comp. _Par. Lost_iv. 700

john9221

misfortune are similarly
associated by a reference to Orpheuswhose 'gory visage' and lyre were carried "down the swift Hebrus to the
Lesbian shore." Furtherthe Maeander is associated with the sorrows of the maiden Bybliswho seeks her lost
brother Caunus (called by Ovid _Maeandrius juvenis_). [Since the above was writtenProf. J. W. Hales has
given the following explanation of Milton's allusion: "The real reason is that the Meander was a famous haunt
of swansand the swan was a favourite bird with the Greek and Latin writers--one to whose sweet singing
they perpetually allude" (_Athenaeum_April 201889).] 'Margent.' _Marge_ and _margin_ are forms of the
same word.
233. ~the violet-embroidered vale~. The notion that flowers _broider_ or ornament the ground is common in
poetry: comp. _Par. Lost_iv. 700: "Under foot the violetCrocusand hyacinthwith rich inlay _Broidered_
the ground." In _Lyc._ 148the flowers themselves wear 'embroidery.' The nightingale is made to haunt a
violet-embroidered vale because these flowers are associated with love (see Jonson's _Masque of Hymen_)
and with innocence (see _Hamlet_iv. 5. 158: "I would give you some violetsbut they withered all when my
father died" [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]