MILTON AND VONDEL. "Evenwel indien gij eenige bloemen op den Nederlandschen Helicon plnckken wilt, draeg u zulks, dat het de boeren niet mercken, nochte voor den geleerden al te sterck doorschijne." Vondel. MILTON AND VONDEL: H Curiosity of ^literature* GEOEGE EDMUNDSON, M.A. LATE FELLOW AND TUTOB OF BRASENOSE COLLEGE, OXFORD, VICAR OF NORTHOLT, MIDDLESEX. "Suum cuique honorem." LONDON: TRUBNEE & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 1885. [AH rights resewed.] 7- f4 j/i*jLju n lUIq.I*t &ALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO EDINBURGH AND LONDON CONTENTS. PAGES CHAPTEK I. INTRODUCTORY I-I2 CHAPTEE II. MILTON AND VONDEL I3~30 CHAPTER III. THE LUCIFER 31-87 CHAPTER IV. JOHN THE MESSENGER 88-1 23 CHAPTER V. REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION .... I24-I35 849756 vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PAGES ADAM IN BANISHMENT I36-157 CHAPTER VII. SAM SON 158-I92 APPENDIX 193-223 MILTON AND VONDEL. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. The " Paradise Lost " of Milton is now, by universal consent, numbered among those few productions of rare poetical genius whose supreme merit assures them an immortality of renown. Yet its record has not been one of unbroken triumph. The poem, when published, did not take public opinion by storm. Its popularity was at first of slow growth, and when at length it had won its way to that position of acknow- ledged pre-eminence, which it has since retained, its very originality and inspiration began to be vehemently questioned. In the eighetenth century a perfect storm of controversy arose as to the supposed sources from whence its author derived not merely the rudimentary ideas, but even the very details both in plot and imagery of that * adventurous song," which, in the poet's own words, was " to pursue things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme." Voltaire was the first who threw out the suggestion that the conceptions of Milton might not be entirely original. In an essay on Epic Poetry, written in English and published in the year 1727, he remarks A \ \ ;s. INTRODUCTORY. " that Milton during his year's sojourn in Italy saw at Florence the performance of a Scriptural drama by an Italian writer named Andreini, entitled ' Adamo/ and dealing with the subject of the Fall of Man, and that he (Milton), piercing through the absurdity of the repre- sentation to the hidden majesty of the subject, took from that ridiculous trifle the first hint of the noblest work the human imagination has ever attempted." The careless suggestion did not fall to the ground ; it was seized upon by critics and commentators with the avidity peculiar to their kind. The question, " Was Milton a plagiarist ? " opened out a field for curious research too tempting to be neglected. Book- shelves and catalogues were ransacked, and the dust shaken from many a forgotten volume in the laborious search that was instituted in quest of the prima stamina of the Paradise Lost. It is not necessary to enter into any detailed account of this curious episode of literary history; the more curious because its result, so far from detracting from Milton's fame, has rather served to establish his reputa- tion as being one of the most learned and well-read men of his time. It will be sufficient for our purpose to mention the malicious attempt made by William Lauder, who undertook to prove that Milton in writing his poem had made the freest use without acknowledg- ment of the works (principally in Latin) of a number of poets and poetasters, English, Scotch, Dutch, and German. Lauder published in 1750 a series of essays upon the subject in the pages of the Gentleman's Maga- zine,, supporting his argument by copious quotations. These essays were afterwards collected in a volume under the title of " Milton's Use and Imitation of the INTRODUCTORY. 3 Moderns in his Paradise Lost," and secured the impos- ing sanction of the then all-powerful literary dictator, Dr. Johnson, who contributed a short preface. The effort of Lauder was to some extent successful, ^ for he had undoubtedly discovered many similarities between passages of the Paradise Lost and others which he had brought forward ; as, for instance, from Sylvester's Du Bartas, 1 and the "Adamus Exul" of Hugo Grotius. But he was not content with adducing such resemblances as really existed. He deliberately forged lines of his own and interpolated others, which were taken from a Latin translation of the Paradise Lost by a certain William Hogg, and assigned them to authors whom he professed to quote. His triumph was, however, of short duration. The barefaced forgeries were ere long detected by the acute- ness of Mr. Bowie, a tutor of Oriel College, Oxford ; and a clergyman, Mr. (afterwards Bishop) Douglas, under the form of a letter addressed to the Earl of Bath, revealed to the public the gross imposition which had been practised upon them. Lauder's shameless attempt to cast a slur upon Milton's fame by false representa- tion recoiled upon himself and ignominiously collapsed. His fabrications were exposed, himself discredited, and, as a natural result, a certain amount of obloquy and disparagement has since attached to that " Inquiry into' the Origin of Paradise Lost " with which his too noto- * rious name is associated. But surely there are two points of view from which to regard this interesting chapter of literary criticism. A critical inquiry into the construction of his great 1 See on Milton's debt to Du Bartas, Dunster's " Considerations on Milton's Early Reading and the PHma Stamina of his ' Paradise Lost.' 4 INTRODUCTORY. Epic need not be carried out in a spirit of hostility to Milton. It is one thing to go to work in the spirit of Lauder, who bluntly asserted to Dr. Newton 1 "that he could prove that Milton had borrowed the substance of whole books together, and that there was scarcely a single thought or sentiment in his poem which he had not stolen from some one or another." It is quite another thing to study the Paradise Lost with loving and curious care for the purpose of a discriminating investigation of the hoarded treasures which it con- tains, drawn from the best literature of all previous times, an investigation which should lay bare that prodigious store of learning with which the mind of the poet was full to overflowing, and which in the plenitude of his power he wielded and moulded at will. Mr. Masson 2 speaks with some contempt of any " Inquiry into the Origin of Paradise Lost," which he stigmatises as " for the most part laborious nonsense." But while fully admitting with him that " it is utterly preposterous " to say " that in any or all of the books which critics have " as yet " brought forward is to be found the origin of Paradise Lost in any intelligible sense of the phrase ; " yet Mr. Masson surely ought to be the very last, he who has devoted so many lengthy volumes to the " History of Milton and his Times," to desire to put on one side, contemptuously, as " laborious nonsense " anything that throws light upon the studies and mental proclivities of his favourite author. The judgment, indeed, which should be passed upon such an " Inquiry " depends entirely upon the meaning which is assigned to the phrase " Origin of Paradise 1 Todd's " Milton," vol. i. p. 205. 2 "Milton's Poetical Works," vol. i. p. 39. INTRODUCTORY. 5 Lost." Something, doubtless, trivial or otherwise (pos- V sibly, as Voltaire suggests, Andreini's " Adamo "), * did first draw Milton's attention to the subject of the Fall of Man as well adapted to poetic treatment. The organisation of the mind is so subtle and its suscepti- bility so great, that the very slightest inciting cause may give the first impulse to the most considerable effects, as in the well-known stories which assign such commonplace Okigins to the great discoveries of Newton and Watts. But if we mean something much more than this ; if by saying that in such and such a work or writer is to be found the " Origin of Paradise Lost," we do not refer to any chance hint which may have stirred the poet's fancy with a sudden inspiration, but to a prompting influence which has struck its roots deep into his mind and entwined itself around his imagination ; then we must allow that any " Inquiry " into the operation of such an agency (if it exist) in fashioning the conceptions of a Milton ought to have a very real interest for every student of English litera- ture. It is to such an inquiry as this that the present volume proposes to direct the attention of its readers. The beginnings of Paradise Lost are veiled in no mystery. They have been disclosed .to us by the Mil- tonic MSS. in the Library of Trinity College, Cam- bridge, in a manner singularly full and complete. Here are to be found one hundred drafts in Milton's own hand of subjects suitable for tragedies, written when he was about thirty-one years of age, and immediately - after his return from Italy. A certain number of these were taken from Early British History ; but the mind of Milton was already inclining towards a Scrip- 1 See Scolari's " Saggio di Critica sul Paradiso Perduto." 6 INTRODUCTORY. tural subject, as is shown by the fact that no less than sixty of them are drawn from the Bible. Foremost among these stands, even at that early date, the now famous title of " Paradise Lost." Four drafts contain- ing schemes for dramas upon the episode of the Fall of Man exist among this interesting collection, indicating the hold which this particular subject had, from the first, upon his affections. But our acquaintance with the growth of the Poem, in what may be called its embryonic stage, extends farther still. The great idea, though early conceived, was for many long years slowly matured before it issued from the Poet's brain in its full perfection of form and beauty. The mind of Milton was for some time undecided as to the important question of dra- matic or epic treatment. His writings contain many passages of great autobiographical interest bearing upon the engrossing subject of his thoughts. " Time serves not now," he wrote in 1641, "and, perhaps, I might seem too profuse to give any certain account of what the mind at home, in the spacious circuits of her musing, hath liberty to propose to herself, though of highest hope and hardest attaining whether that epic form, whereof the two poems of Homer, and those other two of Virgil and Tasso are a diffuse, and the Book of Job a brief model, .... or whether those dramatic constitutions wherein Sophocles and Euripides reign." * We know also on the authority of Edward Phillips, the nephew of the Poet, that a few lines of Satan's Invocation to the Sun at the beginning of the fourth book of Paradise Lost 2 were already penned as the 1 " Reason of Church Government," book ii. Int. 2 Paradise Lost, iv. 32-41. INTRODUCTORY. 7 commencement of a tragedy on the Fall of Man fifteen or sixteen years before the epic poem was seriously undertaken. Thus it is clear that this poem occupies a position unexampled among works of imagination, that of having been planned a quarter of a century before it was written, during the whole of which time the author was (to use his own words) " by labour and intent study " gradually preparing himself for the great task which he had set before him. He deliberately trained himself for his vocation of poet. The work which it was his lofty ambition to achieve " was not to be raised from the heat of youth or the vapours of wine, like that which flows at waste from the pen of some vulgar amorist or the trencher fury of a riming parasite, nor to be obtained by the invocation of Dame Memory and her siren daughters, but by devout prayer to that Eternal Spirit which can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out His Seraphim with the hal- lowed fire of His altar to touch and purify the lips of whom He pleases. To this must be added industrious and select reading, steady observation, insight into all seemly and generous arts and affairs." 1 After such revelations as these, any " Inquiry into the Oeigin of Paradise Lost," if we use the words in their ordinary and literal sense, seems, indeed, superfluous, for not only have the rough drafts of the poet's first tentative imaginings been handed down to us, but, as in this last quotation, the very secret springs of his method are exposed to view. We seem to behold the growth and development of the work from its first germ to its glorious completion in the hidden depths of the crea- tive mind. 1 " Reason of Church Government." book ii. Int. 8 INTRODUCTORY. At the time of the composition of the Paradise Lost, by these long years passed " in intent study," by the ever-increasing acquisitions made by his " indus- trious and select reading," Milton had become one of the best-read men of his time. He had familia- rised himself with the literature of both ancient and modern times. He had absorbed into his memory and made part of himself the choicest thoughts, the aptest metaphors and images, to be found in the writers of his own and all preceding ages. His memory indeed was simply prodigious, though not exact. He had not the gift of accurate verbal recollection, and was never fond of making quotations. He assimilated, as it were, into his very being the ideas and phrases which specially impressed him at the time of reading, so as to repro- duce them almost unconsciously whenever, at a later period of poetic travail, they attuned themselves to the complex harmony of his lofty verse, or fitted them- selves in, as subordinate embellishments, to his magnifi- cent imaginings. The Paradise Lost is consequently not only in style, in diction, and in plan, one of the supreme creations of the human intellect, but it is also unique as a learned poem and for the wide range of literature which it places under contribution. Every portion of the poem is studded with quotations and allusions, but these, like the jewels upon one of the chef-d'&uvres of a Van Eyck or a Memling, add indeed richness to the effect, but nothing to the dignity of the conception or to the subtlety of the execution. The spirit of the Poet broods over the whole of his work. Milton undoubtedly borrowed materials, freely, from this man and from that, but, with the skill of a master-architect, he so appropriately builds in each INTRODUCTORY. 9 piece of carved stone and polished marble as to enhance its beauty by making it a component part of the stately edifice he is rearing. But is not this plagiarism ? "Were Lauder and other detractors from Milton's fame justified in the charges which they brought against him ? The answer to these questions depends entirely upon the definition which we give to the word plagiarism. Milton himself lays it down that "borrowing, if it be not bettered by the borrower, is accounted plagiarie." But this is far from satisfactory. If the borrowing be itself clandestine or otherwise ille- gitimate, the mere " bettering " cannot remove the stain which rests upon the original act. The German aphorism is more complete, " In der Kunst, der Diebstahl nicht erlaubt sei, wohl aber der Todschlag," and the latter expression is amplified in the explanation that the borrower must be " nicht der Sklave, sondern der frei schaltende Herr des Materials." x In other words, he who ventures to make use for his own literary work of the language or ideas which he finds ready made to his hands in the writings of others, must, if he would free himself from the charge of plagiarism, fulfil two conditions. He must be to such an extent supreme over his materials, that in the consuming fire and fervid glow of his imagination each foreign ingredient becomes, as it were, fused with the native ore, so that from their union a totally new substance is formed. And at the same time he must never attempt to pass off an alloy for pure metal. There must be no concealment. A coin which bears Caesar's image and superscription, though it may con- tain a certain proportion of baser metal, should be no 1 Stern's " Milton und seine Zeit," vol. i. p. 236. io INTRODUCTORY. counterfeit. It is inevitable that a great writer should utilise the rich stores of knowledge which he has accumulated, and that at times he should blend ideas and thoughts derived from study in indissoluble fusion with the creations of his own mind, but it is none the less a dishonest act if he, without acknowledgment, place the stamp of his personality upon that which is clearly not his own. For who is to adjudge the question as to whether such and such a writer borrows from his inferior, or betters what he borrows ? Obviously each one would decide for himself according to his own estimate of his merits, and the way would be thrown open to an inde- finite amount of literary pilfering. To take the case of Milton, the charges which have been brought against him amount to little more than this : he was far better acquainted than most men with those books, with which every student ought to be acquainted. His mind was peculiarly receptive, and its retentiveness was as char- acteristic as its originality. Consequently, when he drew upon his richly furnished brain for fresh images wherewith to give expression to his daring conceptions, phrases, expressions, metaphors came crowding thick upon him from the pages of the favourite authors to whom he had devoted so many studious hours. We find, therefore, numberless reminiscences of well-known writers in Milton's works, more especially of Euripides and Virgil among the Ancients, of Dante and Tasso among the Italians, and of Spenser, the Fletchers, and Sylvester's Du Bartas among the English poets. But these writers were all well known; their works had become, so to speak, public property. Had Milton largely appro- priated either their language or ideas, he would have INTRODUCTORY. n been at once discovered. So far from being a defect or a crime, this wealth of literary allusion constitutes one of the chief charms and merits of the Paradise Lost. But Milton did not confine himself to classical or familiar authors. His use, for instance, of the Latin poems of Hugo Grotius and Masenius (proofs of which can be found in the essays of Lauder), from the very fact that these were slight and trivial productions was per- haps scarcely justifiable, if viewed by the code of strict literary morality. But here, undoubtedly, the plea can be put forward that no plagiary was committed, because Milton " borrowed, but bettered in the borrowing ; " and we admit its force. All these things indeed show what may be called the besetting tendency of Milton's mind, but so far nothing has been proved against him which could be held in the slightest degree to cast a stain upon his reputation as a man, or his merit as a poet. Had the controversy as to the originality of the Paradise Lost ended here, there would be little need for any farther " inquiry " upon the subject. Mr. Masson, who, as we had occasion to mention above, exhibits such a strong distaste to this branch of Miltonic criticism, owing, as we think, to a misappre- hension as to its aims and to a diffidence as to its results, contents himself in his Introduction to the Paradise Lost with the briefest resume' of the subject, and refers the reader, in a footnote, 1 to Mr. Todd's chapter for fuller information. He concludes with a remark, which first led the writer to make the investi- gations, which are contained in the present volume. It runs, as follows : u This chapter of Todd is the most 1 Masson, " The Poetical Works of Milton," vol. i. p. 39. 12 INTRODUCTORY. complete compilation on the subject, save that it omits the Dutch Poet, Joost van den Vondel, from the list of Milton's creditors. The claims of this poet have been urged in Antwerp and elsewhere since Todd's chapter was written." Curiosity prompted an examination of the omitted Poet's writings, and of the literature bearing upon their supposed influence upon the composition of the Para- dise Lost, and the results have been in many respects so interesting and so remarkable, that we make no apology in placing them before the public in the fol- lowing pages. ( 13 ) CHAPTER II. MILTON AND VONDEL. In the year 1654, four years before Milton commenced his Paradise Lost, the great Dutch Poet, Vondel, pub- lished a drama entitled u Lucifer/' whose main theme deals with the story of the rebellion of the angels and their overthrow by Michael at the head of the armies of God. The possible indebtedness of Milton to this play escaped the notice of all the keen-eyed Inquirers into the Origin of the Paradise Lost, the history of whose researches into the nooks and corners of many a library is given in the chapter upon the subject in Todd's " Milton ; " the cause of this curious oversight being doubtless their ignorance of the Dutch language and literature, which already in the eighteenth century, after a short-lived outburst of extreme brilliancy, had rapidly fallen into a state of torpor and decadence. It was not until quite recent times that the attention of students was turned to Vondel's drama, and that a comparison was instituted between it and the Paradise Lost. This comparison, however, as will be abundantly shown in the sequel, has been of a most cursory and superficial character. Moreover, with the "Lucifer" the labours of these latter-day inquirers have begun and ended. We shall proceed to justify a farther and more detailed discussion of the subject by proving, not only i 4 MILTON AND VONDEL. that the language and imagery of the " Lucifer " exer- cised a powerful and abiding influence on the mind of Milton, and have left indelible traces upon the pages of the Paradise Lost, but that other writings of Vondel can be shown to have affected in no slight or inconsider- able degree all the great poems of Milton's later life. In 1 66 1 the Dutch writer published an Epic poem in six books upon the subject of the Life and Death of John the Baptist. 1 The plan and descriptions of this Poem will be discovered to have a strong affinity with certain portions both of the Paradise Lost and the Paradise Eegained. A drama of Vondel's entitled "Adam in Banish- ment," 2 published in 1 664, and intended as a sequel to the " Lucifer," although its general outline has much that is in common with the Paradise Lost, and the mate- rials for the plot are necessarily the same, differs widely both in language and character from those earlier books of Milton's Poem which were composed before it was published, but offers some remarkable coincidences with the ninth and tenth books, which were probably written after its appearance. Again, a number of passages from a didactico-religious Poem of Vondel's, 3 of the date 1661, which bears the name "Beflections on God and Beligion," are almost reproduced in portions of the eighth book of the Paradise Lost. Lastly, in 1660 Vondel composed a drama entitled " Samson, or Divine Vengeance." 