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Milton's Poetical Works, With Life, Critical Diss. and Notes by G. Gilfillan
Milton's Poetical Works With Life Critical Diss and Notes by G Gilfillan Author:John Milton General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1853 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: COMUS: PRESENTED AT LUDLOW CASTLE, 1G34, BEFORE JOHN, EARL OF BR1DGEWATER,1 THEN PRESIDENT OF WALES. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JOHN LORD VISCOUNT BRACKLEY,1 Son And Heir Apparent To Till: Earl Of Bridqewater, Etc. My Lord, This poem, which received its first occasion of birth from yourself and others of your noble family, and much honour from your own person in the performance, now returns again to make a final dedication of itself to you. Although not openly acknowledged3 by the author, yet it is a legitimate offspring, so lovely, and so much desired, that the often copying of it hath tired my pen. to give my several friends satisfaction, and brought me to a necessity of producing it to the public view; and now to offer it up in all rightful devotion to those fair hopes, and rare endowments of your much promising youth, which give a full assurance, to all that know you, of a future excellence. Live, sweet Lord, to be the honour of your name, and receive this as your own, from the hands of him, who hath by many favours been long obliged to your most honoured parents, and as in this representation your attendant Tl1yrsis, so now in all real expression, Your faithful and most humble Servant, H. LAWES.4 1 'John Earl of Brldgewater,' before whom Comiu was first presented, and whose sons and daughter performed the characters of the Brothers and the Lady. It is said that these latter had been benighted in Haywood Forest, and that Milton founded Gamut on this incident. Earl John died 1649. He was a royalist. 1 ' Lord Brackley;' he became Earl of Brldgewater, and died in 1686. 'Not openly acknowled...« less