

我来采摘你生涩粗糙的浆果，

被迫用粗鲁的手指

在醇熟之前将你的叶片揉碎。

辛酸的克制，悲愁的宝贵因由，

迫使我扰乱自然的节奏：

因利西达斯死去了，死在盛年之前，

年轻的利西达斯，未曾离开他的友伴：

谁不为利西达斯歌唱？他知道

他要歌唱，他修筑崇高的韵。

他不能漂浮于水质的棺椁之上

无人悲泣，或者混淆于炙热的风

而无甜美悦耳的眼泪回应。

那么开始吧，从朱庇特的宝座下涌起的

神圣泉眼的姊妹们，

开始吧，有几分响亮地拨扫弓琴。

因此带着徒劳的拒绝，和羞涩的辩解，

也许某位温柔的缪斯

会用幸运的言词恩惠我的命定之瓮，

如同他离去时那样，

赐我昏暗的寿袍美好的安宁。

因我们生长于同一座山峦，

在泉水、树荫和小河里放牧同一群羊群。

我俩一起，在高高的草坪显露之前，

在清晨张开的眼睑下，

我俩一起驱赶着田野，并同时听见

某一时刻灰翅翼的风的潮热号角

与夜晚的新鲜露水共同喂养我们的兽群，

常常直到傍晚，那升起的星辰

明亮地向着天堂的坡落倾斜它西下的车轮。

同时乡野小调并不沉静，

它呼应于牧羊神之笛，

粗暴的萨梯跳着舞，偶蹄的牧农神

不会在愉快的乐音中隐遁太久，

而年老的达摩艾达 斯喜悦我们的歌音。

但是噢沉重的改变，如今汝已离去，

如今汝已离去，再也不能回返！

汝乃牧羊人，汝乃树林，汝乃荒芜的洞穴

野生的百里香和漫游丛生的藤蔓，

它们的回声充满了哀音。

柳树与绿色的榛木林

已不复可见，

欢乐的叶片在你柔软的歌谣上簇成扇形。

那致命如同尺蠖之于玫瑰，

如同污虫之于牧场中健壮的牲畜，

如同严霜之于花朵，当白色的荆棘首次来袭，

磨损了它们鲜艳的衣衾；

如同这些，利西达斯，你的死亡之于牧羊人的耳际。

当无情的深渊在汝们钟爱的

利西达斯头上闭阖，宁芙们，汝们栖息何处？

因汝们既未嬉戏于峻峭悬崖，

那儿埋葬着汝们年老的歌者，著名的德鲁伊们 ，

亦未在安格西岛 植被蓬松的山巅，

亦未在德瓦河铺展它巫术的河流之地：

哎我，我愚蠢地发梦！

设若汝们在场——又能有何作为？

那产下俄耳甫斯的缪斯自己

缪斯自己，又能为她被魔法蛊惑的儿子做些什么，

整个的自然为他悲叹，

当那场引起可憎的咆哮的溃败

将他惨白的头颅顺流携下，

从敏捷的赫布鲁斯河一直到莱斯博斯岛海岸。

唉！用无尽忧心照料这平凡轻微的

牧羊人的行当，严格地冥思

忘恩寡义的缪斯，有何益处？

如旁人那样岂不更好，与阿玛瑞丽丝

在阴影中玩耍，或戏弄尼亚艾拉

缠结的卷发？

声名是清晰的精神举起的鞭策

（高贵头脑最终的弱点）

以蔑视欢愉，终日辛勤劳作：

却非我们希望找见的公正的报偿，

原以为它会爆发成突然的焰火。

盲眼的命运女神手持可憎的修剪，

撕裂这轻薄织就的人生。但是并非赞美，

阿波罗回答，轻触我颤动的耳朵，

声名不是生长在世俗土壤的植物，

亦不跟随闪亮的钝剑

飞向人间，亦非存在于广阔的传言，

却在审判者朱庇特纯洁的双眼

和完美的见证下高傲地生长和传播；

当他最终裁定每一件事迹，

天堂里你应得的酬劳便是如许声誉。

哦阿瑞梭斯泉 ，还有汝，光荣的河流，

光华流淌的敏西乌斯 ，以乐音的芦苇为你加冕，

我听到的曲调来自更宏伟的样式：

但此刻我的长笛继续吹奏，

倾听在海王的恳请下

前来的带喇叭的海洋使者，

他问询海浪，问询邪恶的风，

怎样残酷的厄运将这温雅的情郎判决？

他质问自每个鸟喙状的海岬吹来的

有着粗犷翅翼的气流，

它们不知晓他的故事，

智慧的风神带来它们的答案，

没有一阵强风从他的地牢里逃走，

空气静谧，在平整的海面上

肤色光洁的潘诺佩 和她所有的姐妹们在嬉戏。

乃是那致命而背信的三桅船

建造于月食之中 ，装配着黑暗的诅咒，

让你高贵的头颅如此地下沉。

接着是坎姆斯 ，尊贵的陛下，步履缓慢地离开，

他的披风参差多毛，他莎草的软帽

刺绣着昏暗的人形，而帽檐

就像红润的花朵 镌刻着悲愁。

啊；谁掠夺了（他说）我最宝贵的誓言？

最后到来，也最后离去，

加利利湖的引航员 ，

他带着一对厚重的金属钥匙

（金钥匙开门，铁钥匙急速地关门）

他摇动着束发带的发卷，严厉地说道，

我应该怎样保护你，年轻人，

这一切已足够满足他们的肚腹，

他们蹑手蹑脚，闯入、攀爬进羊圈？

他们很少有别的算计，

除了混入剪羊毛者的盛宴，

轰走值得邀请的客人。

盲目的嘴！他们不知道如何

举起一支羊钩，或者至少习得

最基本的牧羊人的技艺。

它与他们有何关系？他们有何所需？他们被

加速，而当他们愿意，那倾斜、闪光的歌谣

摩挲着毁败的稻草做成的刺耳长笛，

于是饥饿的羊儿抬起头来，不被喂养，

却在风里膨胀，他们描画的恶臭迷雾，

从内部腐烂，让恶病传染：

除了那阴森的教堂用它秘密的脚爪

终日一言不发，急速吞咽，

那两只手的引擎 伺在门边，

准备好了一次重创，就这一次。

回来吧，阿尔菲乌斯 ，让你的河流枯萎的

可怕声音已经消散；回来吧西西里的缪斯，

呼唤山谷，命令它们向此处抛掷

它们的秀美，以及一千种颜色的花蕾。

噢汝柔和低语的低矮山谷，

充满树荫和野性的风，奔腾的溪流，

天狼星极少照耀你洁净的膝部，

向这里抛洒你所有奇趣的珐琅之眼，

在绿色的草皮上吮吸甜蜜的阵雨，

并用春天的花朵们熏染所有土地。

带来那死于无名的含苞的樱草花。

成簇的野生风信子，憔悴的茉莉，

洁白的石竹，长着雀斑的三色紫罗兰，

和耀眼的紫罗兰。

麝香蔷薇，精心打扮的忍冬。

苍白的西洋樱草垂着多思的头颅，

以及悲伤的刺绣佩戴的每一种花儿：

让不凋花卸下她所有的美，

黄水仙在它们的杯冠里注满眼泪，