4 This work, written a few years previous to the " Samson Agonistes," has in- 1 "Joannes Boetgezant." 2 "Adam in Ballingschap." 3 " Bespiegelingen van God en Godsdienst." * "Samson, of de heilige wraak." MILTON AND VONDEL. 15 disputable claims to be regarded as its literary parent. Those features of the English drama, which have hitherto been regarded as so peculiarly its own, are all to be found in its Dutch predecessor. We shall proceed to verify these assertions seriatim ; but, before doing so, one step is essential as a preli- minary. We must establish the fact that the works of Yondel were accessible to Milton j that he was able to understand the language in which they were written ; and that there was a strong a priori probability, apart from the internal evidence contained in his poems, that he would be acquainted with them. We will take first the all-important question as to Milton's knowledge of the Dutch language. Milton was a great linguist. He was perfectly familiar with the ancient classical tongues and with Hebrew, and that not merely from the literary point of view : he could speak and understand, as well as read them. He is also known to have been proficient in several modern languages, more especially in the Italian. The account given by his nephew, Edward Phillips, of the manner in which, after he became completely blind (about April 1652), he employed his daughters and others to read aloud to him books in various languages is well known * and has been often quoted. " Those he had by his first (wife) he made serviceable to him in that very parti- cular in which he most wanted their service, and sup- plied his want of eyesight by their eyes and tongue ; for though he had daily about him one or other to read to him some, persons of man's estate, who of their own accord greedily catched at the opportunity of 1 Phillips' Memoir of Milton, prefixed to the English edition of " Letters of State," 1694. 16 MILTON AND VONDEL. being his readers, that they might as well reap the benefit of what they read to him as oblige him by the benefit of their reading; others of younger years, sent by their parents to the same end yet, excusing only the eldest daughter by reason of her bodily infirmity and difficult utterance of speech, which, to say truth, I doubt was the principal cause of excusing her, the other two were condemned to the performance of read- ing and exactly pronouncing of all languages of whatever oook he should at one time or other think fit to peruse, viz., the Hebrew (and, I think, the Syriac), the Greek, the Latin, the Italian, Spanish, and French. All which sorts of books to be confined to read without understand- ing one word must needs be a trial of patience almost beyond endurance." This authentic record of Milton's habits of study after his blindness, and during the period when his great Epic was being gradually com- posed, proves that during all this time his appetite for new literature in all. languages was ceaseless and con- stantly gratified. Phillips' information being derived from the daughters, who confessedly did not understand a single word of the books which they read, does not make the omission of the Dutch language, from the list which he gives, a fact of great importance. If it can be proved from other sources that Milton could understand Dutch, then the evidence supplied by the extract above makes it morally certain that Dutch books would be included amongst those which " at one time or other he should think fit to peruse." The proof, we require, is given to us in a manner singularly direct and unimpeachable. It is contained in a letter written by the celebrated Eoger Williams (the founder of the State of Ehode Island), at Provi- MILTON AND VONDEL. 17 dence, July 12, 1654, to his friend John Winthrop at Pequod. 1 The following statement (from Jared Sparks' Library of American Biography) gives us all the infor- mation we require. 2 Williams visited England on busi- ness of the colony in 165 1 and remained till 1654. During his residence in London " he formed an intimate acquaintance with Milton, who was then Latin Secre- tary to the Council, and already rapidly rising to the zenith of his renown as a statesman and a poet. The Paradise Lost had not been written, but the repub- lican bard had sung many of his sweetest sonnets, and had published in prose some of those noble vindica- tions of liberty of which all Europe rang from side to side." "Younger than Williams by more than nine years, he was now in the freshness of early manhood and the full vigour of his great powers. The infirmities and disasters of his later life had not yet darkened the hopes or damped the ardour of his spirit. In their frequent companionship, with the interchange of con- genial views and the expression of common principles and aims, they appear to have mingled the studies of languages and literature ; and for the Dutch, which the Poet acquired from the teachings of Williams, he opened in return the rich stores of his varied learning in many different tongues ; " or, to quote Williams' own words, "It pleased the Lord to call me, for some time and with some persons, to practise the Hebrew, the Greek, Latin, French, and Dutch. The Secretary of the Council, Mr. Milton, for my Dutch I bead him, read me many more languages. Grammar rules begin to be esteemed a tyranny. I taught two gentlemen, a Parliament 1 This letter is given in full in Knowles' "Life of Roger Williams," pp. 261-264. 2 "Life of Roger Williams," pp. 150-151. B 1 8 MILTON AND VON DEL. man's sons, as we teach our children English, by words, phrases, and constant talk." Nothing can be more clear than that Milton, who was already blind in 1652, learned to understand Dutch, orally, from the conversa- tions and readings of Williams, and that in the year immediately preceding the appearance of the " Lucifer." The further question remains, what were the in- ducements to Milton to pursue his Dutch studies, and what his facilities for intercourse with Holland and for acquaintance with its literature ? The whole of the fourth book of Masson's " Life of Milton," which deals with the period (1649-54), is full of evidence upon this point. Its pages are crowded with references to Holland, its statesmen, ambassadors, professors, and writers. It was the period of the Dutch war, the period of the famous controversies with Salmasius and Morus. As Secretary for Foreign Languages to the Council of State, it was Milton's duty at audiences of envoys and ambassadors to act as interpreter and to translate into Latin all the correspondence. Now, " of the foreign relations of the Commonwealth through 1652 and part of 1653, by far the most important were those with the Dutch Eepublic." * During those years, in which was waged a fierce naval war between the two Commonwealths for the supremacy of the seas, constant negotiations were going on, and many eminent Dutch- men, who came to London as special envoys, were brought into the closest relations with Milton. Among these was the Pensionary Cats, the "Father Cats," whose poetry is still so popular in Holland. 2 More- 1 Masson's "Life of Milton," vol. iv. p. 371. 2 Masson's "Life," iv. 353. Mr. Masson says that "there is a very credible tradition that Milton," in his official capacity, "was allowed a weekly table for the entertainment of such foreigners of distinction as came on embassy business." MILTON AND VON DEL. 19 over, during these same years that the Dutch and the English were contending in the Channel, Milton was engaged in those bitter controversial struggles against Salmasius and Morus which first gave him a European reputation. Now both these opponents, though the one was of French, the other of Scotch extraction, were resi- dent in the United Provinces. Salmasius (Claude de Saumaise) was professor at Leyden ; Morus (Alexander More), pastor and theological professor at Middleburg. The reply of Milton to the first, his celebrated " Pro Populo Anglicano Defensio," was published in 165 1 ; the " Defensio Secunda," an onslaught upon Morus, in 1654. Now, these works not only made Milton's name a household word in Holland, but they brought him into the most intimate connection with Dutch booksellers and correspondents. A perusal of the latter pamphlet will speedily prove how minutely Milton had been supplied with the gossip of the Hague and the petty scandals of Leyden. The way he obtained his information was no doubt largely through the agency of a group of friends, whom Mr. Masson calls the " Hartlib connection." 1 These consisted of Samuel Hartlib, John Durie, John Pell, Theodore Haak, March- mont Needham, and others ; 2 and they might quite as appropriately have been called the Dutch con- nection. Needham started in June 1650 a weekly journal called the Mercurius Politicus, and on January 1, 1650-51, associated Milton with himself as "censor," or supervising editor. Now this paper (copies of which during the period of Milton's censorship are to be seen in the British Museum) had regular Dutch corre- 1 Masson's " Life," iv. 329, 449, 452, 459, 462 et sq. 2 Stern's "Milton," ii. 266 sqq., iii. 27 sqq., 191, 278, 282, iv. 20 sq. 20 MILTON AND VON DEL. spondents at the Hague, so that from this source alone information at first hand was accessible to Milton of all the passing events of interest across the water. Letters to Milton from Durie at Amsterdam are extant. 1 Pell had been a professor both at Amsterdam and Breda. Haak was a Dutchman. Hartlib, whose activity in literary matters was of boundless capacity, was the medium through whom Milton was brought into corre- spondence with a certain Ulac, a bookseller at the Hague. This Ulac was a very shrewd man of business. He had, after the success of the pamphlet against Salmasius, been anxious to obtain a promise from Mil- ton through Hartlib that he should print for him. Milton had replied that he had nothing at present for publication. Meanwhile the manuscript of the attack against Milton, the " Eegii Sanguinis Clamor," had been placed in his hands ; so, desirous at once not to refuse an opportunity for doing some trade, and at the same time to keep on excellent terms with a possible good customer, he undertook to publish the hostile pamphlet, while he " informed Hartlib of what was coming, and sent over to him, week by week, the single sheets of the book wet from- the press, making tender inquiries at the same time as to the state of Milton's eyes, and hinting that, if Milton should write an answer to the book, he would be happy to print the foreign edition." 2 This is such a very remarkable proof of the facility with which books printed in Holland could find their way to London, that it is superfluous to accumulate further evidence. Negotiations with Dutch envoys, controversies with Dutch professors, intercourse with a circle of quasi-Dutch friends, correspondence with 1 Masson's "Life," iv. 631. 2 Ibid., iv. 466. MILTON AND VONDEL. 21 Dutch residents, quarrels with Dutch booksellers, all conspired to familiarise Milton with Dutch affairs, and to make him only less well acquainted with the events and intrigues, nay, the very gossip of the chief centres of Dutch life, than with the current topics of London. If this be so, it is well-nigh impossible that Milton should not speedily have learned so interesting a piece of news, to a man of letters, as the appearance in January 1654 of Vondel's "Lucifer," and the storm of ecclesiastical enmity which it evoked. For Vondel was no young or unknown man, and had long ere this established his fame, as the foremost of the many brilliant writers who flourished during this, the Golden Age of Dutch literature. He was now at the zenith of his fame. His position of supremacy had just (20th October 1653 x ) been recognised at the celebration of the Feast of St. Luke at Amsterdam. As if in antici- pation of the masterpiece which was so soon to be given to the world, 2 above a hundred poets and painters and lovers of the arts, assembled on this occasion, saluted the aged Vondel as their chief, and one of their number, in the guise of Apollo, solemnly placed on his head the Laureate's crown. This was a literary event which, amidst the other items of intelli- gence from Holland, was almost certain to reach the ears of Milton, and to stimulate him to inquire after the works of so celebrated a writer, even had they been entirely unknown to him before. There is, how- ever, no reason to suppose that this was the case. The 1 Brandt's " Leven van Vondel," pp. 74-75 ; Van Lennep's " Vondel," vi. 376-384. 2 The " Lucifer " was already complete in MS. Thijm's " Portretten van Vondel," p. 135, &c. 22 MILTON AND VONDEL. two most famous productions of Vondel' s pen previous to the appearance of the "Lucifer" were undoubtedly the two plays entitled the " Palamedes," and the " G-ysbrecht van Amstel." With both of these it is, at least, strongly probable that Milton was acquainted. The former, written in 1625, under the form of a Greek story, is a political allegory, and perhaps, as a sustained piece of trenchant satire, has never been surpassed for delicate irony and richness of allusion. It holds up to obloquy and public resentment the motives and the conduct of the political and religious party, who had re- warded the patriotism of the great Advocate Barneveldt by a death of shame, and had condemned to lifelong imprisonment the young and illustrious Hugo Grotius. 1 The daring author barely escaped from paying with his life the penalty for his temerity. Summoned before the court at the Hague, some staunch friends that he had upon the Town Council of Amsterdam pleaded the privileges of the city, and refused to surrender him to other jurisdiction. He was tried, therefore, before the two sheriffs of Amsterdam, and mulcted in a heavy fine. This, as might easily have been foreseen, " served only " to use the words of the friend and biographer of Vondel, Brandt " to make the book better known and men more curious. It is also certain," he adds, "that there is no means to make books more sought after and read than to forbid them . . . and punish the writers ; because this awakes much notoriety, and many, who otherwise would have never thought about such writ- ings, wish to see them. It is the right sauce to make such fare tasty." The first edition was sold out in a 1 Brandt's " Leven," pp. 24-32 ; Van Lennep's " Vondel," ii. p. 520, &c. MILTON AND VONDEL. 23 few days, and within a few years more than thirty fresh editions were issued. Such a sale as this, it is scarcely necessary to point out, was something quite extraordinary at the begin- ning of the seventeenth century, and signified not only an almost universal dispersion of the book in Holland, but that a considerable number of copies must have found purchasers in other lands, and made the name of Vondel known even to some, who were unable to read his works. Now the subject of the drama was one which was likely to be of special interest to Milton. The story of the death of Barneveldt and of the Synod of Dort must have been the subject of frequent converse in a Puritan household like that of the elder Milton, who was not only a religious precisian, but a man of learning and education, to whose care his son, in the first instance, owed his early acquaintance with the " humane letters," and through whose encouragement, while yet a boy, he pursued his studies with precocious energy. For Holland was, in the reign of James I., the house of refuge for those who fled from religious persecution in England, and there was no lack of communication between the " Separatist " congregations * at Amsterdam, Leyden, and Eotterdam and their sympathisers on the banks of the Thames. Moreover, the fate which befell the literary hero of his age, Grotius, the man of universal and dazzling genius, can scarcely have failed to stir the chords of pity and sorrow in the youthful heart of one who in 1 From these refugees in Holland came the Pilgrim Fathers, who sailed in the " May Flower " from Plymouth two years after the death of Barneveldt. See Masson's "Life," vol. ii. pp. 538-542. 24 MILTON AND VON DEL. after years (1638), during his brief visit to Paris, sougM as a special favour from the English ambassador, an in- troduction to the great Dutch statesman and scholar, then residing as Swedish Envoy at the court of Louis XIII. This admiration for, and personal intercourse with Grotius, on the part of Milton is in fact one of the valuable personal links which connect him with Von- del. For Grotius had been the friend and protector of Vondel from the time when he first emerged from obscurity, and was his instructor 1 in acquiring the Latin and Greek languages; and their esteem for one another, which commenced thus early, continued through- out life. Many letters from Grotius are extant express- ing the strongest admiration for Vondel's poetical powers, and a number of Vondel's compositions were written in honour, praise, or defence of his friend. Of one of these we shall have occasion to speak more particularly anon. Before doing so, we must point out that the man, who at the time of the publication of the " Palamedes," used his utmost influence to have Vondel dragged before the Fiscal at the Hague to be tried for his life, was none other than Adrian Pauw, then Pensionary of Amsterdam, afterwards Grand Pensionary of Holland, and twice envoy-extraordinary of the United Provinces to England. He was the son of the Burgomaster Eeinier Pauw, who had sat in 161 8 as one of the members of the tribunal which condemned the Advocate Barneveldt to death, and had thus special reasons for being incensed at the reflections which were cast by Vondel upon his father. He appeared first in England to plead for the life of Charles L, and afterwards, in the 1 "J. Vondel," &c, par l'Abbe A. Stillemans, p. io. MILTON AND VON DEL. 25 beginning of 1652, he was dispatched to make every effort to avert the then impending war. Of this visit Milton himself speaks in his " Defensio Secunda," and says that the Envoy, whom he calls " the honour and ornament of Holland," sent him " frequent assurances of his extraordinary predilections and regard." 1 Even had they no opportunity for friendly converse, the assailant of Yondel was here brought into close relation with Cromwell's Latin Secretary, and it is evident that they regarded each other with feelings of mutual esteem and respect, which could only have arisen from know- ledge of their respective lives and characters. The circumstance proves nothing, but the collocation of names is again interesting and suggestive. We have already, in alluding to the story of the publication of the " Palamedes," pointed out how strong was the pro- bability that Milton, through friendship with Puritan refugees in Holland or otherwise, may have heard, at the time, of the sensation, which Vondel's brilliant satire had caused throughout the United Provinces, and have hinted the possibility that a copy may have come into his hands. Had this been so, there could be no insuperable difficulty for so skilled and accom- plished a linguist to decipher the Dutch text, even though the language might not be familiar to him. There is, indeed, no direct evidence to show that Milton did in this manner and at this time make acquaintance with Vondel's play, but the resemblance between the imagery in a famous chorus of the " Palamedes " and certain portions of the "Allegro" and the "Penseroso" is of such a nature as to lend force to the supposition. The similarity is not close enough to justify us in making 1 " The Prose Works of John Milton," vol. i. p. 178, Bohn. 26 MILTON AND VONDEL. the assertion that the one passage has supplied the motive for the others, but sufficiently so to give it plausibility. 1 With regard to the " Gysbrecht van Amstel," the other play of Vondel's mentioned above, and the one of all his dramas which has retained the strongest hold upon the affections of his countrymen, a curious coincidence of dates makes it extremely likely that this too, at the time of its first appearance, may have been brought to the cognisance of Milton. This play was specially written for the opening of the new theatre 2 at Amster- dam, and was the first piece performed on its stage (Christmas Day, 1637). It was dedicated to Grotius, who sent to the poet from Paris a letter of acknowledg- ment, 3 a portion of which we quote : " I have always most highly esteemed your gifts and your works. If I should say of this work what I feel, then would suspi- cion be aroused as to whether I were willing to recog- nise the honour which has befallen me through the dedication thereof, the which I neither by this nor by other methods see that I could do according to my satisfaction. To others I shall speak highly of the happy choice of this truly realistic, but, by you, beau- tifully embellished story, peculiarly belonging to the town of Amsterdam, where this work is produced and represented ; the very pleasing arrangement of all parts from the first to the last, the wise teaching, tender emotions, flowing yet well-knit verses. To yourself I shall say no more than that I should hold Amsterdam 1 The translation of this chorus is given in the Appendix. It is taken from the " Batavian Anthology " by John Bowring. 2 Van Lennep, iii. 319, &c. 3 Brandt's " Leven,'' p. 54. MILTON AND VON DEL. 27 as fortunate should there be many who can esteem this work according to its value. The ' (Edipus at Colonus ' of Sophocles, the ' Supplicants ' of Euripides, have never afforded Athens greater honour than Amsterdam here- with enjoys." This is a specimen of several other letters from Grotius to Vondel on works which the poet had sub- mitted to his judgment and approbation, and it can be shown that their language of eulogy was not dictated by merely friendly courtesy or complaisance ; for certain letters from Grotius to the eminent scholar Gerard Vossius have come down to us, containing comments on Vondel's writings couched in the very same strain. One of these letters contains a lengthened notice of the " Gysbrecht," a single sentence of which is sufficient to prove, that the play had commended itself to his criti- cal judgment, and that he felt really pleased at its dedi- cation to him : " Vondel has done me an act of friend- ship by dedicating to me, as a man having some taste in such matters, a tragedy of admirable import, well- ordered symmetry, and overflowing eloquence." x Now the letter of Grotius to Vondel just quoted bears the date May 28, 1638, and it was in this very month of May 1638 that Milton, setting out on his journey to Italy, came to Paris, and asked the English Ambassador to give him an introduction to Grotius. The introduc- tion was given, and Phillips tells us that the distin- guished Dutchman " took Milton's visit kindly, and gave him entertainment suitable to his worth and the high commendations he had heard of him." Thus, at the very time when Milton was enjoying Grotius' hospita- lity, his host was writing to express his obligations to 1 Brandt's " Leven," p. 56. 28 MILTON AND VON DEL. Vondel for the dedication to him of the " Gysbrecht," and doubtless the newly-arrived play occupied the place of honour upon his library table, and was the subject of conversation between himself and his literary guests. But it is time to return from these digressions to that play which is the more special object of our investiga- tion. Already on that 20th October 1653 when Vondel was crowned at the Festival of St. Luke, the manuscript of the " Lucifer " was complete, 1 and was shortly after- wards placed in the printer's hands. It was published and brought upon the stage at the commencement of 1654, but, after two representations only, was with- drawn, owing to the violent hostility which it aroused among the more extreme Calvinistic preachers. They proclaimed from the pulpit that it contained " unholy, immodest, idolatrous, false, and very bold things, too cunningly devised for human brains," and brought the matter at once before the Church Council. From the account of the proceedings contained in the "Protocol," bearing the date 5th February 1654, it appears that a remonstrance was addressed to the authorities of the town " against a play written by Joost van den Vondel, named Luisevaer's Tragedy, about the Fall of the Angels, treating the high matters of the mysteries of God in a carnal manner," and much more to the like import. 2 The result was an official inhibition of the " Lucifer," a result on which Brandt makes the comment " The opposition awakened so great a curiosity to read that 1 Thijm's "Portretten van Vondel," pp. 135-137. 2 See Van Vloten's edition of the " Lucifer," in the Klassiek Letter- kundig Pantheon Series, under the heading "Kerkelijke Tegenwerk- ing," pp. 92-98. MILTON AND VON DEL. 29 which was forbidden to be played, that the entire im- pression of 1000 copies was in eight days' time sold out, so that the publisher brought out the tragedy again from the press " l As twenty-nine years before with the " Palamedes," the enemies of the poet had " scourged him with a fox's tail," 2 and the effect of per- secution was increased popularity. Vondel was not the man to submit tamely to his fate. The lampoons and travesties, which greeted the appearance of his play, roused him to reply in a series of vigorous retorts, full of that biting wit and pun- gent satire, which he knew so well how to use, to the discomfiture of his foes. The fame of "Luisevaer's Tragedy " was spread far and wide, and the victory of its writer in the paper-war of reprisals was doubtless the subject of discussion and amusement in every lite- rary coterie throughout Holland. At this very time, Milton in England was busily writing and gathering materials for his attack upon Alexander Morus, then pastor at Middleburg and pro- fessor at Amsterdam, whom he imagined to be the author of the Eoyalist pamphlet entitled " Eegii San- guinis Clamor ad Ccelum." He actually published his "Defensio Secunda" in May 1654. We have already pointed out that in this piece we find that Milton dis- played a remarkable acquaintance not merely with the general course of events in Holland, but with the sub- currents of rumour and scandal, with the tittle-tattle and innuendos of private spite. It is impossible to glance at the contents of the pamphlet without seeing that the writer is perfectly at home with all that was passing in 1 Brandt's " Leven," p. 76. 2 Met een vossenstaart gegeesselt. 3 o MILTON AND VON DEL. Amsterdam, Leyden, and the Hague ; and we may as- sume as a certainty that the fame of the " Lucifer " would be speedily transmitted to him through some of his friends and correspondents, 1 and that he would be eager to make every inquiry after a drama dealing with the very subject on which his own thoughts had been fixed already for many years. Further, as we have already shown, he had just been learning the language, in which it was written, from the conversa- tion and readings of Eoger Williams, and his teacher did not leave England till the early summer of 1654, or some months at least after the appearance of the " Lucifer." 2 We can easily imagine that Milton would be desirous before the departure of his friend to make acquaintance with this play, which all Holland was reading; and thus it is at least possible that it was from the lips of Williams himself that he first heard the rhythmic lines and learnt to appreciate the poetical power and fine imagery of Vondel's masterpiece. ' 1 Among others, Durie was in Amsterdam in the spring of this year, corresponding with Milton, Hartlib, &c. 2 Knowles' " Life of Roger Williams," p. 260. ( 3i ) CHAPTER III. THE LUCIFER. It is now full time to pass on from the consideration of the probability that Milton may have studied the Lucifer to the actual proofs from internal evidence that he must have done so. No adequate or exhaus- tive comparison of the Lucifer with the Paradise Lost has ever yet been undertaken, 1 and the judgments, which have been passed upon the subject, have too often been based on second-hand and unsifted evidence, or at the best on a thorough knowledge of only one of the two poems. 1 The essay by Mr. Gosse, "Milton and Vondel," in his volume entitled " Studies in Northern Literature," is a good instance in point. The essay is simply an essay upon Vondel ; a number of vague genera- lities comprise all that bears upon the subject which the title suggests. Mr. Gosse has given an excellent analysis of the plot and action of the Lucifer, and he has translated into English verse (we should be sorry to say travestied) a number of specimen excerpts, which may have been chosen as illustrative of the Dutch Poet's style and manner, but have certainly not been happily selected for the purpose of Miltonic par- allelism. The representation which they give of the remarkable simila- rities between the Paradise Lost and the Lucifer in language and turn of thought is both incomplete and misleading. Mr. Gosse gives prominence to many passages which are irrelevant to his purpose, while he omits most of those which have an important bearing upon the comparison he institutes ; the vein of burlesque, moreover, which runs through the renderings gives an altogether wrong impression of the nature of Vondel's splendid poetical gifts. 32 THE LUCIFER. Mr. Pattison, in his admirable and scholarly little work upon Milton, 1 has expressed in a very clear and concise manner his views upon the question of the obligations of Milton to Vondel. He does not pretend to speak from personal investigation ; he evidently assumes the claims of Vondel to have been put forward in their strongest form (by Mr. Gosse and others) ; he weighs their arguments and delivers sentence accord- ingly. We will, therefore, take his statement as an unbiassed summing-up of the case as heretofore pre- sented, and point out how unsound are the foundations on which it rests. False premises have produced false conclusions. Mr. Pattison writes as follows : " The Dutch drama turns entirely on the revolt of the angels and their expulsion from heaven, the fall of man being but a subordinate incident. In Paradise Lost the relation of the two events is inverted, the fall of the angels being there an episode, not transacted, but told by one of the personages of the Epic. It is, therefore, only in one book of Paradise Lost, the sixth, that the influ- ence of Vondel can be looked for. There may possibly occur in other parts of our Epic single lines of which an original may be found in Vondel's drama, . . . but it is in the sixth book only in which anything more than a verbal similarity is traceable. . . . Vondel is more human than Milton, just where human attributes are unnatural, so that heaven is made to seem like earth, while in Paradise Lost we always feel that we are in a region aloft." 2 Now, no one who reads this passage would imagine, what is actually the case, that in the Dutch drama the 1 English Men of Letters Series, pp. 202-206. 2 Ibid., p. 203. THE LUCIFER. 33 conflict in heaven only occupies a portion of the fifth act, and that there, as in the Paradise Lost, it is " not transacted, but told by one of the personages " of the drama. Again, it is not " in the sixth book only of the Paradise Lost that the influence of Yondel can be looked for ; " as a matter of fact, this influence shows itself in every one of the first nine books of Milton's poem, and notably in the first, second, fourth, and ninth. Once more, though " the incident of the fall of man " is undoubtedly "subordinate" to the main action of the Lucifer, yet Mankind, its privileges and its for- tunes, gives the keynote to the leading motive of the play. Throughout the drama Man is the continual subject of angelic discussion, and jealousy of Man is the determining cause of the revolt in heaven. Nor does Vondel confine himself to allusion. As we shall see later, the Lucifer opens with a description of Para- dise and its inhabitants which is rich in coincidences with that portion of the Paradise Lost, which deals with the same subject, and it closes with an account of the Council of the Lost Angels in Hell and of Lucifer's plan of revenge, resulting in the temptation and fall of man, which, though very briefly sketched, shows a remarkable outline resemblance to Milton's more elaborate and more highly-wrought picture of the same events. Lastly for we quarrel with Mr. Pattison's statement throughout we do not consider that his criticism upon Vondel's treatment of the subject is quite fair to the Dutch Poet. Yondel was compelled to be " more human" than Milton; he was obliged to make "his heaven seem like earth" from the very fact that he wrote a drama which was intended for the stage, and c 34 THE LUCIFER. was indeed actually represented, and not an Epic poem. The exigencies of the case demanded a more human treatment. Had Milton carried out his first intentions and written a tragedy, even he would have had to clip the wings of his imagination and materialise his con- ceptions. The Satan of Milton would be utterly im- possible, as a dramatic personage. Without entering into any detailed analysis of the plot of the Lucifer, 1 we shall find it sufficient for our purpose to give the author's own short account of its contents. It runs as follows : "Lucifer, the archangel, proud, ambitious, blindly selfish, envied God's unlimited greatness, and man also, who, being created in the image of God, held sway in his luxuriant Paradise over the whole earth. He envied God and man the more when Gabriel, the herald of God, declared all the angels to be but ministering spirits, and revealed to them the mysteries of God's future Incarnation, whereby human nature, exalted above that of angels and united truly with the Divine, might expect equal might and majesty ; where- upon the proud, envious spirit, attempting to place himself upon an equality with God and to keep man out of heaven, through his abetters incited to arms innumerable angels, and le^d them against the host of Michael, the heavenly commander, but was defeated. Enraged at his overthrow, he swore revenge, and tempted man into disobedience against God, for which he and all his hosts were plunged into hell and doomed to eternal perdition." 1 For this see Mr. Gosse's Essay ; also Stilleman's " Dichter Joostvan den Vondel," pp. 34-47 ; and Van Lennep's " Vondel," Introduction to the Lucifer, vol. vi. p. 201 sqq. THE LUCIFER. 35 In this outline of Yondel's play we find the entire scheme of the Paradise Lost indicated; the salient features of the two poems are identical. And not merely so. The chief defects on which the earliest critics of the Paradise Lost dwelt were these : That Milton brings his story to a conclusion by representing hell j tnd_ sin and death as triumphant, and that he has so delineated the character of Satan as to make him in reality the hero of the poem. 1 Now these were precisely the charges brought against the Lucifer. Here also it was argued that the drama should not issue in "de triomf der Hel;" here also objections were made to "de karakterteekening van den hoofdpersoon, Lucifer, als toonbeeld van den hoogmoed zelf." 2 Again, as regards this latter point, it is at once curious and interesting that critics should have regarded either poem as being to a certain extent an historical allegory upon the events of the English Eebellion, and the character of Satan in the one, and of Lucifer in the other, as being framed upon that of the great Eebel, Cromwell. 3 The evidence that Vondel, at any rate, deliberately intended in the creation of his Lucifer to present a counterfeit of the famous English leader is very strong, and there can be little doubt that to Cromwell, specially, the closing sentence of the introduction to the drama was intended to apply. "We are the more eager to bring ' Lucifer ' upon the tragic stage since he, stricken at last by the thunderbolt of God, is thrust down to 1 Addison in the " Spectator," Essay 297, &c. ; Dryden, Dedication to his translation of the " iEneid." 2 Van Vloten's Inleiding, p. xv. (Klassiek Letter Kundig Pantheon Lucifer). 8 See Stern's " Milton und seine Zeit," vol. iv., p. 79, &c. 36 THE LUCIFER. hell, as a signal example to all thankless and ambitious persons, who audaciously dare to rise up against con- secrated powers and majesties and lawful authorities." The language of certain pieces, in which Vondel from time to time assailed the revolutionary party in England with fierce satirical invective, makes this quite clear. One, for example, runs thus (in free translation): To the Regicides op England. Dissembling Lucifer made Parliament his tool To seize his Sovereign's sword, in Church and Court to rule ; And that Anointed Head, by many a bloody coil, To buy with Judas' blood, the scum of Scottish soil. When Royal neck and crown beneath his axe lay prone, Then raise in th' English (angel's) realm the Hellish Host his throne. 1 After these prefatory and general considerations we shall now produce the evidence of the play itself, and for this purpose have made a careful selection of those 1 Aan de Koning-dooders van Engeland. Vermomde Lucifer had door zijn Parlement, Den Heer het zwaard ontrukt, de Kerk en 't Hof geschend, En dat gezalvde Hoofd, na 't bloedig t'zamen rotten, Gekocht van Judas-bloed, den droesem van de Schotten, Als hij de moordbijl klonk door's Konings hals en kroon. Zoo bouwt het Helsche Heer in 't Engelsch rijk zijn troon. The play in the last line is upon the word Engelsch = English or Angelic. Another passage occurs in the " Morgenwekker der Sabbisten : " " Uw scepter-stormen, geen hervormen, Volgt Lucifer's banier in 't stormen," &c. In the best known of these pasquinades (that entitled " Protecteur Weerwolf," and commencing " Milord Isegrim, van den boozen Geest bezeten ") the following lines seem to refer to Milton's writings against Tyranny : " Hij ontvangt, in spijt van blinden en zienden, Kostuimen en schipgelt, vrijbuitgelt en tienden." THE LUCIFER. yj passages which appear the most important for the pur- pose of comparison, and shall place them side by side in their English garb 1 with parallel passages from the Paradise Lost, those from the less-known work being placed in continuous order, with the design of indicating thereby the sequence of events, and drawing attention to the more salient points of Vondel's plot. The first act of the play opens with the return of Apollion, the messenger of Lucifer, from a mission of discovery upon the newly-created earth. Belial and Beelzebub stand on the brink of heaven watching the upward flight of Apollion. Belial addresses his com- panion " Lord Beelzebub, Stallholder's counsellor ! He riseth steep, with many a wheel, in viewy Outstrips the wind, and leaves a track of light And splendour after him, where his quick wings Winnow 2 the clouds. And now our air he scents In brighter light and more resplendent sun, Whose sheen is mirrored in crystalline blue. The heavenly globes gaze on him from below, As he upsprings, the cynosure of each, Astonished at his speed and godlike shape, Which seems no angel, but a flying fire; No star so swiftly shoots." Act i. 10-2 r. 1 The translations have all been made with scrupulous and literal accuracy into English blank-verse. This metre has been chosen in preference to the rhymed Alexandrines of Vondel, because the latter are unfamiliar to the English ear and uncongenial to the English tongue, accustomed by the usage of Shakespeare and Milton to the cadence of (what Milton in his Preface to the Paradise Lost calls) " English heroic verse without rime." It is obvious, likewise, in this special case, that this course at once enables the renderings to be given with far greater verbal exactness, and makes the comparison with parallel passages from Milton's works clearer and more trustworthy. The original Dutch of all the quotations will be found in the Appendix. 2 Lit. break. 38 THE LUCIFER. On reading this finely-conceived passage, our thoughts at once turn to Milton's description of the descent of the Archangel Eaphael into Paradise ; and upon exa- mination we shall find here some very remarkable coincidences between the two poets " Down thither prone in flight He speeds, and through the vast ethereal sky Sails between worlds and worlds with steady wings ; Now in the polar winds ; then with quick fan Winnows the buxom air, till, within soar Of towering eagles, to all the fowls he seems A phoenix, gazed by all as that sole bird." P. L., v. 266-272. In addition to the actual similarities of language, the ideas involved in these two passages are almost identical. In the one case, as Raphael nears the earth, the fowls each and all gaze on him as a rare bird ; in the other, as Apollion speeds upwards, the globes gaze after him as a strange and glorious star. The whole of this passage of the descent of Raphael will again come under our notice in the chapter upon Vondel's " Johannes Boetgezant." Turning to Milton's x account of the journey of Satan from hell, we find that after his interview with the Anarch Chaos the fiend " Springs upward, like a pyramid of fire, Into the wild expanse." P. L. t ii. 1012. To the Anarch old peering into vast abyss he would appear precisely as did Apollion to the gazing spheres " A flying fire" 1 All the Miltonic extracts are taken from the " The Poetical Works," edited by David Masson. London : Macmillan & Co. 1874. THE LUCIFER. 39 And when, at the close of his adventurous voyage, he descends from the sun to the earth, he " Throws his steep flight in many an aery wheel." P. L., iii 741. The comparison to a shooting-star, which occurs in the last line of our quotation, is somewhat amplified by Vondel in another passage. Michael is described as " Warned from on high By Heaven's messenger, who downward flew Yet swifter than a star, which shoots through air" Actv. 1 739-1 74c. In the Paradise Lost Gabriel is warned by Uriel, who " Came, gliding through the even On a sunbeam, swift as a shooting star." P. L., iv. 556-557. Again, just as Vondel makes Apollion, as he ap- proaches heaven, to enter a region of purer air and brighter light, whose more resplendent sun is mirrored in the depths of the blue crystalline, so Milton when he describes the work of creation on the second day " And God made The firmament, expanse of liquid, pure, Transparent, elemental air. For as Earth, so be the world Built on circumfluous waters calm, in wide Crystalline ocean." P. L. t vii. 263-271. Lucifer is represented in the play, as the Stadholder of Heaven, the deputy of the Almighty, in the same sense as William of Orange had been the deputy of 40 THE LUCIFER. Philip of Spain in the government of the Netherlands. Beelzebub is addressed by his companion by the title of " the Counsellor of the Stadholder of Heaven," and throughout the drama he appears as Lucifer's chief adviser and abetter in his ambitious and rebellious projects. Now it is interesting to note that this is the very position assigned by Milton to the Beelzebub of the Paradise Lost, who is " next " to his chief " in power and next in crime," 1 and whose lineaments are thus portrayed " Deep on his front engraven Deliberation sat and public care, And princely counsel in his face yet shone." P. L., ii. 303. But we must pass on. Our next Vondelian citations are all taken from Apollion's narrative of his voyage of discovery and of the wonders that he saw upon the new-created world, except the first, wherein Beelzebub expresses his admiration of a golden bough which Apollion had brought with him from Paradise in these terms " I see the golden leaves Laden with siWry dew, oztherial pearls. The sight allures the taste. Who would not long For earthly luxuries ? He who can pluck The fruits of earth disdains our clime above, And heavenly manna." i. 29, &c. With these we take the following lines, which were spoken to Adam by the Archangel Eaphael ; they occur 1 Paradise Lost, i. 79. THE LUCIFER. 