将荣誉的植物撒向利西达死去的地方。

这样便可介入片刻的安宁，

让我们脆弱的思想与错误的猜测游戏。

哎我！当你被海滩，被喧响的海洋冲走，

在那里你的骨骸曾被用力抛掷，

无论是否避过了赫布里底群岛的暴风疾雨；

那儿你许在吞没一切的潮汐下，

游访怪兽般世界的底部；

或者无论你是否否认我们泪湿的誓约，

沉睡在年老的贝利鲁斯 神话的身边，

那儿被护佑之山 的广阔视野

伸向纳曼科斯 和巴约纳 的地点，

天使啊，如今回望故乡，融化于悲悯。

哦汝海豚，推送这不幸的青春。

别再哭泣，悲伤的牧羊人别再哭泣，

因为利西达斯，你的悲痛，并未死去，

虽然他沉到水的土地之下，

正如白昼之星也会沉入海床，

但很快修复它低垂的头颅，

用金光闪烁的新矿装饰它的光柱，

再次燃烧在黎明的额头：

于是利西达斯沉得低，却攀登得高，

通过行走于波浪之上的亲爱的力量，

和别的果林，别的溪流一起，

用纯洁的花蜜洗涤他的卷发，

在喜悦和爱的被祝福的谦恭国度，

倾听无以言表的婚曲。

所有天上的神祗将他款待，

以庄严的部队，或甜蜜的陪伴，

他们唱诵，在他们光荣的行动中唱诵，

并永远地拭去他眸中的泪水。

如今利西达斯这牧羊人不再哭泣；

从此后你便是海岸的精灵，

这于你是巨大补偿，并且这对

所有徜徉在险恶洪水的人儿无比有益。

粗俗的少年这样对着芦苇和小河歌唱，

当寂静的清晨穿着灰色凉鞋离去，

他触碰芦笛上柔和的音孔，

在急切的思想中婉转唱出他的多利安谣曲：

此刻太阳已伸展至所有山峦，

此刻已坠入了西方的海岸；

终于他站起身来，扯动蓝色的披肩，

明天将有鲜美的树林，和崭新的草原。

－－

Damoetas，一个传统的牧羊人的名字。

Druids，古老的卡尔特人的游吟诗人阶层，他们为歌颂领主和勇士的胜利撰写诗句并歌唱。

Mona，安格西岛，英格兰西海岸的一个小岛，曾经是游吟诗人的居住地。

Amaryllis，宁芙名。

Neaera，宁芙名，与Amaryllis均出自维吉尔的牧歌。

Arethuse，西西里的一眼泉水，与诗歌灵感相连。

Mincius，维吉尔家乡的一条河流。

Panope，海洋宁芙。

在月食中建造的船被认为携带厄运的诅咒。

Camus，流经剑桥的坎姆河的拟人化身。这个拟人化可与维吉尔将流经他家乡的敏西乌斯拟人化相比。

指风信子。从阿波罗心爱的美少年Hyacinthus的血泊中长出风信子。

此处指圣彼得。基督曾将天国的钥匙交给他。（马可福音：16:19）

两只手的引擎（two-handed engine），普遍认为是指一柄大到用双手把持的剑。

Alpheus，河神之名。

Bellerus，罗马神话中的巨人，他把土地的尽头叫做Bellerium.

被护佑之山：圣米歇尔山。

Namancos，西班牙地名。

Bayona，菲尼斯特雷角（西班牙北端海角）附近的一座城堡。

Introduction.Background and Text. Lycidas first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies entitled Justa Edouardo King Naufrago. This collection commemorated the death of Edward King, a collegemate of Milton's at Cambridge who drowned when his ship sank off the coast of Wales in August, 1637. Milton volunteered or was asked to make a contribution to the collection. The present edition follows the copy of Poems of Mr. John Milton(1645) in the Rauner Collection at Dartmouth College known as Hickmott 172. Milton made a few significant revisions to Lycidas after 1638. These revisions are noted as they occur.

Genre. Lycidas is a pastoral elegy, a genre initiated by Theocritus, also put to famous use by Virgil and Spenser. Christopher Kendrickasserts that one's reading of Lycidas would be improved by treating the poem anachronistically, that is, as if it was one of the most original pastoral elegies. Also, as already stated, it employs the irregular rhyme and meter of an Italian canzone. Stella Revardsuggests that Lycidas also exhibits the influence of Pindaric odes, especially in its allusions to Orpheus, Alpheus, and Arethusa. The poem's arrangement in verse paragraphs and its introduction of various voices and personae are also features that anticipate epic structures. Like the form, structure, and voice of Lycidas, its genre is deeply complex. James Sitar