41 very shortly after the lines which we have already quoted from the description of Raphael's descent to Paradise " Though in Heaven the trees Of life ambrosial fruitage bear and vines Yield nectar though from off the boughs each morn We brush mellifluous dews and find the ground Covered with pearly grain yet God hath here Varied His bounty so with new delights As may compare with Heaven ; and to taste Think not I shall be nice." P. L., v. 426, &c. Next let us hear Apollion's narrative " My flight I pass in silence, not to tell How swift down-swooping through nine spheres I sank, Which round their centre whirl with arrowy speed. The wheel of thought cannot so quick revolve Within our mind, as I below the moon And clouds swept down, then stay'd on hovering wings The eastern tract and landscape to survey" i. 44, &c. For a parallel passage we once more turn to Raphael's conversation with Adam. Adam had been inquiring about the celestial motions; the Archangel thus replies " The swiftness of those circles attribute, Though numberless, to His omnipotence, That to corporeal substances could add Speed almost spiritual. Me thou think'st not slow, Who since the morning hour set out from Heaven, Where God resides, and ere mid-day arrived In Eden distance inexpressible By numbers that have name." P. L., viii. 107, &c. The sequence of ideas involved in these two passages is identical. Curiously alike in their astronomical beliefs, as in so many other points, the two poets here agree in their adherence to the old Alphonsine or Ptolemaic system with its nine consecutive revolving spheres. 42 THE LUCIFER. But, as we shall see later, while using for poetical pur- poses the old conceptions, they were each of them acquainted with, and had at least partially accepted, the new Copernican theory. Another passage, which tells of the descent of the Son of God to Paradise after the Fall, must likewise be quoted for its close analogy with the above " Him Thrones and Powers Accompanied to Heaven-gate, from whence Eden and all the coast in prospect lay. Down He descended straight ; the speed of gods Time counts not, though with swiftest minute winged." P. L., x. 85, &c. We left Apollion "stayed on hovering wings to survey the eastern tract and landscape " extending below his ken. So likewise Satan, after emergence from Chaos " Weighs his spread wings, at leisure to behold Far off the empyreal heaven, extended wide." P. L., ii. 104-105. Apollion next tells what was the prospect which met his eyes " From hence I saw a lofty hill emerge, Whereout a waterfall, source of four streams, Foams down a glade. Precipitant I strike My oblique course headlong, and come to rest Upon the mountain's brow, from whence one gains A prospect clear far o'er the nether world, Her happy fields and rich luxuriance." i. 52, &c. In the third book of the Paradise Lost Milton de- scribes the fiend as having attained to Heaven-gate and looking down with wonder and delight upon the new-created universe, the object of his painful search THE LUCIFER. 43 "At sight of all this world beheld so fair, Round he surveys, and without longer pause Down right into the world's first region throws His flight precipitant, and winds with ease Through the pure marble air his oblique way." P. Z., iii. 554, &c. The coincidence of language here is so remarkable that we almost seem to be reading an amplified transla- tion of Vondel's graphic lines " Wij streken steil en schuin Voorover met ons hooft." The rest of the passage is likewise reproduced in the two following Miltonic excerpts. All allowance should be made for their common Biblical origin. The reader will judge how far this accounts for the similarity " Southward through Eden went a river large, Nor changed his course, but through the shaggy hill Passed underneath ingulphed. Thence united fell Down the steep glade, and met the nether flood, Which from its darksome passage now appears, And now, divided into four main streams, Runs diverse." P. Z., iv. 223, &c. And a 45-45 I - THE LUCIFER. 57 across two lines which recall Lucifer's assertion of his position, " Son of Light " " The son of God I also am, or was ; And if I was, I am ; relation stands." P. R., iv. 518-519. The place of Beelzebub is now taken on the stage by Gabriel, who tries to dissuade Lucifer from his purpose by representing to him the inscrutable nature of the Divine Wisdom and the necessity of obedience to the decrees of the Almighty. The next extract forms part of his argument " Thus far it is permitted us to tell The secrets of God's book. Much knowledge may Not always profit bring, but sometimes harm. The Highest but reveals what He thinks fit. TK excessive glare of light would Seraphim With blindness strike. In part pure Wisdom would Her plans keep under seal, in part disclose. Submission and conformity to law f This best becomes the subject, who stands bound To serve his Master's will." ii. 483-491. In the eighth book of Paradise Lost Eaphael replies to Adam's questions as to the celestial movements " To ask or search I blame thee not ; for Heaven Is as the Book of God before thee set, Wherein to read His wondrous works . . The rest From man or angel the Great Architect Did wisely to conceal, and not divulge His secrets, to be scanned by them who ought Bather admire. .... Solicit not thy thoughts with matters hid : Leave them to God alone : Him serve and fear." P. L., viii. 65-67, 71-75, 168-170. 58 THE LUCIFER. When we add u Dark with excessive bright Thy skirts appear, Yet dazzle Heaven, that brightest Seraphim Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes," P. L., iii. 380-382, the reproduction of Gabriel's words is almost complete. So likewise with his rebuke of Lucifer which immedi- ately follows " Content you with your lot And state and dignity derived from God. He raised you to the highest place of all Among Hierarchal Powers. Yet not that you Should envious he of others? rising light. Then bow before the high decree of God, Who all, that being hath, or e'er shall have, From nothing called and guides to certain ends." ii. 501-504, 509-511. Contrast this with Abdiel's rebuke of Satan " Words which no ear ever to hear in Heaven Expected, least of all from thee, ingrate. In place thyself so high above thy peers, Canst thou with impious obloquy condemn The just decree of God pronounced and sworn, That to his only Son, by right endued With regal sceptre, every soul in Heaven Should bend the knee ] Shalt thou give law to God 1 Shalt thou dispute With Him the points of liberty, who made Thee what thou art, and formed the powers of Heaven Such as He pleased, and circumscribed their being 1 " P. L., v. 810-817, 822-825. We next take the last words of Gabriel and place THE LUCIFER. 59 them side by side with the last lines of Kaphael's answer to Adam " Thus learn we by degrees God's wise designs To question with respect and lowliness. He step by step lays bare the growing light Of Knowledge and of Science, and desires, That at his station each before Him bow." ii. 555-558. " Heaven is for thee too high To know what passes there. Be lowly wise ; Think only what concerns thee and thy being : Dream not of other worlds, what creatures there Live, in what state, condition, or degree, Contented that thus far hath been revealed Not of earth only, but of highest Heaven." P. Z.,viii. 172-178. Still from the second act of the drama we select a por- tion of an argument between Beelzebub and Apollion " Apol. Derived Might to weigh in the same scale With Might Divine, the weight overbalances. Take heed betimes. We poise too lightly far; Beelz. So lightly not, should the issue hang in doubt At first." ii. 612-615. The same simile appears at length in the fourth book of Milton's poem. Possibly a well-known pas- sage of Homer may have suggested it to both poets ; but we must take this, not in isolation, but as one out of a multitude of other places in which such coincidences have been shown to occur. The Almighty is represented as hanging forth in heaven His golden scales " Which Gabriel espying, thus bespake the Fiend : Satan, I know thy strength, and thou knowest mine ; 60 THE LUCIFER. Neither our own, but given. . . , For proof look up, And read thy lot in yon celestial sign, Where thou art weighed, and shown how light, how weak, If thou resist." P. L., iv. 1005-1006, 1010-1012. This corresponds closely with Apollion's words. Beelzebub's reply has likewise its analogue " Who have sustained one day in doubtful fight ; And if one day, why not eternal days ? " P. L., ix. 423-424- Apollion in this conference takes much the same line of argument as the Miltonic Belial in the hellish con- clave. He does not believe success to be possible " His (Michael's) duty is to watch. On every place He, trusty, keeps his watchful eye. What arms, What engines of assault can venture make 1 Gainst him, or overthrow the Heavenly lands ? E'en were Heaven's citadel to open wide Its gates of adamant, it need not fear Or guile, or ambush, or surprise." The words of Belial are " The towers of Heaven are filled With armed watch, that render all access Impregnable." P. L., ii. 130-132. And again " What can force or guile With Him, or who deceive His mind whose eye Views all things at one view 1 " P. L., ii. 1 88-191. And Beelzebub continues shortly afterwards in the same strain " Nor shall we need With dangerous expedition to invade THE LUCIFER. 61 Heaven, whose high walls fear no assault or siege Or ambush from the deep." P. L., ii. 343-346. 1 It is instructive to compare the two descriptions of the evil spirit who in either poem bears the name of Belial. Vondel thus " His face, smooth varnish of deceit and craft, In its disguise misleads each passer-by." Thus Milton " A fairer person lost not Heaven j he seemed For dignity composed and high exploit, But all was false and hollow." P. L., ii. 110-112. Our poets at times agree in conceptions and fancies, which are in themselves out of the way and extrava- gant. Thus Lucifer declares u My mind is bent ..... Upon a weighty stroke, that shall not miss. Its certain aim, to pluck the battle-plumes From Michael's wings." ii. 590-592. Satan taunts Abdiel " But well thou com'st Before thy fellows, ambitious to win From me some plume." P. L., vi. 1 59-161. We now pass on to the third act of the Lucifer, which mainly consists of a controversial dialogue be- tween the loyal angels and the Luciferists; Michael, Lucifer, Beelzebub, and others joining in it from time to time. We make one quotation, which corresponds in a very remarkable way to a Miltonic passage, which contains the Vondelian imagery in all its quaint details 1 Compare also Lucifer, ii. 640 ; and Paradise Lost, v. 254. 62 THE LUCIFER. *' You see the host of heaven in gold arrayed And set in files, alternate keep their watch, How this star sets and that ascends on high; How this a smaller round, a larger that describes. Yet know in all these inequalities No discord, envy, strife. The Voice Supreme Of their Conductor leads their measured song : To Him they listen, eagerly attent." iii. 971-980. Milton thus describes the occupations of the heavenly host " That day, as other solemn days, they spent In song and dance about the sacred hill Mystical dance which yonder starry sphere Of planets and of fixed in all her wheels Eesembles nearest ; mazes intricate, Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular The most when most irregular they seem ; And in their motions Harmony divine So smoothes her charming tones that God's own ear Listens delighted." P. L., v. 617-627. Two passages of identical import now claim our attention, for Milton has also two wherewith to com- pare them. Towards the close of the third act the Luciferist Chorus thus encourages its chief " 7s it no help, that in your train you draw A third part of the spirits ? " iii. 1 244-1 245. The spectre Death addresses Satan " Art thou that traitor-angel, art thou he Who Drew after him the third part of Heaven's sons ? " P. L., ii. 692. At the opening of the fourth act of the drama, THE LUCIFER. 63 Gabriel announces to Michael the outburst of the revolt u The Heavens 1 third part e'en now hath fealty sworn Unto his standard, the false Morning Star." iv. 1 336-1 338. Milton thus describes the same event " His countenance, as the morning star that guides The starry flock, allured them, and with lies Drew after him the third part of Heaven's host." P. L., v. 708-710. In this same narrative of Gabriel's we find the de- scription of the Divine reception of the news of the revolt " I saw the bliss of God by a dark cloud Of sadness overcast ; then at the last Wrath, kindled, flame from eyes of Light." iv. 1 462- 1 464. In the corresponding lines of Paradise Lost " So spake the Sov'ran Voice ; and clouds began To darken all the hill, and smoke to roll In dusky wreaths, reluctant flames the sign Of wrath awaked." P. L., vi. 56-59. Kaphael in the play now endeavours to dissuade Lucifer from his attempt, his action and his language corresponding in the main to that assigned to Abdiel in the Epic, but drawn out to greater length. He depicts in vivid and glowing terms the splendour and privileges of that position which the "Stadholder of Heaven" was on the point of scornfully rejecting - " Yea ! God His own similitude and seal Had on your hallowed head and brow impressed, Transfused with beauty, wisdom, grace, whatever 64 THE LUCIFER. Flows forth in streams unmeasured from the source From whence all treasures spring. In Paradise You shone before the beaming countenance Of God, beclouded by fresh roseate dews/ Your festal robes stood stiff with pearl, turquoise, And diamond, with ruby and fine gold." iv. 1470-1478. The description in Paradise Lost of the derived glory of the Divine Son has many points of connection with the above " Thee next they sang, of all creation first Begotten Son, Divine Similitude, In whose conspicuous countenance, without cloud Made visible, the Almighty Father shines, Whom else no creature can behold ; on thee Impressed, the effulgence of His glory abides ; Transfused on thee His ample spirit rests." P. Z., iii. 382-389. And that also of the Son of God going forth to war. The Father declares " Into Thee such virtue and grace Immense I have transfused, that all may know In Heaven and Hell Thy power above compare." P. L., vi. 703-706. There is also a passage which deals with a different subject (the angelic recreations in heaven), and yet is strangely full of verbal reminiscences with the latter portion of our quotation. Eaphael is the speaker in either case " Rubied nectar flows In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold ; Where full measure only bounds Excess, before the all-bounteous King, who showered With copious hand, rejoicing in their joy. Now when ambrosial night with clouds exhaled THE LUCIFER. 65 From the high mount of God, And roseate dews disposed All but the unsleeping eyes of God to rest." P. Z., v. 633-634, 639-643, 646-647. One more short extract from Baphael's dissuasive pleadings " Stadholder ! why dissimulate your thoughts Before the All-Seeing Eye ? You cannot mask Your plans or soothe the All- Wise One with wiles." iv. 1 541-1543. We place by its side the lines which follow " What can force or guile With Him, or who deceive His mind whose eye Views all things at one view ? He from Heaven's height All these our motions vain sees and derides, Not more almighty to resist our might Than wise to frustrate all our plots and wiles." P. Z., ii. 188-194. Immediately before Lucifer had proffered the excuse of necessity " By high necessity compelled, I guard The holy right." iv, 1536. Similarly Satan " Public reason just Compels me now To do what else I should abhor. So spake the fiend, and with necessity, The tyrant's plea, excused his devilish deed." P. Z., iv. 391-394. The pleadings of Eaphael are of no avail, though he offers pardon E 66 THE LUCIFER. " Luc. What boots it though one be forearmed betimes To face the worst t There is no hope of terms. Raph. L promise certain grace." iv. 1631-1632. Satan, in Paradise Eegained, thus answers the Saviour " Let that come, when it comes, all hope is lost Of my reception into grace ! What worse 1 " P. R., iv. 518-520. With the fifth act of the drama we come at last upon that narrative of the War in Heaven, on which Milton has based his sixth book of Paradise Lost. It will be remarked that this book has hitherto scarcely contributed to our list of parallel passages. It will now make amends for previous deficiencies. Eaphael, in what may be called the first scene, hears the loud shouts which greet the triumph of Heaven, and meeting Uriel, the shield-bearer of Michael, returning from the fight, obtains from him a narrative of what has passed. Thus, in each poem, it is an angel who tells the story of the battle. We commence with the opening soliloquy of Eaphael " The whole of Heaven, from base to topmost crown Of her chief palaces, rejoicing shouts At Michael's victorious trumpet's sound And waving banners. The foughten field is won. Our shields shine splendid with the sheen of suns. From ev'ry sun-bright shield streams triumph forth. There Uriel, the shield-bearer, himself Gomes from the fight, and sways the flaming sword That, sharp on both sides, whet with heavenly wrath And vengeance fierce, amidst the raging strife Through armour, shield, and helm of adamant Hath swept to right and left." v. 1717-1726. THE LUCIFER. 67 Milton thus describes the joy of the angels over Satan's first overthrow " Amazement seized The rebel thrones. ..... Our joy filled and shout, Presage of victory and fierce desire Of battle ; whereat Michael bid sound The Archangel trumpet. Through the vast of Heaven It sounded, and the faithful armies sung Hosannah to the Highest." P. L., vi. 200-206. The sword of Michael, according to Milton " Smote and felled Squadrons at once ; with huge two-handed sway Brandished aloft, the horrid edge came down, Wide- wasting." P. L., vi. 250-253. Again " The sword Of Michael from the armoury of God Was given him tempered so that neither keen Nor solid might resist that edge." P. Z., vi. 320-323. The two extremely picturesque Vondelian lines, whose alliteration we have endeavoured to reproduce in translation " On schilden schitteren, en scheppen nieuwe zonnen Uit elcke schilt-zon straelt een triumphanten dag," have, as might be expected, not failed to leave their impress on Milton's mind. Their counterpart appears in " Two broad suns their shields Blazed opposite." P. L., vi 305. The following is taken from Uriel's narrative " Michael, the chief commander, from on high By the heavenly envoy warned, who downward flew 68 THE LUCIFER. More swift than star, which shoots athwart the night. How Lucifer, the Proud, had openly Rebelled against the high behest of God, With help of trusty Gabriel quick donned His coat of mail, and forthwith gave command To all his leaders, heads, and officers, In God's high name, to summon all their troops In ordered ranks, that with united force They may sweep clean away this perjured scum From off the broad expanse of Heaven's pure sky, And plunge in darkness all this demon host, Ere unawares they take us by surprise" v. 1 739-1 752. He who wishes to see the full connection of this whole passage with the Miltonic account must study the two, side by side, for himself. It would be weari- some to indulge in too lengthy comment. The descent of the heavenly envoy in the opening lines has already been compared with that of Uriel in the fourth book of Paradise Lost. 1 The passage of the sixth book in which God sends out Michael and Gabriel to battle first claims our atten- tion " Go, Michael, of celestial armies prince, And thou, in military prowess next, Gabriel ; lead forth to battle these my sons Invincible ; lead forth my armed saints, By thousands and by millions ranged for fight, Equal in number to that godless crew, Rebellious. Them with fire and hostile arms Fearless assault ; and to the brow of Heaven Pursuing, drive them out from God and bliss Into their place of punishment." P. L., vi. 44-53. 1 Supra, p. 39. Care must be taken not to confuse the spirits who bear the same names in the two poems. THE LUCIFER. 69 A few lines farther on we find " At which command the powers militant That stood for Heaven, in mighty quadrate joined Of union irresistible, moved on." P. L., vi. 61-63. And the reason appears later " The banded powers of Satan weened That self-same day, by fight or by surprise, To win the Mount of God." P. L., vi. 85-87. Each incident and point of the Vondelian description has its place in Milton's more elaborated narrative. The one metaphor that does not appear in the sixth book fully worked out has its place in Belial's speech at the hellish conclave ] u Could we break our way By force, and at our heels all Hell should rise With blackest insurrection to confound Heaven's purest light, yet our great Enemy, All incorruptible, would on His throne Sit unpolluted, and the ethereal mould, Incapable of stain, would soon expel Her mischief, and purge off the baser fire." P. Z., ii. 134-141- Under a most striking and peculiar simile Vondel thus depicts the appearance of the advancing rebel army " It quickly grew, and, like a half moon waxed, Sharpened its points, and closed on us two horns." 2 Nearly identical with this is a simile which Milton, uses at the close of the fourth book of Paradise Lost. 1 Compare Paradise Lost, vi. 271-275. 2 Compare also Paradise Lost, i. 616. 70 THE LUCIFER. Satan, discovered in Paradise, had just been led before Gabriel. The Archangelic Guard rebukes and threatens him, but his words only provoke a fierce rejoinder. Satan in turn threatens, but " While he thus spake, the angelic squadron bright Turned fiery red, sharpening in mooned horns Their phalanx, and began to hem him round." P. L., iv. 977-980. Yondel next describes the uprearing of the Archfiend's standard " The lofty standard, where his morning star Shone brighter than the day, Apollion Upheld behind him (Lucifer), bravely as he could, In its full lustre, set on high to view." v. 1780-1784. The English poet tells in fuller detail how Satan, having summoned together his scattered host after their fall " Straight commands that, at the warlike sound Of trumpets loud and clarions, be upreared His mighty standard. That proud honour claimed Azazel at his right, a cherub tall, Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurled The imperial ensign, which, full high advanced, Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind, With gems and golden lustre rich emblazed." P. L., i. 533-540. We now compare the respective portraitures of the adversary of God as he appears in pristine splendour at the head of his army. From " Lucifer " " Surrounded by his green-clad staff-bearers, He, furiously impelled by his deep grudge Irreconcileable, in golden mail That gleamed upon the military vest Of glowing purple with a lustrous sheen, THE LUCIFER. 71 Mounted his chariot with its golden wheels With rubies thick beset. The Dragon fell, And Lion, harnessed and alert for flight, With stars bespangled over all their backs, By pearly traces yoked before the wheels, Longed for the fight and for destruction flam? 