Monody.A lyrical lament for one voice.

Friend.Edward King, a schoolmate of Milton's at Cambridge who drowned when his ship sank off the coast of Wales in August, 1637. King entered Christ's College in 1626 when he was 14 years old. Upon finishing his studies, King was made a Fellow of Christ's thanks to his patron King Charles I. The Trinity MS of Lycidas is dated Nov. 1637, three months after King's death.

Lycidas.The name Lycidas is common in ancient Greek pastorals, establishing the style Milton imitates for this poem. William Collins Wattersonnotes that in Theocritus' pastoral, Lycidas loses a singing competition. Watterson asserts that Milton is aligning King with Lycidas in an attempt to portray himself as victorious over King. Virgil's ninth Eclogueis spoken in part by the shepherd Lycidas, a scene that includes, as Balachandra Rajanpoints out, a reference to social injustice. Lucan's Civil Wars 3.657-58 also tells the story of a Lycidas pulled to pieces during a sea battle by a grappling hook.

lucky.It would certainly be bad luck to refuse an invitation to sing for the dead. Virgil's persona implies as much in Eclogue 10.5-6. See also OED2.

Batt'ning.Feeding.

Drawingof Pan playing a panpipe.

Satyrs.Mythical goat-men renowned for lust. Milton is probably referring to his (and King's) classmates at Christ's. Picture.

Damoetas.A traditional pastoral name, see Virgil's Eclogue 3. Also a clownish shepherd named Damoetas appears in Sidney's Arcadia. Search Dartmouth's Library catalog.Milton might be referring to Christ's College tutor William Chappel.

to hear our song.The narrator imagines that he and King were shepherds (poets and students) in the same pasture (Christ's College, Cambridge) and learned from the same master, William Chappel (perhaps personified here as Old Damoetas).

gadding.Wandering, unruly.

Canker.Cankerworm, a garden pest.

Taint-worm.Intestinal parasite that afflicts young calves, that is, weanlings.

weanling.Young livestock, recently weaned from mother's milk.

blows.Blossoms.

Mona.Anglesey, an Island off the west coast of Britain, once the home of Celtic druids.

fondly.Foolishly, idly.