'd ; War-axe in hand, his glimmering orbed shield, Whereon with art his morning star was chased, Confronting fate, upon his left arm hung." v. 1780-1788. From Paradise Lost * High in the midst, exalted as a god, The apostate in his sun-bright chariot sat, Idol of majesty divine, enclosed With naming cherubim and golden shields. Satan, with vast and haughty strides advanced, Came towering, armed in adamant and gold." P. L., vi. 99-102, 1 09- 1 10. The description of Lucifer's arms is likewise transferred to those of Michael " O'er his lucid arms A military vest of purple flowed." P. L., xi. 240-241. In this picture of the chariot Vondel has followed the splendid imagery of the first chapter of Ezekiel, though not so closely as Milton has done in the magni- ficent passage which tells how " Forth rush'd with whirlwind sound The chariot of Paternal Deity." He has, however, departed from his Biblical original in two points. He says their bodies were set with eyes as with stars " As with stars, their bodies all And wings were set with eyes." P. L., vi. 754-755. 72 THE LUCIFER. And again he tells how the cherubic shapes took an active part in the onslaught upon the rebel host " Every eye Glar'd lightning and shot forth pernicious fire Among the accursed." P. L., vi. 848-849. So Vondel's monsters are " With stars bespangled over all their backs." And they also " Long' d for the fight, and for destruction flam 'd." The motive, which drives Lucifer on, is the same to which Satan gives expression " Never can true reconcilement grow- Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep." P. L., iv. 98-99. With the last lines of our citation compare the Miltonic description of Satan's shield H The broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon." P. L., i. 286. As Uriel proceeds, his listener from time to time- interrupts him with exclamations of wonder and inte- rest, recalling the celebrated scene in Scott's " Ivanhoe " where Eebecca describes to her wounded companion the prowess of the Black Knight. Stirred by the recital of Lucifer's aspect and demeanour, Eaphael thus apostro- phises his former friend and chief " Lucifer ! thou wilt lament this pride, Thou phoenix 'midst the worshippers of God J hove. How thou dost stand amongst the host With head, helm, shoulders proudly eminent ! How gloriously thy arms become thy form, As if by nature forged to grace thee well ! chief of any els, yet no more, draw back." v. 1 800-1 806. THE LUCIFER. 73 We naturally look to Milton's splendid delineation of the " Archangel ruined " for coincidences with these lines. The spirit of them is contained in more passages than one ; for instance, in " Oh, how fallen ! how changed From him who, in the happy realms of light, Clothed with transcendent brightness, didst outshine Myriads though bright." P. L., i. 84-87. While in " He, above the rest (the rebel angels) In shape and gesture proudly eminent, Stood like a tower," P. L., i. 588-590, we have an almost literal transcript of Vondel's words. The pleading of the last line is that of Abdiel " Thyself, though great and glorious, dost thou count, Or all angelic natures joined in one, Equal to Him begotten Son. Cease, then, this impious rage." -P. L., v. 833-835, 845. Uriel takes up the broken thread of his graphic nar- rative " Confronted thus they stood, troop after troop, Most perfectly on either side by files To their battalions linked. When madding drum And strident trumpet join in clamorous sound, The noise sharpens each weapon and each hand, And mounts to holiest circles of pure light. A din at which forthwith a pregnant cloud Of darts, asunder riven, volleying, brings forth A fiery hail, a storm and tempest fierce, That strikes the heavens with fear, their pillars shakes. The spheres and stars, confounded in their course And orbit, are perplexed, and on their watch Bewildered, know not where to turn." v. 1806-18 17. 74 THE LUCIFER. To the details of this vigorously sketched battle-piece Milton was largely indebted. His presentment of the struggle is fuller, but not more realistic. A long passage tells of the orderly array of Michael's legions " On they move Indissolubly firm, nor obvious hill, Nor straitening vale, nor wood, nor stream divides Their perfect ranks." P. L. y vi. 68-71. At length the two hosts " Front to front Presented stood, in terrible array Of hideous length." P. L., vi. 105-107. Then the Archangel's trumpet sounds and battle is joined " Through the vast of Heaven It sounded, and the faithful armies sung Hosanna to the Highest ; nor stood at gaze The adverse legions, nor less hideous joined The horrid shock. Now storming fury rose And clamour such as heard in Heaven till now Was never ; arms on armour clashing brayed Horrible discord, and the madding wheels Of brazen chariots raged ; dire was the noise Of conflict ; overhead the dismal hiss Of fiery darts in flaming volleys flew, And, flying, vaulted either host with fire ; So under fiery cope together rushed Both battles main with ruinous assault And inextinguishable rage. All Heaven Resounded ; and, had earth been there, all earth Ha'd to her centre shook." P. L., vi. 203-219. It is impossible to believe that the imagery of these lines is not derived from a vivid recollection of the pre- viously written passage. Even the Dutch poet's some- what fantastic conceit as to the perplexity and con- THE LUCIFER. 75 fusion among the heavenly spheres has not failed to reappear in a slightly altered form as a Miltonic simile. The duel between Michael and Satan suggests it; their meeting is " Such as (to set forth Great things by small) if, Nature's concord broke, Among the constellations war were sprung, Two planets, rushing from aspect malign, Should combat and their jarring spheres confound." P.L., vi. 310-315. This episode of the battle shall furnish but two more extracts. They tell of Lucifer's desperate attempt to stem the fortunes of the day, and of the failure of his onslaught upon Michael "In fury Lucifer three times renewed The fight, and proudly stayed his faltering host; As if the stormy sea were beaten bach, Time after time, when surging on a rock, And can with all its efforts do no more." v. 1836- 1840. " Waz-axe in hand, on this side and on that He parries blows or breaks them on his shield, Till Michael in his glittering armour stands Before him, godlike 'midst a ring of suns. * Hence, Lucifer ! give God the victory; Lay down your arms and standard; yield to God; Lead off this impious host, this wicked crew, Or else beware.' Thus from above he calls. The grand Foe of God's name, stiff-necked, unmoved, And prouder at these words, repeats in haste His blow three times, to cleave with his great axe The shield of adamant stamped with God's name. But he, who Heaven provokes, feels wrath divine. Upon the sacred adamant his blade Shivers and into fragments splits." 1 v. 1908-192 1. 1 Compare also Paradise Lost, 785-798. 76 THE LUCIFER. The first extract is specially interesting, as affording a very strong proof of the correctness of our thesis. The simile it contains is taken by Milton and repro- duced almost verbatim; and it appears, not in Para- dise Lost, but in Paradise Eegained, and refers not to Satan in arms, but to the Tempter in the wilder- ness " As surging waves against a solid rock, Though all to shivers dashed, the assault renew (Vain battery !) and in froth and bubbles end ; So Satan, whom repulse upon repulse Met ever, and to shameful silence brought, Yet gives not o'er, though desperate of success, And his vain importunity pursues." P. R., iv. 18-25. The second is part only of a passage which deserves to be closely compared with the whole corresponding section of Book vi. of Paradise Lost, for the contrasts are as remarkable as the resemblances. We will content ourselves with pointing out how in both poems the sympathies of the reader are attracted to the side of the rebel leader, who dauntlessly upholds a desperate cause, and is defeated by no superior prowess on the part of his adversary, but entirely by his possession of charmed weapons. We select the chief verbal coincidences " Satan, who on that day Prodigious power had shown, and met in arms No equal, ranging through the dire attack Of fighting Seraphim confused, at length saw Where the sword of Michael smote. . . . . . . . Such destruction to withstand He hasted, and opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield." P. L., vi. 246-250, 253-255. THE LUCIFER. 77 The fierce challenge of Michael contributes the fol- lowing " Hence then, and evil go with thee along, Thy offspring, to the place of evil, Hell Thou and thy wicked crew, there mingle broils Ere this avenging sword begin thy doom." P. L., vi. 275-278. Vondel's description of Michael's state is transferred by Milton to Satan after the hellish conclave " With pomp supreme And god-like imitated state, him round A globe of fiery Seraphim enclosed With bright emblazonry and horrent arms." P. Z.,ii. 510-513. Uriel concludes his record with the transformation of Lucifer after his fall. Now upon a certain passage in the tenth book of the Paradise Lost Mr. Pattison makes the following criticism : " Another of Milton's fictions which has been found too grotesque is the change (P. L., x. 508) of the demons into serpents, who hiss their prince on his return from his embassy. Here it is not, I think, so much the unnatural character of the incident itself, as its gratuitousness which offends." 1 The passage in question will be clearly seen to have its original in Vondel's lines, which are, like Milton's, grotesque, but in the place in which they occur not gratuitous "Just as bright day to murky night is changed. So was his beauteous person, in its fall Down sinking, altered to deformity, Too hideous. That bright face to cruel snout, The teeth to fangs sharpened for gnawing steel, 1 Pattison's "Milton," p. 190. 78 THE LUCIFER. The feet and hands to fourfold claws, the skin Of 'pearly fairness to a dusky hide, The back, with bristles rough, two dragon wings Spreads forth. In short, the Archangel, whom but now All angels honoured, is transfigured quite, A medley of seven beasts, each horrible." iv. 1 950-1962. Milton had just described Satan thus in fallen glory "At last, as from a cloud, Ins fulgent head And shape star-bright appeared, or brighter clad "With what permissive glory since his fall Was left him, or false glitter. All amazed At that so sudden blaze, the Stygian throng Bent their aspect." P. L., x. 449-454. Then his transformation thus, we give a few only lines " His visage drawn he felt too sharp and spare, His arms clung to his ribs, his legs entwining Each other, till, supplanted, down he fell A monstrous serpent on his belly prone. Dreadful was the din Of hissing through the hall, thick swarming now With complicated monsters, head and tail, Scorpion and asp, &c. ... But still greatest he in the midst, Now dragon grown." P. L., x. 5 1 1-5 14, 521-524, 528-529. We now take leave of Uriel's narrative and the war in heaven, and proceed to the examination of what may be regarded as the sequel to the main action of the drama, in which Gabriel gives the story of the events subsequent to the defeat of Lucifer, issuing in the temptation and fall of man. THE LUCIFER. 79 This conclusion has been by some critics blamed as unnecessary, and an excrescence which impairs the artistic completeness of the play. However this may be, it has a very important bearing upon the subject of our discussion, for it is not too much to say that here, in about 150 lines of the Dutch drama, are to be found some of the prima stamina of the first, second, and ninth books of Paradise Lost. Two somewhat lengthy citations will sufficiently prove that we are not overstating the case " The contest o'er, he called the scattered host Together, first his chiefs, each filled with hate, And placed himself within a hollow cloud ^v_^-. To shun the light of the All-seeing Eye, A dismal den of fogs, wherein no fire Save in their glances gleamed j and 'midst the ring Of his infernal council seated, he Rose from his throne in Hell, as God adored. 1 Ye powers, who for our righteous cause so bold This hurt endured, now is the time to take For our calamity revenge, with hate Irreconcilable to persecute, With guile and force alike, the Heavenly Foe In His own chosen image. My aim is Adam and his race to spoil. I know through trespass of the primal law How such a stain indelible on him To rub, that he with all his progeny, In soul and body poisoned, never shall Attain the seat whereout we have been thrust. E'en Nature's self shall, by this blow abused, Well-nigh consume, and seek to nothingness And chaos to return. I see mankind, After the image of the Godhead formed. From God's similitude debased, estranged, So THE LUCIFER. In will and memory and thought obscured, Their native light bedimmed and overcast, And all, on mother's breast, in sorrow born, A prey to Death's inexorable jaws. Boldly I mean to play the tyrant's part, And you, my sons, adored as deities On altars numberless, on many a shrine Of towering structure to propitiate With victims, frankincense, and gold; Also a throng of men, whose multitude No tongue can name, all Adam's line to bring To everlasting ruin, and, in God's despite, To perpetrate abominable deeds. My crown and his high feast shall cost him dear." v. 1938-1978. To show how crowded this passage is with Miltonic phrases and turns of thought, and how closely the argument of the first two books of Paradise Lost follows on the lines laid down by Vondel, is no diffi- cult task. Satan likewise calls together his scattered host " He stood and called His legions. ..... Thick bestrewn Abject and lost lay there, covering the flood." P. L., i. 300-310. Compare the two pictures of the infernal dungeon " Round he throws his baleful eyes, That witnessed huge affliction and dismay Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate. At once, as far as angels ken, he views The dismal situation, waste and wild. A dungeon horrible, on all sides round As one great furnace flamed j yet from those flames No light." P. L., i. 56-62. THE LUCIFER. 81 Again " Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate With head uplift above the wave and eyes That sparkling blazed." P. Z., i. 192-194. And in Paradise Kegained the Adversary " In mid-air To council summons all his mighty peers Within thick clouds and dark, tenfold involved, A gloomy consistory." P. B., i. 39-42. Every point of Vondel's description is brought out in relief. The " hate " which filled the minds of the hellish chiefs, the dismal cave or dungeon, the spectral light, the blazing eyes, the thick veil of clouds. The second book of Paradise Lost opens with the account of the hellish conclave. Here we find " High on a throne of royal state Satan exalted sat." P. X., ii. 1-5. And " Towards him they bend With awful reverence prone, and as a god Extol him equal to the Highest in Heaven." P. ., ii. 477-479- The contents of Lucifer's address are no less strikingly Miltonic. In Satan's first speech these words occur " We may with more successful hope resolve To wage by force or guile eternal war Irreconcilable to our Grand Foe." P. L., i. 120-122. Again u Let us not slip the occasion. Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild, F 82 THE LUCIFER. The seat of desolation, void of light ? Thither let us tend, And reassembling our afflicted powers, Consult how henceforth we may most offend Our Enemy, our own loss how repair, How overcome this dire calamity." P. L., i. 178, 180-181, 186-189. The subtle counsel of Beelzebub, that mankind should be the object to whose destruction or degradation the efforts of Hell should be directed, furnishes our next parallel. The Counsellor points out that, " according to ancient and prophetic fame, another world, the happy- seat of some new race called Man, was about this time to be created." " Here perhaps Some advantageous act may be achieved By sudden onset either with hell-fire To waste His whole creation, or possess All as our own, and drive, as we are driven, The puny inhabitants ; or, if not drive, Seduce them to our party, that their God May prove their foe, and with repenting hand Abolish His own works. This would surpass Common revenge, .... when His darling sons, Hurled headlong to partake with us, shall curse Their frail original and faded bliss, Faded so soon." P. L., ii. 362-375. Another passage contains a variation upon the same theme. The Almighty Father thus discloses to the Son the purposes of the Adversary " He wings his way Directly towards the new created world And man there placed, with purpose to assay If him by force he can destroy, or worse, THE LUCIFER. ?3 By some false guile pervert : and shall pervert : For man will hearken to his glozing lies, And easily transgress the sole command, Sole pledge of his obedience ; so will fall He and his faithless progeny." P. L., iii. 90-96. In Satan's soliloquy immediately before entering into the serpent we have the consequences on the universe of man's fall thus depicted " Him destroyed Or won to what may work his utter loss, For whom all this was made, all this will soon Follow, as to him linked in weal or woe." P. Z., ix. 130-134. In a later book of the Epic Adam thus laments the fate of mankind " O miserable mankind ! to what fall Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! Better end here unborn. . Can thus The image of God in man, created once So goodly and erect, though faulty since, To such unsightly sufferings be debased Under inhuman pains ? Why should not man, Retaining still Divine similitude In part, from such deformities be free ?" P. L., xi. 500-503, 507-513- Vondel makes Lucifer conclude his speech with the prophecy that his followers would be worshipped in earthly temples as deities, and that the greatest part of mankind, in God's despite, should perpetrate abomina- tions. Here, too, there are passages in Paradise Lost of identical import " By falsities and lies the greatest part Of mankind they corrupted to forsake 84 THE LUCIFER. God their Creator, and the invisible Glory of Him that made them to transform Oft to the image of a brute, adorned With gay religions, full of pomp and gold, And devils to adore for deities." P. L., i. 367-373. And a few lines farther on " The chief were those who from the pit of hell Roaming to seek their prey on earth, durst fix Their seats long after next the seat of God, Their altars by His altar, gods adored Among the nations round. . Yea, often placed Within His sanctuary itself their shrines, Abominations, and with cursed things His holy rites and solemn feasts profaned, And with their darkness durst affront His light." P. L., i. 381-390. We now return to that portion of Gabriel's narrative which is concerned with the temptation of the woman. The serpent is addressing Eve, and inciting her to eat the forbidden fruit " ' How glows this fruit with mingled gold and red ! Seductive feast ! Yea, daughter, nearer step ; No venom nestles in the immortal leaf. How tempting is this fruit ! Come, freely pluck : Knowledge I promise you, and light. For fear Of punishment why shrink you then ? But taste, And be in wisdom and intelligence As God Himself. How much He envies you This food ! By it distinctions are discerned, The fashion, cause, and quality of things. 7 Forthwith begins the heart of the fair bride To burn, to kindle. For the much-praised fruit She is inflamed. The fruit allures the eye; The eye the mouth, the appetite. Desire THE LUCIFER. 85 Impels the hand, all quivering, to pluck She plucks; she eats. Heaven mourns with signs of woe. It thunders, peal on peal. On every side Fear, anguish, groans are heard and seen." v. 2091-2104, 2112-2115. In the ninth book of Paradise Lost, which contains the parallel narrative, we find traces of almost every line of this quotation from the Lucifer. Not only are ideas and images seized and amplified, but at times the very words reappear. We give three excerpts from the words of the serpent to Eve "I chanced A goodly tree far distant to behold, Loaden with fruit of fairest colours mixed, Ruddy and gold. I nearer drew to gaze, When from the boughs a savoury odour blown, Grateful to appetite," &c. P. L., ix. 575-581. Again " sacred, wise, and wisdom-giving plant, Mother of Science ! now I feel thy power Within me clear, not only to discern Things in their causes, but to trace the ways Of highest agents." P. L., ix. 679-683. " Ye shall not die. How should ye ? By the fruit 1 It gives you life To knowledge." P. Z., ix. 685-687. " What are gods, that man may not become As they, participating godlike food ? Whoso eat thereof forthwith attain Wisdom without their leave. And wherein lies The offence that men should thus attain to know ? 86 THE LUCIFER. Is it envy 1 And can envy dwell In heavenly breasts 1 These, then, and many more Causes, import your need of this fair fruit. Goddess humane, reach then and freely taste." P. Z., ix. 716-718, 724-727, 728-732. In this same portion of Paradise Lost a line occurs which seems to retain a verbal reminiscence of the vivid Vondelian lines " Forthwith begins her heart To burn, to kindle. For the much-praised fruit 1 She is inflamed. . . . The hand, all quivering. . . ." Milton compares the snake swiftly rolling in tangles to a wandering fire, compact of unctuous vapour, and then he speaks of this vapour tl Kindled through agitation to a flame." P. Z., ix. 637. The next quotation proceeds continuously with that which ends " reach then and freely taste " " He ended ; and his words, replete with guile, Into her heart too easy entrance won. Fixed on the fruit she gazed, which to behold Might tempt alone." P. Z., ix. 732-735. " Meanwhile the hour of noon drew on and waked An eager appetite, raised by the smell So savoury of that fruit, which with desire Inclinable, now grown to touch and taste, Solicited her longing eye." P. Z., ix. 739-743. She then soliloquises., after which " Her rash hand in an evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat. Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe." P. Z., ix. 780-783. 1 See p. 84, supra. THE LUCIFER. 87 When Adam had likewise sinned " Earth trembled from her entrails, as again In pangs, and Nature gave a second groan ; Sky loured, and, muttering thunder, some sad drops Wept." P. Z., ix. 1 000- 1 003. We here leave the Lucifer, satisfied that at last we have done some justice to Vondel's merits, and fairly established what others have hinted at but never proved, that Milton in the composition of Paradise Lost laid himself under no slight obligations to this Dutch drama. We now proceed to examine other poems of Vondel, which, so far as Miltonic criticism is concerned, offer to those, who care to accompany us farther, untrodden fields for discovery and research. ( 88 ) CHAPTER IV. JOHN THE MESSENGER. The ambition of Vondel, as he became conscious of a constant development of his poetical and intellectual powers with increasing years, prompted him, while still in the early prime of life, to devote all his energies to the production of a great Epic poem which should perpetuate his fame. He chose as his subject 1 the Expedition of Constantine the Gkeat to Eome, and commencing in 1630, gave himself up in earnest for six years to his work. But the poem, although six books out of the twelve were actually completed, was never destined to see the light. The death of the writer's infant child (named Constantine after his hero) in 1633 was followed by that of his wife in 1635. The double blow fell heavily upon Vondel's heart ; a gradual distaste began to fill his mind for continuing the literary task which was associated so closely with his great sorrow. He first laid it aside for a time, and then committed 361-365. We submit that these two sets of excerpts cannot have been penned independently. A passage in the fourth book of the same poem appears as if a continua- tion of the above. The Tempter had exhibited to the Saviour the splendour and luxury of Eome " Thou may'st behold, Outside and inside both, pillars and roofs, Carved work, the hand of famed artificers In cedar, marble, ivory, or gold." To whom the Son of God unmoved replied JOHN THE MESSENGER. 121 " Nor doth this grandeur and majestic show Of luxury, though called magnificence, More than of arms before allure mine eye, Much less my mind ; though thou shouldst add to tell Their sumptuous gluttonies and gorgeous feasts On citron tables, .... How they quaff in gold, Crystal, and myrrhine cups, embossed with gems And studs of pearl." P. P., iv. 57-60, 110-115, 1 18-120. The last lines of the Vondelian excerpt, taken with the first line, " The marble floor was strewn with flowery rain" afford a curious parallel with u Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone, Impurpled with celestial roses smiled. Then, crowned again, their golden harps they took, And, with preamble sweet Of charming symphony, they introduce Their sacred song and waken raptures high." P. Z., iii. 362-365, 367-369. And in the next book of Paradise Lost " Of pure, now purer air Meets his approach, and to the heart inspires Vernal delight and joy, able to drive All sadness but despair. Now gentle gales Fanning their odoriferous wings dispense Native perfumes, and whisper whence They stole their balmy spoils, Sabean odours from the spicy shore Of Araby the blest." P. X., iv. 153-159, 162-163. 122 JOHN THE MESSENGER. " Groves where rich trees wept odorous gums and balm, Others whose fruit, burnished with golden rind, Hung amiable." P. L., iv. 248-250. " To their supper fruits they fell, Nectarine fruits which the compliant boughs Yielded them, sidelong as they sat recline On the soft downy bank damasked with flowers." P. Z.,iv. 331-334. We have not space to discuss the "Joannes Boet- gezant" at greater length. We have given citations enough to show that Milton was thoroughly familiar with it, and did not scruple to take hints and sugges- tions from its language and imagery. There would be no difficulty in very largely increas- ing by quotations the number of single similes common to the two poets, such as the following, both from the third book of " Joannes Boetgezant." Yondel is speaking of the Divine justice, and repre- sents the Father of Mercy before He executes judgment as showing " To His children first His rod, A comet with a tail, as fiery red As blood, the token of GooVs wrath." iii. 117-1 18. The same conception appears in u High in front advanced, The brandished sword of God before them blazed, Fierce as a comet." P. L., xii. 632-634. Or, again, take this simile " Whene'er on summer day a breeze springs up And gently blows upon a sea of corn, Then on its stalk the heavy ear betids low Its head," iii. 143-145, with JOHN THE MESSENGER. 123 " As when a field Of Ceres ripe for harvest waving bends Her bearded grove of ears, which way the wind Sways them." P. L., iv. 979-982. We will only mention farther that the Dutch Epic concludes with the journey of John's spirit through the infernal regions under the conduct of Baphael, in the course of which he encounters and addresses the patri- archs and prophets of the Old Dispensation. This passage, like the vision of Adam upon the " Spectacular Mount" in the eleventh and twelfth books of " Paradise," is an imitation of the similar episode in the sixth " ^Eneid." Knowing, then, from the evidence adduced, that Milton must have read this Dutch "Hellereis," it is at least a plausible supposition that from hence he first conceived the idea of concluding his own Epic by a passage of like character based upon the same original. ( 124 ) CHAPTEE V. REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. In the year preceding that in which he wrote " Joannes Boetgezant," Vondel, among other productions of his prolific pen, gave to the world a didactic poem, " Ee- flections on God and Eeligion." This poem, which is of great length, 1 is divided into five books, whose contents are indicated by their headings (i.) Of God; (2.) Of God's Attributes; (3.) Of God's Works; (4.) Of Eeligion ; (5.) Of Private Eeligion. Written upon the Lucretian model, this treatise in verse is very discursive, and touches upon an infinity of religious, scholastic, metaphysical, and scientific ques- tions. With the manner in which Vondel has dealt with these generally we have no concern, except in so far as they have a bearing upon certain portions of the conversations which take place in Paradise Lost between Adam and the Archangel Eaphael. "It is," says Mr. Masson, 2 "in these conversations that there occur poetical summaries of Milton's physics, physio- logy, and metaphysics. Especially curious is that long passage (viii. 15-178) in which the relative merits of the Ptolemaic theory of the cosmos and the Copernican theory are made the subject of an express discussion 1 7400 lines. 2 "Life of Milton," vi. p. 551. REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. 125 between Adam and the Archangel." The passages have attracted the special attention of all commenta- tors upon the Paradise Lost, and Mr. Masson, in parti- cular, has discussed the views and opinions of Milton in a very full and exhaustive manner. Mr. Pattison remarks, 1 " The vastness of the scheme of ' Paradise Lost ' becomes more apparent to us if we remark that within its embrace there seem to be equal place for both the systems of physical astronomy which were current in the seventeenth century. . . . Sharp as is the contrast between the two systems, the one being the direct contradictory of the other, they are lodged together, not harmonised, within the vast circuit of the poet's imagination." 2 Now the passages containing these Miltonic theories, which have attracted so much atten- tion, were written probably in the spring of 1664. We propose now to compare them with some extracts from Vondel's treatise, which was published somewhat more than two years before. " Hie motions that are seen fear no dispute, Whether Copernicus or Ptolemy Declare the earth around the sun to turn Or sun around the earth. The movement lies In one or other, twist them as they may. If the first heavenly round draw with itself The lower spheres, and above the topmost No reasoning can another reach which drives The others and itself stands still, then men Climb up into the fixed realm, His Throne, To shake, yet not disturb, who moveth all And maketh all beneath Himself rotate 1 Masson'8 "Life of Milton," vi. 523-536; "Poetical Works of John Milton," Intr., 89-99. 1 Pattison's "Milton," p. 180. 126 REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. According to His laws. This to surmount, Free-thinkers fancy that a principle Indwelling and of mighty force in each Celestial sphere impels the starry rounds." i. 416-428. In Kaphael's discourse occur the following lines 11 This to attain, whether Heaven move or earth, Imports not, if thou reckon right ; the rest From man or angel the Great Architect Did wisely to conceal and not divulge His secrets, to be scanned by them who ought Eather admire ; or, if they list to try Conjecture, He His fabric of the Heavens Hath left to their disputes." P. X., viii. 70-77. "What if the sun Be centre to the world, and other stars, By his attractive virtue and their own Incited, dance about him various rounds ? Or save the sun his labour, and that swift Nocturnal and diurnal rhomb supposed Invisible else above all stars, the wheel Of day and night." P. Z., viii. 122-125, 133-136. These paragraphs, which contain that acknowledg- ment of doubt as to the truth of the rival Ptolemaic and Copernican theories, on which Milton's biographers dwell with such marked emphasis, whether or no they were suggested by that portion of Vondel's poem from which the translated extract has been taken, at least express the same opinions in terms strikingly analogous. The citation which follows will make this similarity even more apparent. Its argument dwells upon the smallness of the earth compared to the infinite expanse of the universe. REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. 127 " So wide is this our world, no traveller Hath seen or visited its whole extent, And yet its earthly bulk, with heavenly to compare, A single speck to the star-gazer's eye; For when earth stands amidst the stars in light, Her globe indents the sky, as if a speck. Is every star as great as this our world, Or greater, as astronomers assert ? And shine they just as bright, however far Apart, and tiny in our sight ? Who can From here below with mind of man embrace The heavenly round, where stars in thousands gleam Like diamonds on this translucent ring, Fit to adorn the immeasurable hand Of God, which holds in span both east and west ? But be the earth so great as measures say, How great is then the vault of Heaven beyond ? Or gauge the height of Heaven, if so you can, To this world's navel or Hell's middle point, Hath space like this an end and certain bounds, Who then can God's infinity conceive ? What is this universe, if viewed by God In bulk, but as a drop of morning dew ! " iii. 232-235, 241-260. In Paradise Lost Adam thus speaks " When I behold this goodly frame, this world Of heaven and earth consisting, and compute Their magnitudes, this earth a spot, a grain, An atom, with the firmament compared, And all her numbered stars that seem to roll Spaces incomprehensible (for such Their distance argues, and their swift return Diurnal), merely to officiate light Round this spacious earth, this punctual spot." P. L., viii. 15-23. Thus Raphael in reply 128 REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. " For Heaven's wide circuit, let it speak The Maker's high magnificence, who built So spacious, and His line stretched out so far, That man may know he dwells not in his own An edifice too large for him to fill, Lodged in a small partition, and the rest Ordained for uses to his Lord best known." P. L., viii. 100-106. The last two lines of the extract from Vondel " What is this universe, if viewed by God In bulk, but as a drop of morning dew ! " contain an idea which Milton has put into shape. When Satan has emerged from chaos, he beholds " far off the empyreal heaven," and " fast by, hanging in a golden chain " " This pendent world, in bigness as a star Of smallest magnitude, close by the moon." P. L., ii. 1053-1054. The world, being not the earth, but the entire uni- verse, "hung drop-like" 1 from heaven, the abode of God. On this Satan, at length " alighted, walks " " A globe far off It seemed ; now seems a boundless continent." P. L., iii. 422-423. These lines in their turn are but another form of the comparison set forth in the beginning of the Vondelian passage. Lastly, from the triumphal song of creation " Great are Thy works, Jehovah ! infinite 1 Masson, " Poetical Works," vol. i. p. 89. REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. 129 Thy power ! what thought can measure Thee or tongue Relate Thee ! . Witness this new-made world, another Heaven, Of amplitude almost immense, with stars Numerous, and every star perhaps a world Of destined habitation." P. L., vii. 602-604, 618-623. We give another quotation from this third book of the " Eeflections," which treats of " God's Works." It is impossible to do more than select from so extensive a poem a few salient examples of a specially Miltonic character. This treats of the same subject as its pre- decessors " How marvellous that Heaven exactly knows Each day upon its axis just to turn, To pass in muster all the Heavenly host Before the eyes of man from east to west I What bow or field-piece can its ball or shaft, What lightning shoot so swift through air or cloud ? What water down a rock so quickly fall ? Thus keeps the wandering star her lines and courst From west to east, now quicker, now more slow, To that abode wherein the Seven find, Or high or low, the quarter for their watch Set many hundred thousand miles apart." iii. 987-997. A few lines before we find a comment on lunar astro- nomy u Here must Hevelius 1 lend no telescope To search upon the aspect of the moon For spot and stain and light with prying glass, And land and water place on lunar chart." iii. 968-971. 1 A well-known Dantzic astronomer. 130 REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. Turning to Baphael's disquisition, we have " The swiftness of those circles attribute, Though numberless, to His omnipotence That to corporeal substances could add Speed almost spiritual." P. L., viii. 107-110. "What if the sun Be centre to the world, and other stars, By his attractive virtue and their own Incited, dance around him various rounds ? Their wandering course, now high, now low, then hid, Progressive, retrograde, or standing still, In six thou seest ; and what if, seventh to them, The planet earth, so steadfast though she seem, Insensibly three different motions move 1 * P. L. y viii. 122-130. Adam declares his wonder at the apparent motion of the firmament " Reasoning, I oft admire How Nature, wise and frugal, could . . . On their orbs impose Such restless revolution day by day, Speed to describe whose swiftness number fails." P. Z., viii. 25, 30-32, 38. Eaphael suggests the possibility of an interchange of light between the earth and moon " Reciprocal, if land be there, Fields and inhabitants. Her spots thou seest As clouds." P. L., viii. 144-146. This allusion to the moon and her surface adds to the many points of contact between this and the astro- nomical lesson given in answer to the inquiry of Adam. There is, however, a closer parallel to the actual words in the first book of Paradise Lost REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. 131 " The moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At evening, ... to descry new lands, Rivers or mountains, in her spotty globe." P. L., i. 287-291. There are many passages in the " Eeflections " deal- ing with such subjects as the Wisdom and Foreknow- ledge of God, the Free Will of Man, the relations between Body and Spirit ; merely descriptive pieces, as of storms, landscapes, and natural objects ; others, such as the one we now bring forward, on more general themes, which might be compared with portions of Milton's works of like import. The citations we have already made all have a close relationship to that por- tion of the dialogue between Adam and his Heavenly Guest which occurs in the first half of the eighth book of Paradise Lost, and which treats solely of the celestial movements. The one which follows, discusses a widely different topic, the same which furnishes the subject- matter for the second half of the eighth book of Paradise Lost, the beauty of woman and her relations to man. It is well known that Milton's views on this latter point were peculiar and strongly pronounced. The senti- ments of Yondel thus find expression. " The loveliness of woman, which on earth All else surpasseth, nor heart nor eye E'er fills with surfeit, which kindles to flame The very lions, here its living charms Unveils, fair as becomes God's handiwork, That man might taste the exuberant delights Of sensuous passion, ichich, of growth eterne, In contemplation of the Deity, Had, until now, its sole fruition found. The aspect and delight, rich source of bliss, [32 REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. Of female loveliness, hath thousands plunged Headlong in woe, and shipwreck of their state, Health, life, and weal. The wisest, strongest men Are drawn along and fettered, like her slaves, By shackles of bright flowing hair. No beast Thus raves, bewitched by elfish sprite, Like man misguided, blind, his every wish And lust indulges, God and name and fame And honour throws aside, that he with love In some false charmer's amorous flames may melt, Like ice or waxen bust in heat of fire. To this may lead the dissolute misuse Of Beauty, and thus dearly purchases A foolish man this fleeting bliss, the which But scarce enjoyed, remorse in secret comes, And follows each abuse of Heavenly gifts Close on the heels. Unhappy was he then Who fell into her snares, caught, overcome, For one glance of her eyes ; as in a dream, The joy, like mist, is gone. What purpose then Doth Beauty fill, and what the end and aim Of God in forming thus this image fair, Which lures souls to their hurt ? Doth God design To bind man's heart by wedded vows, and teach Him in this fair to find a fairer still, A yearning, which the soul in God alone Can satisfy, in Plenitude Divine Of beauty and delight ? This song of ours Should woman with still lovelier attributes Invest, but that we fear her siren charms Would even saints seduce, if winning grace, Virtue, discernment, softness, should descend From Heaven and hover round her comely form Of faultless symmetry." Hi. 419-452. In Paradise Lost Adam pleads with the Almighty for a companion who should be his equal; for the brute REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. 133 " Cannot be human consort They rejoice Each with their kind, lion with lioness." P. L., viii. 391-392. And just as Yondel declares that before woman came man did not taste of the joys of sensuous passion " Which, of growth eterne, In contemplation of the Deity, Had, until now, its sole fruition found," so the reply of the Almighty to Adam is couched in these terms " A nice and subtle happiness I see Thou to thyself proposest in the choice Of thy associates, Adam, and wilt taste No pleasure, though in pleasure solitary. What think'st thou, then, of me and this my state 1 Seem I to thee sufficiently possessed Of happiness or not, who am alone From all eternity ? " P. L., viii. 399-406. Adam tells of the creation of Eve " So lovely fair, That what seemed fair in all the world seemed now Mean, or in her summed up, in her contained And in her looks, which from that time infused Sweetness into my heart unfelt before, And into all things from her air inspired The spirit of love and amorous delight." P. Z., viii. 471-477- He thanks God for granting his prayer, and speaks of Him as " Giver of all things fair but fairest this Of all Thy gifts." P. Z., viii. 493-494. In his subsequent narrative occur the following lines 134 REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. " Here passion first I felt, Commotion strange ; in all enjoyments else Superior and unmoved ; here only weak Against the charm of beauty's powerful glance." P. Z., viii. 530-533. " When I approach Her loveliness, so absolute she seems And in herself complete, so well to know Her own, that what she wills to do or say Seems wisest, virtuosest, discreetest, best." P. Z., viii. 546-550. " To consummate all, Greatness of mind and nobleness their seat Build in her loveliest, and create an awe About her as a guard angelic placed." P. L., viii. 556-559. At the Hellish Council in "Paradise Ptegained," Belial counsels Satan to tempt our Lord by sensual delights " Set women in His eye and in His walk, Among the daughters of men fairest found, Skilled to retire, and in retiring draw Hearts after them, tangled in amorous nets. Such object hath the power to soften and tame Severest temper, smooth the rugged'st brow, Enerve and into voluptuous hope dissolve, Draw out into credulous desire, and lead At will the manliest, resolutest breast." P. R., ii. 161-167. " Samson Agonistes " furnishes also at least one strik- ing parallel passage " Whate'er it be, to wisest men and best Seeming at first all heavenly, under virgin veil, Soft, modest, meek, demure, REFLECTIONS ON GOD AND RELIGION. 135 Once joined, the contrary she proves a thorn Intestine, ..... Or by her charms Draws him awry, enslaved, Into dotage, and, his sense depraved, To folly and shameful deeds, which ruin ends. What pilot so expert but needs must wreck Embarked with such a steersmate at the helm ? " 8. A., 1034-1045. It will be noted that the first quotation comes from the first book of the " Inflections ; " the other three from the third book, which treats of God's works. It is in these same two books that the other passages of Miltonic character, to which we have alluded, will be chiefly found. ( 136 ) CHAPTER VI. ADAM IN BANISHMENT. The play whose title stands at the head of this chapter was written by Vondel when in his seventy-third year, as a sequel to his " Lucifer." The poet has in his dedi- catory preface stated his purpose to be "the repre- sentation upon the stage, learnedly and without offence, , of Adam's banishment, the [tragedy of all tragedies," 1 herein following the example of Hugo Giotius, whose Latin poem the " Adamus Exul," upon the same subject, was well known in Holland. Vondel, while diverging widely from his predecessor in the language, and notably in the lyrical character of large portions of his play, has avowedly built upon the same lines. He has taken Grotius for his model, but at the same time was so careful not to be a slavish imitator, that he has even departed from the Biblical record, and made his Tempter not to assume the form of a serpent, but of a winged dragon 2 (een geschubden Draak). The poem was published early in 1664. The follow- ing considerations, in fact, render it probable that it appeared in the month of March of that year at the latest. We have already mentioned that Vondel's 1 "Het treurspel aller treurspelen." 