Lesbian shore.Calliope, daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne was Orpheus's mother and a muse. Orpheus, according to legend, could charm animals, birds, and even inanimate bits of nature with his music. For Milton, as for many others, he serves as a personified symbol of the power of poetic song. For the story of the death of Orpheus, see Ovid's Metamorphoses 11.1-66. Also see Albrecht Dürer's 1494 engraving, Death of Orpheus.

Amaryllis.The names of the nymphs, Amaryllis and Neaera, are conventional, borrowed from Virgil's Eclogues 1.4-5and Eclogues 3.3.

Guerdon.Reward.

foil.Hughes

Arethuse.A fountain in Sicily associated with poetic inspiration (see Arcades 30-31). Mincius is the river of Virgil's hometown, Mantua. Virgil associates the Mincius with his own pastoral verse in Eclogues 7. 15-16 and Georgics 3. 20-21.

higher mood.Epic poetry was considered to be a more elevated form than pastoral, thus in a higher mode.

Herald.Triton, a sea-god usually pictured with a trumpet.

plea.That is, at Neptune's request, to testify in his defence.

swain.A shepherd; a word frequently used by Theocritus, Virgil, and Spenser.

Hippotades.Homeric epithet for Aeolus, the wind-god, son of Hippotas. See Odyssey 10.3.

Panope.A sea nymph.

Bark.Small ship.

th'eclipse.A ship built during an eclipse might be imagined to be either cursed with bad luck or simply ill-built as a result.

Camus.Personification of the river Cam, which runs through Cambridge. This personification draws comparisons to Virgil's personification of Mincius, the river that runs through his home town.

sanquine flower.The Hyacinth. Apollo made this flower from the blood of his beloved Hyacinthus, whom he accidentally killed. The story is in Ovid's Metamorphoses 10.214-16.

Miter'd.A miter is a liturgical headress worn by bishops.

Line 113.1645 has a period at the end of this line, but that appears to be an error, especially since the line is the last on the page in 1645.

into the fold.See John 10:1.

scrannel.Thin, shriveled.

Lines 121-127. An echo of Menalcas' sentiments in Virgil's Ecologues 3.81, 4-9, 30-4.

Woolf.The Roman Catholic Church.

privy.Secret. See 2 Peter 2:1. Perhaps also a pun on the Privy Council.

two-handed engine.The meaning of this phrase has generated much commentary. Orgel's assertion, that it is a sword large enough to require two hands to use, is commonly accepted.

smite once, and smite no more.See Matthew 26:31 and Mark 14: 27-9.

Alpheus.Personification of a river in Greece and also the god who fell in love with Arethusa and pursued her until she was turned into a fountain. See Ovid's Metamorphoses 5.865-875.

rathe.Ready to bloom.

Crow-toe.Wild hyacinth.

Gessamine.Jasmine, a climbing shrub with fragrant flowers.

wan.Pale.

Hebrides.The Hebrides lie off the west coast of Scotland.

moist.Tear-dampened.

Bellerus.A giant for whom Land's End was called Bellerium in Roman times.

guarded Mount.Mount St. Michael's, near Land's End on the Cornish coast, across the Channel from Mont St. Michel. Milton imagines the patron saint of England looking out from here to guard England from overseas (Catholic) religion. Namancos is in Spain and Bayona a fortress near Cape Finisterre.

Look homeward.The Angel could refer to either St. Michael, whose mount it is, or Lycidas. In either case, the injunction is for him to turn his eye from the threat of Spain (represented by Namancos and Bayona) and instead to look homeward, where Lycidas has drowned (Orgel & Goldberg). Lawrence Lipkingasserts that the angel is in fact Lycidas, who is looking not to where he drowned but to his destination, Ireland. He further asserts that Milton demands a change of attention from Spain to Ireland because he felt the pagans in Ireland were a serious threat to England.

Dolphins.Dolphins were thought by sailors to be a good omen at sea, looking after the ship and guarding it from peril.

him that walk'd the waves.Alluding to Jesus, who walked on water according to Matthew 14:25-26.

unexpressive nuptial Song.According to Hughes

In the blest Kingdoms meek of joy and love.1638 omits this line entirely.

wipe the tears.See Revelation 7:17.

Genius.The spirit or guardian angel of the place.

Dorick.The sort of Greek spoken in Crete and Laconia. Also the dialect preferred by Theocritus and Bion, the earliest practictioners of pastoral verse. A doric lay is the sort of song sung by pastoral poets in doric.

Quills.The hollow reeds of the shepherd's pipes; the stops are the holes one covers with fingers to make different notes sound.

Pastures new.See the end of Virgil's Eclogues10. 70-97.