2 An exhaustive comparison of the two poems will be found in Van Lennep's "Vondel," x. 422-456. ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 137 " Gysbrecht van Amstel " was written for the dedication of the new theatre at Amsterdam, which was built at the cost and for the benefit of the governors of the Wees-en-Oudemannenhuis in the year 1637. 1 This theatre was, a quarter of a century later, either rebuilt or at least enlarged and restored, and there can be but little doubt that the aged Vondel wrote his " Adam in Banishment," which is dedicated " Aan de Kunstbemin- nende Heeren Yaders van het Oudemannenhuis en Weeshuis," in the hope that it would be selected by them for representation at the opening of the restored theatre. 2 These governors of the Orphanage, as we have said, had the supreme direction over the affairs of the theatre, but the actual manager was a certain Jan Vos, who was a personal enemy of Vondel, and systematically tried to injure the great poet's reputa- tion by mounting his pieces in an inferior manner and by placing his best roles in the hands of incapable actors. 3 Through the influence of this man, "the tragedy of all tragedies " was put on one side, and a composition by Marie Vos, his own daughter, was chosen and recited at the opening ceremony, which took place on March 24, 1664. This date, then, gives us, as a superior limit for the time of publication of the " Adam in Banishment," the early part of the month of March ; nor is corroborative evidence wanting to establish its accuracy. Two poems were written criticising adversely Vondel's play, one of them of considerable length, and these were both in print in the summer of 1664. 4 1 Brandt's " Leven van J. Vondel," p. 53. 2 Van Lennep, x. 350. 3 Brandt's "Leven," p. 89; Stilleman's "J. Vondel," p. 53. 4 For details see Van Lennep. 138 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. This being the case, it is by no means an improbable supposition that a copy may have found its way into Milton's hands in the autumn or winter of this same year, at the very time when he was engaged upon that portion of " Paradise Lost " which treats of the Fall of Man. The winter, we are told by his nephew, was the time when Milton composed the greater portion of his poem. "His vein never happily flowed but from the autumnal equinoctial to the vernal, and whatever he attempted [in the other part of the year] was never to his satisfaction, though he courted his fancy ne'er so much." 1 As we know that a complete copy of the Epic was in Elwood's hands in the month of August or September 1665, we may, therefore, reasonably assign the composition of the last four books to the winter and spring (1664-65). We should, therefore, naturally expect that if the " Adam in Banishment " exerted any influence upon the language of " Paradise Lost," it would be upon thejtenth, and possibly upon portions of the ninth book. "We shall show that this is precisely what the evidence we shall adduce proves to have been the case. It is almost possible to mark the exact point at which the Dutch play began to affect the language and ideas of Milton. That part of the ninth book which tells of the temptation and sin of Adam and Eve contains Yondelisms, but they are derived from " Lucifer," and not from "Adam." Imme- diately afterwards, in the scenes of remorse and peni- tence, we meet with traces of the latter play, which become more abundant as we proceed. One exception must be made to this statement. The " Adam " opens with a long soliloquy of Lucifer. This 1 Masson's "Life of Milton," vi. 464. ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 139 has so much in common with the soliloquy of Satan at the opening of the ninth book, that we may conjec- ture that this was not composed, at least in its present form, at the time when Milton first dictated that por- tion of his poem in which it appears, but was inter- polated or recast a few months afterwards. Apart from any question as to the obligations of Milton to Vondel, it is surely a wonderful coincidence, and one that points to a curious affinity between the two poets, that at the very time when the Englishman was, after long years of musing and preparation, slowly girding himself to the task, which he had set before him from his youth, of writing a great poem upon the subject of the Fall of Man, his Dutch contemporary should pro- duce a drama, 1 the finest, in many respects, of all his works, which covers the same ground, and that, again, immediately before Milton had reached that portion of his Epic, which dwells upon the actual Eall and its consequences, Yondel should likewise have chosen this precise episode as the subject for dramatic treatment. The fact of the appearance of the two plays at the exact moment when, as a historical fact, they did appear, is far more remarkable than the subsequent fact, which we are establishing, that they were perused, and to some extent utilised, by Milton. This part of our task, however, claims our attention, and we shall commence with an examination of that passage to which reference has already been made, the soliloquy of Lucifer with which the play opens. It will be necessary to give it almost in extenso " I, once excelling in the realms of Light, And now from Light eterne exiled in gloom, 1 The Lucifer. Ho ADAM IN BANISHMENT. Come thundering up from out the sulphurous lake Below, and, not overstepping thus the bounds Of my confinement, haunt the regions here Above ; for though the Foe did make my form Abhorred and hideous, yet was I allowed, With you, my Hellish mates, here met inflight, To stretch our sway o'er sea and earth and air. The Prince of this World finds it suits his state To shun the day. His splendour grows by dusk, Wherefore he chooses night for this attempt. Though darkness now begins to leave the fields, Still may the foe of light in shadow plunge, By cave, hedge, covert, thicket, brake and wood. Where am I here ? The clear-toned nightingale Is herald to the sun and radiant dawn. I hear with morning -coolness life revive And joyous chirping midst the leaves and trees. The rippling of four streams strikes on the ear, Which, from one hillside source, spread far and wide. This tells sufficiently what Earth we tread. Here flows Euphrates' stream ; here Eden blooms, The realm, the charge of Adam and his spouse. Here with my follower I needs must hide Among the trees, in park or myrtle walk, Then spy before, behind, on either side, And scheme how best to hatch some evil plot. For, alien from good, this cursed doom I hate, and in His creatures seek to spoil And ravish Him whose essence nought can hurt. To this end did I found my Hellish realm, Which shall endure for aye. No plan too bold For me, who shrank not from the assault of Heaven, So Vengeance seize the world within her teeth And drag the Universe from its fixed seat, That once more by my might Heaven's axis crash. I wish henceforth to give Him constant work, And, though His bolts have driven me from my throne, To let Him see what I can do, though falVn. ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 141 What if our force should fail to reach above ? The upper Powers must see that force enough Remains to cross His will in all His works. The name Almighty is a title, and no more, An impotent, vainglorious boast. Did He know how To utterly destroy one being that exists, 'Twere o'er with me ! I should cease to be, Or cease at least to rule these realms below. His might's too weak, when mine to leeward lies. It cannot reach the ship that keeps the wind. We shall with canvas spread sail round the cape, And enter the rich port whereto we steer.'''' i. 1-52. At this point we break off, as the rest of the soliloquy admits of separate consideration. It cannot fail to strike even a careless reader of the above that its tone and statements are exactly those of the Miltonic Satan. The opening lines have an exact counterpart in Paradise Eegained " J Tis true I am that spirit unfortunate, Who, leagued with millions more in vast revolt, Kept not my happy station, but was driven With them from bliss to the bottomless deep. Yet to that hideous place not so confined By rigour unconniving, but that oft, Leaving my dolorous prison, I enjoy Large liberty to round this globe of earth Or range in air." P. R., i. 358-366. Again ' ancient Powers of air and this wdde world (For much more willingly I mention air, This our old conquest, than remember Hell, Our hated habitation)." P. R., i. 44-47. 142 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. And " Demonian spirits, now, from the element Each of his reign allotted, rightlier called Powers of fire, air, water, and earth beneath." P. JR., ii. 122-12$. Turning to the ninth book of Paradise Lost, we find " Satan, who late fled before the threats Of Gabriel out of Eden, now improved In meditated fraud and malice, bent On man's destruction, maugre what mishap Of heavier on himself, fearless returned From compassing the earth, cautious of day." -P. Z., ix. 53-58. " There was a place Where Tigris, at the foot of Paradise, Into a gulph shot underground, till past Rose up a fountain by the Tree of Life. In with the river sunk, and with it rose Satan, involved in rising mist, then sought Where to lie hid." P. Z.,ix. 71-77. " If I could joy in aught sweet interchange Of hill and valley, rivers, woods, and plains, New land, new sea, and shores with forest crowned, Rocks, dens, and caves ! But I in none of these Find place or refuge. .... All good to me becomes Bane, and in Heaven much worse would be my state. But neither here seek I, no, nor in Heaven To dwell, unless by mastering Heaven's Supreme. For only in destroying I find ease To my- relentless thoughts ; and him destroyed, Or won to what may work his utter loss, For whom all this was made, all this will soon Follow, as to him linked in weal and woe : ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 143 In woe then, that destruction wide may range ! To me shall be the glory sole among The Infernal Powers, in one day to have marred What He, Almighty styled, six days and nights Continued making." P. L., ix. 1 1 5-1 19, 122-125, 129-138. The resemblance between these extracts and the Von- delian passage is very strong both in general character and individual expressions. This simile, which occurs in the passage descriptive of the approach of the Ser- pent to Eve, coming as it does in this same portion of Paradise Lost, affords a sufficiently close parallel to that which closes our quotation " Sidelong he works his way, As when a ship by skilful steersman wrought, In Niger river's mouth or foreland, where the wind Veers oft, as oft so steers and shifts her sail." P. L.,ix. 510-513. Another parallel is given below. The following lines from Moloch's speech in the Hellish Council, though taken from the second book, show so remarkable an affinity with a portion of our extract from the " Adam," that we may fairly conjecture that here also revision or interpolation may have taken place " More destroyed than thus, We should be quite abolished and expire. What fear we then ? What, doubt we to incense His utmost ire ? which, to the height enraged, Will either quite consume us, and reduce To nothing this essential happier far Than miserable to have eternal being ! Or, if our substance be indeed divine, And cannot cease to be, we are at worst On this side nothing ; and by proof we feel 144 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. Our power sufficient to disturb His Heaven And with perpetual inroads to alarm, Though inaccessible, His fatal throne : Which, if not victory, is yet revenge." P. L., ii. 92-106. And again at the end of the same book appears the nautical simile referred to above " Satan with less toil and now with ease "Wafts on the calmer wave with dubious light, And, like a weather-beaten vessel, holds Gladly the port, though shrouds and tackle torn." P. L., ii. 1 04 1 -1 044. We translate a further passage from Lucifer's soli- loquy " He from suspicion here a heavenly watch, To curb the realm of darkness, set, Who should protect this spot and share Man's danger : thus we stoop to work By stealth ere they be roused to resists i. 56-60*. Satan, in similar language, complains that God " Subjected to his (man's) service angel wings And naming ministers, to watch and tend Their earthly charge. Of these the vigilance I dread, and to elude, thus wrapt in mist Of midnight vapour, glide obscure." P. L.,ix. 155-159- Lucifer proceeds " Yet His too soon. One must the second spring Not make at hazard, since the first hath failed. Tread then more softly and occasion seek Most Opportune, from whence and how one best By daylight the Creator may assail In some one of His creatures, great or small. All damage tends to gain. One must begin ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 145 By gradual steps, and from below ascend And mount on high. Who steadily ascends At last his object strikes and thence recoils. Push on a ripe resolve ; that wins a stroke. Let's see what hap the opening day will bring. The rising sun will fill this pleasant seat With life and colour. Adam and his wife Will through this garden, rich with varied bloom, Walk hand in hand, scarce less than angels blest, Their every need from God's full bosom poured. One must their mutual converse note from far, And spy what means best serve us to assail And hurt these creatures. In some corner hid, Attend what is forbidden, tvhat enjoined, On pain of life or death ; for the Supreme Is friend to none but those who serve to swell His love for glory and renown. One cause Why you, my Heavenly comrades, down to Hell Were thrust as rebels." i. 71-93. The ninth book of Paradise Lost contains the fol- lowing " Thus the orb he roamed, With narrow search and with inspection deep Considered every creature, which of all Most opportune might serve his wiles." P. L., ix. 82-85. Satan, in lines already quoted, tells how, to elude the vigilance of the cherubic watch, he must, wrapt in mist of midnight vapour, glide obscure "Pry In every bush and brake, where hap may find The serpent sleeping, in whose mazy folds To hide me and the dark intent I bring. But what will not ambition and revenge Descend to 1 Who aspires must down as low K 146 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. As high he soared, obnoxious, first or last, To basest things. Eevenge, at first though sweet, Bitter ere long, back on itself recoils. Let it ; I reck not, so it light well aimed, Since higher I fall short, on him who next Provokes my envy, this new favourite Of Heaven, this man of clay." P. Z., ix. 159-162, 168-176. We hold that this passage openly proclaims its Von- delian origin ; its language simply re-echoes that of the first part of our quotation. Proceeding, we next find Satan, like Lucifer " Waiting close the approach of morn." P. Z.,ix. 191. The description of morning in Paradise follows " Now whenas sacred light began to dawn In Eden on the humid flowers, . . Forth came the human pair, And joined their vocal worship to the quire Of creatures wanting voice." P.L., x. 192-195, 197-199. With this we must take " O earth ! how like to Heaven, if not preferred More justly, seat worthier of gods." P. L., ix. 99-100. In the tenth book we find Satan acting just as Lucifer said he would act " He, after Eve seduced, unminded slunk Into the wood fast by, and changing shape To observe the sequel, saw his guileful act By Eve, though all unweeting, seconded Upon her husband." P. X., x. 332-336. And flying from the Son of God ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 147 " Returned By night, and listening where the hapless pair Sat in their sad discourse and various plaint, Thence gathered his own doom." P. L., x. 341-344. The scornful words with which our extract concludes are but a compendious form of one of Satan's answers to our Saviour in Paradise Eegained " He seeks glory, And for His glory all things made, all things Orders and governs ; nor content in Heaven By all .His angels glorified, requires Glory from men from all men, good or bad ; From us, His foes pronounced, glory He exacts." P. R, iii. 110-114, 120. It will be noted that almost the entire soliloquy of Satan from the ninth book has been here placed under contribution, and, with its immediate context, is, in fact, a kind of revised version of (what may be styled) the prologue to the Dutch play. It is otherwise with the rest of the first act, and with the second, third, and first part of the fourth acts of Adam in Banishment. These have little or nothing in common with the corresponding portion of Paradise Lost. The material which either poet has used is necessarily Biblical, but here the resemblance ceases. The language, the play of fancy, the turns of thought, are diverse and independent. The latter portion of the drama, on the contrary, is once more rich in coincidences with the end of the ninth and greater part of the tenth books of Paradise Lost. This result, apparently so anomalous, is not far to 148 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. seek. Milton had already completed to his satisfaction the story of the Temptation and Fall of man before Vondel's play came into his hands. The effect of acquaintance with it would doubtless be shown, pre- cisely as it is shown, by a marked change in the relationship of the two poems to each other. We pass suddenly from a portion of Paradise Lost, which bears no traces of " borrowings " from the correspond- ing portion of the " Adam/' to another which has an exactly opposite character. Knowing, as we do ap- proximately, the date of the publication of the Dutch play, and that the ninth book of Paradise Lost was in all probability composed some six or seven months afterwards, we find that all the facts dovetail one into another, and satisfy all the requirements and tests alike of external and internal evidence. In the first extract we give from the fourth act of the " Adam," Eve tempts her husband to share in her act of trespass " Am 1 your flesh and lone ? Then bear you as a man, and let us live Joined in one lot. I offer gifts divine. Tour knowledge thus shall to the stars ascend, And you become in wisdom like to God. Make use of your free-will, and show we now The first-fruits of your love, and grant my prayer. Deny me not. Compliance getteth peace." iv. 1322-1329. Thus Eve to Adam in Paradise Lost " This tree is . .of divine effect To open eyes, and make them gods who taste. Thou, therefore, also taste, that equal lot May join us, equal joy as equal love." P. L., ix. 865-866, 881-882 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 149 And again " One heart, one soul in both ; whereof good proof This day affords, declariDg thee resolved To undergo with me one guilt, one crime, If any be, of tasting this fair fruit, Whose virtue . . . hath presented This happy trial of thy love." P. X., ix. 967-968, 971-975. Eve's words of reproach at a later time are a com- ment on the last lines of the extract " Too faeile then, thou didst not much gainsay ; Nay, didst permit, approve, and fair dismiss." P. Z., ix. 11581159. The next quotation represents Adam in doubt " Oh, what a strife\! Here woman stands ; there God. Here prayers besiege ; there stern for biddance lowers. Shall I the love of my fond wife forego, Or Heavenly favour to disfavour change ? A tempest rages fierce within my soul" iv. 1338-1342. The effects of Adam's yielding are thus represented in Paradise Lost " She embraced him, and for joy Tenderly wept, much won that he his love Had so ennobled as of choice to incur Divine displeasure for her sake." P. L., ix. 990-994. The following line describes Adam as a In a troubled sea of passion tost. 3 -' P. Z., x. 717. And again " High winds worse within Began to rise, . . . and shook sore Their inward state of mind." P. L., ix. 1 1 22-1 125. 150 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. The Vondelian Eve reproaches her husband " Another rib lies nearer to your heart, That God may fashion you another wife, Such as you like." iv. 1383-1385. The Miltonic Adam answers the reproach " Should God create another Eve, and I Another rib afford, yet loss of thee Would never from my heart." P. L., ix. 91 1-9 14. The fifth act of the " Adam " opens with a dialogue between Lucifer and his follower, Asmode, who de- scribes to his chief the effects of the Fall, of which he had been an eye-witness. He tells how the demons drove the guilty pair to hide their shame and nakedness in the thorns and thickets, and then proceeds " We tore The white robe of their pristine innocence. There lie the fugitives besmeared with mire And stained with drops of blood. They weep and cry. We heard them, each the other for this crime With curses blaming. Eden loud resounds With piteous lamentations. A dam tears His face in his despair, and from his head Uproots the hair, and wakes the echoes round, Thus crying loud : How have I fallen ! how ! It was my Enemy, and not my bride, To whom I lent mine ear. My flesh hath played Me traitor. I have followed evil paths. Vile appetite hath wounded with its sting My wife and me in turn. Alas ! this comes From love of woman. My own rib and flesh Hath me betrayed : such love costs far too dear." v. 1485-1499. Milton likewise recounts the effects of the Fall upon our first parents ADAM IN BA NISHMENT. 1 5 " Innocence, that as a veil Had shadowed them from knowing ill, was gone." P. L., ix. 1054-1055. " If this be to know Which leaves us naked thus, of honour void, Of innocence, of faith and purity, Our wonted ornaments now soiled and stained, And in our faces evident the signs Of foul concupiscence." P. Z., ix. 1073-1078. " Not at rest or ease of mind, They sat them down to weep. Nor only tears Rained at their eyes, but high winds worse within Began to rise, high passions anger, hate, Mistrust, suspicion, discord." P. X., ix. 11 22-1 126. " Thus Adam to himself lamented loud. On the ground Outstretched he lay, on the cold ground, and oft Cursed his creation." P. L., x. 845, 850-852. " woods, fountains, hillocks, dales, and bowers ! With other echo late I taught your shades To answer and resound far other song." The latter portion of the extract, in which Adam accuses his wife and denounces female love, has its counterpart in the passage which follows " Out of my sight, thou serpent ! That name best Befits thee, with him leagued, thyself as false And hateful. ..... Fooled and beguiled by him thou, I by thee, To trust thee from my side, imagined wise, Constant, mature, proof against all assaults, And understood not all was but a show Rather than solid virtue, all but a rib Crooked by nature, . . . from me drawn. 152 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. Oh, why did God, Creator wise, that peopled high Heaven With spirits masculine, create at last This novelty on earth, this" fair defect Of nature ? "P. L., x. 867-869, 880-892. The next quotation is a continuation of Adam's lament " Ambition hath destroyed and lured me on. Demons of Hell rise up to seize their own. I feel e'en now my limbs by war disturbed ; The flesh strives with the spirit. Beason, will, And understanding, shaken unawares, Fell all too late with crushing terror struck. Woes from without I feel and woes within." v. 1 502-1 508. With this compare " To Satan only like, both crime and doom. O conscience ! into what abyss of fears And horrors hast thou driven me ! " P. Z., x. 841-843. The continuation of a passage which has already been brought forward has a particularly close verbal similarity to the lines of Vondel " Began to rise high passions anger, hate, Mistrust, suspicion, discord, and shook sore Their inward state of mind, calm region once And full of peace, now tost and turbulent : For understanding ruled not, and the will Heard not her love, both in subject now To sensual appetite, who from beneath, Usurping oyer sovran reason, claimed Superior sway." P. Z., ix. 1123-1131. And again ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 153 " These were from without The growing miseries, which Adam saw Already in part, though hid in gloomiest shade, To sorrow abandoned, but worse felt within." P. L., x. 714-717. The next quotation contains the bitter interchange of taunt and reproach between Adam and his wife " Eve. Shift then your guilt upon my neck alone. Ad. Cause of my fall and of mishaps so great Thereout to spring ! this comes of wedded bonds. Our marriage was not sealed on terms like these. Eve. Man should in piety his wife excel. Ad. Let this accursed tree its witness bear Who first, decoyed by the forbidden fruit, Durst bring a stain on Eden's purity. Eve. The weaker sex to sudden passion yields. Ad. Your fatal passion hath destroyed my peace. Eve. Man, as the head, should exercise restraint, And firmly stand when womankind gives way." v. 1 566-1 578. The similar dispute at the end of the ninth book of Paradise Lost runs on lines identical with the above " Ad. Would thou hadst hearkened to my words, and stayed With me, as I besought thee,, when that strange Desire of wandering, this unhappy morn, I know not whence possessed thee. We had then Remained still happy." P. Z., ix. 11 34- n 38. " Eve. Imput'st thou that to my default, or will Of wandering, as thou calPst it ? Being as I am, why didst not thou, the head, Command me absolutely not to go, Going into such danger as thou saidst 1 154 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. Hadst thou been firm and fixed in thy dissent, Neither had I transgressed, nor thou with me." P. L., ix. 1145-1146, 1155-1157, 1160-1161. " Ad. T&us it shall befall Him who to worth in women overtrusting, Lets her will rule : restraint she will not brook." P. L., ix. 1 1 82-1 185. And again, in the next book, Adam laments the creation of woman " This mischief had not then befallen, And more that shall befall innumerable Disturbances on earth through female snares." P. L., x. 895-897. He describes himself as " Linked and wedlock bound To a fell adversary, his hate or shame : Which infinite calamity shall cause To human life, and household peace confound." P. L., x. 905-908. Adam is the speaker in the next extract. His words recall at once the soliloquy of Milton's Adam in the tenth book of Paradise Lost " So drags the instant pleasure of an hour Behind it a long chain of griefs and woes. Life offers me no satisfaction more. My fancy pictures to me dreadful Death, Who hideous scowls where'er I go or stay. Oh, open wide your lap ! receive me, Earth, For all my pleasure now is past and gone ! Receive me once again ! From you I came; To you the body comes. The spirit takes its flight And seeks some secret dwelling-place, to which A doom of justice bears it for misuse Of blessings from above. Why tarries Death ? ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 155 Life is repellent to me; the dismal night Far dearer than the day ; so open is My shame. If it may be my lot to die, Avert it not, since Death is cause for joy." v. 1 587-1600. The parallel passage furnishes the following cita- tion " O fleeting joys Of Paradise, dear bought with lasting woes ! . His doom is fair, That dust I am, and shall to dust return. welcome hour whenever ! Why delays His hand to execute what His decree Fixed on this day ] Why do I overlive 1 Why am I mocked with death and lengthened out To deathless pain ] How gladly would I meet Mortality, my sentence, and be earth Insensible ! how glad would lay me down As in my mother's lap ! There I should rest. Yet one doubt Pursues me still lest all I cannot die ; Lest that pure breath of life, the spirit of man, Which God inspired, cannot together perish With this corporeal clod. Then in the grave, Or in some other dismal place, who knows But I shall die a living death ! " P. L., x. 741-742, 769-779, 782-788. We give, as the last excerpt from the "Adam," the lines in which Eve begs for pardon from her husband " Eve. The snake seduced me with his subtil tricks. Ad. Thou art the subtil snake who cause my death. Eve. If these my tears and prayers submissive fail To move you, then permit me, on my plaint, That I with you and at your side may die, 156 ADAM IN BANISHMENT. Because to me there is no charm in life Without your fellowship. My share in fault I seek not to disown. My appetite Incited you to this unhappy fate. Then let us, linked together in one lot, Pay our due penalty for such a crime.'* v. 1621-1633. With the first two lines may be compared " Out of my sight, thou serpent ! That name best Befits thee, with him leagued, thyself as false And hateful," P. ., x. 867-869, with the supplication of Eve "Eve Not so repulsed, with tears that ceased not flowing And tresses all disordered, at his feet Fell humble, and, embracing them, besought His peace, and thus proceeded in her plaint : Eorsake me not thus, Adam ! witness Heaven What love sincere and reverence in my heart I bear thee, and unweeting have offended, Unhappily deceived ! Thy suppliant,' I beg and clasp thy knees ; bereave me not, Whereon I live, thy gentle looks, thy aid, My only strength and stay. Forlorn of thee, Whither shall I betake me, where subsist 1 " P. Z., x. 909-921. A few lines from Eve's soliloquy after partaking of the fruit complete our list of coincidences " Confirmed, then, I resolve Adam shall share with me in bliss or woe. So dear I love him, that with him all deaths I could endure, without him live no life." P. Z., ix. 830-834. These selected quotations from Adam in Banish- ment prove that a more than chance agreement sub- ADAM IN BANISHMENT. 157 sists, both in character and phraseology, between the soliloquy with which the play opens and the analogous soliloquy of Satan in the ninth book of Paradise Lost, and between that part of the play and that part of the Epic which deals with the disputes between Adam and his wife consequent on their act of sin. The influence which it exerted on Milton's mind has left marked traces behind it, but to a much less extent than in the case of the Lucifer, or even of Joannes Boetgezant. The "Adam," in truth, came into the English poet's hands too late, and was in itself, despite its lyrical beauties, not of sufficiently intrinsic merit to leave that same strong impress upon the pages of Paradise Lost, as that splendid work of imagination to which, in his advanced old age, its author designed it as a sequel. ( 158 ) CHAPTER VII. SAMSON. The entire originality of the "Samson Agonistes" has never been seriously questioned. Todd, who discusses so elaborately the history of the controversy as to the origin of " Paradise Lost," devotes but a single page (of his Appendix to the " Samson *') to showing how slight are the grounds for supposing that certain obscure poems upon the subject, whose titles he gives, had ever been read by Milton ; x nor in any later commentator, English or Dutch, upon Milton or upon Vondel, have we ever seen the suggestion made that in the composi- tion of his drama upon " Samson " the English writer might possibly be under obligations to any Dutch work. Yet there is a Vondelian drama entitled " Samson," which was published in the year 1660, that is to say, eleven years before "Samson Agonistes" issued from the press, and at least five before its composition was commenced. We have already established the fact of Milton's knowledge of the Dutch language and intimate ac- quaintance with several of Vondel's works, and have proved that throughout " Paradise Lost," and in many parts of " Paradise Regained," the subtle influence of the 1 Todd's " Milton," vol. iv. p. 498. SAMSON. 159 writings of the Dutch poet upon the mind of his great contemporary is to be traced, now in the main plot, now in some episode, now in metaphors, in imagery, in mere verbal reminiscences. The mere fact, then, that a Vondelian drama upon the story of Samson had been published six or seven years before the writ- ing of the " Samson Agonistes" would appear to be a striking and suggestive coincidence, and one to stimulate critical inquiry ; and the coincidence seems still more striking when upon examination we perceive* that each play is framed on the same antique Greek model, and that each deals solely with the events of the last day of Samson's life. A prima facie case is made out, which demands further and more detailed investiga- tion. The merits and demerits of the " Samson Agonistes " have been very variously assessed by different critics. With the question, however, of its excellence from the purely literary standpoint we have here no concern. It suffices us to note the two special characteristics, which give to this poem a remarkable interest. These are (1.) the personal element, which is inwoven into and runs throughout the whole drama ; (2.) its form, which aims at reproducing a tragedy modelled upon those of Ancient Greece. Let us consider each of these points separately, and discuss their bearing upon the connection which we seek to establish between Milton's work and that of Vondel upon the same subject. " In one point of view," to quote the words of Mr. Hayley, 1 " the ' Samson Agonistes ' is the most singularly affect- ing composition that was ever produced by sensibility of heart or vigour of imagination. To give it this parti- al Todd's "Milton," vol. iv. p. 495. 160 SAMSON. cular effect, we must remember that the lot of Milton had a marvellous coincidence with that of his hero in three remarkable points : first, he had been tormented by a beautiful but disobedient and disaffectionate wife; secondly, he had been the great champion of his country, and as such the idol of public admiration ; lastly, he had fallen from that height of unrivalled glory, and had experienced the most humiliating reverse of fortune. In delineating the greater part of Samson's sensations under calamity he had only to de- scribe his own," &c. And Mr. Masson, 1 who treats the subject at great length, thus concludes his argument : " Nothing put forth by Milton in verse in his whole life is so vehement an exhibition of his personality, such a proclamation of his own thoughts about him- self, as his ' Samson Agonistes.' The Hebrew Samson among the Philistines, and the English Milton among the Londoners of the reign of Charles II., were, to all poetic intents, one and the same person." It is, in fact, needless to multiply authorities or to furnish independent proofs from the drama itself of the existence of this strong personal element, since upon this question there is no difference of opinion among Miltonic commentators. In the list of subjects which Milton had drawn up in 1 64 1 as containing possible materials for tragedies we find the following : "No. 17. Samson Marrying, or in Ramath-Lechi." " No. 18. Samson Pursophorus, or Hybristes, or Dagmalia." A quarter of a century later the poet selected the last 1 Masson's " Life of Milton," vol. vi. p. 670. SAMSON. 161 of these, dealing with the story of the last day of Samson's life, because he discerned in the Jewish hero, " Blind, disheartened, shamed, dishonoured, quelled," the counterpart of himself in his humiliation, poverty, and want of sight. The drama was the outpouring of the anguish of his soul, bruised and dejected by the events of the Eestoration and the sorrows of his own life. But while we have no hesitation in saying that Milton chose the " Dagmalia " for dramatic treatment from a feeling that in it he had the materials where- with to frame a Active representation of his own per- sonal griefs, we none the less venture confidently to assert that it was Vondel's poem which first suggested to him the fitness of the theme. For, curiously enough, when we turn from the " Samson Agonistes " to the Dutch drama, we find the personal element, which can be traced throughout, to be the key to the full under- standing of the work. Vondel, indeed, was not blind, but in every other respect his position, at the time when he composed this drama, bore a closer analogy to the mournful lot of Samson than did that of the English poet during his residence at Artillery Walk, Bunhill. Born in 1 587, a veteran in years, but still in full pos- session of his great intellectual faculties, the illustrious Vondel in 1658 was, as we have already described him, 1 the acknowledged head, the pride and glory, of the most brilliant age of Dutch literature. He had shown himself to be a master in every species of poetical writing, dramatic, lyrical, religious, didactic, satirical. Nihil tetigit, quod non ornavit. But, above all things, 1 Supra, c. ii. p. 21. 1 62 SAMSON. he was a supreme singer, one of the most gifted lyrical poets of his own, perhaps of any, age. 1 Had the literary language which he created, and whose re- sources he wielded with such consummate ease and prodigal power, retained to our own times its short- lived inspiration, there can be but little doubt the name of Vondel would now have not a provincial, but a world-wide reputation. In his personal character the poet was chiefly re- markable for his unostentatious disposition and his regular habits and domestic attachments. He had very deep religious convictions, and became in later years a devoted adherent of Eoman Catholicism. He had passed his life in ceaseless literary toil, but, despite his high merits and the patronage of princes and nobles, who, as is so frequently the case, gave but few tangible proofs of their favours, he had not in his old age succeeded in securing for himself more than a modest competency. After his wife's death in 1635, he con- tinued to live at Amsterdam with his two surviving children, a son called after his own name, and a daughter named Anna. This son was from his child- hood a source of trouble to his father, and, as he grew up, he showed himself to be both dissolute and stupid. The story is told of him, that once when Vondel's tragedy upon Joseph in Dothan was being discussed in his presence, he inquired " whether Joseph were ' a Catholic ? " 2 He 3 married young, and had two children, but, un- 1 On this see especially " De Reizangen in Vondel's Treurspelen door Nicholas Beets." 2 Brandt's " Leven van J. V.," pp. 80-83. 3 Joost the younger. SAMSON. 163 fortunately, his wife died. He thereupon took to him- self in second wedlock a woman of profligate habits, a very Delilah, who played upon her husband's weak- nesses, and incited him to the greatest irregularities. 1 His father, who about this time had made a metrical version of the Psalms of David, was so afflicted by his son's extravagance and disgraceful conduct, that he was heard to say, " that were it not for the consolation which he derived from the Psalms, he would have died from wretchedness." But the worst was not yet come. The prodigal be- came immersed in debt. He squandered all his own substance, and also large sums which he borrowed from others. He found himself utterly ruined and compelled to fly the country. At this point his father came forward to lend him a helping hand, and to give him a chance of reformation by paying his debts and sending him as an emigrant to the East Indies. The graceless young man departed, and died upon the voyage. His father sacrificed at least 40,000 florins, the whole of his modest savings, in satisfying the creditors, and, at the age of seventy-one, found himself penniless. Too proud to make application for assistance to his many powerful patrons, none of whom now came for- ward to give him help in this sore time of unmerited distress, Vondel obtained through some connections of his wife the humble post of book-keeper at the city pawnbroking bank, at a salary of 680 florins a year. 2 In this servile position had the noble old man to 1 Her name was Baertgen Hooft. For a more favourable view of her character see " Vondel's Portretten " door A. Thijm, pp. 89-120. 2 See " Een dichter aan de bank van leening." Tooneelspel, 1867, door J. van Lennep. 1 64 SAMSON. spend ten long weary years, sitting at his desk from morning till night in discharge of his task of mechanical drudgery. But even now, oppressed by the weight of years and calamity, he did not neglect the service of the Muses. The pen which in the daytime entered pledges in the ledger, at night was employed in trans- cribing the "Jephtha," the "Samson," and the other dramas and poems which were composed during this trying time. 1 The " Samson " was written when Vondel had now been toiling for about two years at his humiliating occupation. It is scarcely possible to doubt but that the choice of subject was dictated by the poet's sense of the analogy between his own fallen condition and that of the Jewish hero, a captive among the Philistines and condemned to labour at the public mill. But we are not left to mere conjecture. The following passage, which occurs in the dedicatory preface to the play, places the matter in the clearest light : " The hero, Samson, endowed by the Almighty with such invincible might and strength, was at last disarmed through the wanton charms of a profligate woman, to warn reckless youth to be on their guard against the seductive attractions of fickle beauties, whereby so many worthy men have fallen low. I judge it not unserviceable to represent Samson in his humiliation, in order to keep back wanton spirits from irregularities, and to teach them to use the gifts which spring from God to His honour. 5 ' Who can fail here to read between the lines the unmistakable references to the history of his unfortu- 1 This period of ten years was the most prolific of Vondel's life. Between his seventieth and eightieth year he published about 35,000 lines of poetry, including the finest half of his lyrical compositions. Thijm's " Portretten," p. 168. SAMSON. 165 nate son, and the grievous consequences which in his own case had followed "from reckless youth being seduced by the charms of a profligate woman " ? But we must not dwell any longer upon this point, however interesting. We shall in the sequel point out several passages in the play which bear out our con- tention. As we are not writing a biography of Vondel, we here confine ourselves strictly to our thesis. " Qui farem punto, come buon fattone, Che, com 'egli ha del panna, fa la gonna." * We proceed to the consideration of that which has always been held to be the distinguishing characteris- tic of " Samson Agonistes ," its dramatic form. 2 Milton himself in his preface, entitled " Of that sort of Dramatic Poem called Tragedy," thought it necessary to give an explanation of the method he has adopted. He begins by defending himself against the Puritan dislike to stage-plays by " vindicating tragedy from the small esteem, or rather infamy, which in the account of many it undergoes at this day, with other common, interludes," and then dwells upon the fact that "in the modelling of this poem, with good reason, the ancients and Italians are followed, as of much more authority and fame," and concludes by asserting that " of the style and uniformity and that commonly called the plot . . . they only will best judge who are not un- acquainted with iEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the three tragic poets unequalled yet by any, and the best rule to all who endeavour to write tragedy." Upon 1 Dante, "Paradiso," cant, xxxii. 139. 2 See the Essays from Johnson's "Rambler" and Cumberland's "Observer" which are given in Todd's "Milton," vol. iv. pp. 344-357. 166 SAMSON. this Mr. Masson makes the following comment: 1 " ' Samson Agonistes,' therefore, was offered to the world as a tragedy of a different order from that which had been established in England. It was a tragedy of the severe classic order, according to that noble Greek model, which had been kept up by none of the modern nations, unless it might be the Italians." Now we have already stated that one of our prima facie grounds for investigating the possible connection between the u Samson Agonistes " and Vondel's drama upon the same subject lay in the fact that both plays were composed after the rules and regulations of the ancient Greek tragedy. Yet such a statement about a Dutch work appears to be considerably at variance with the language of Milton's preface and of Mr. Masson's Introduction. The one implies, the other asserts, that " tragedy of the severe classic order accord- ing to the noble Greek model had been kept up by none of the modern nations, unless it might be the Italians." In the face, then, of so positive an assertion, we feel that, before we venture to base any argument upon our statement as to Vondel's method, we must be prepared to verify our facts and array our evidence. We proceed to do so. Born of humble parentage, Vondel's early education had been somewhat neglected, but he supplied his deficiencies in later life by an application and persever- ance which were prodigious. He acquired a familiar acquaintance with the French, German, and Italian languages, and then, at the age of twenty-six, under the able guidance of his accomplished friend Hugo Grotius, the indefatigable student turned his attention to Latin ; 1 " Milton's Poetical Works," vol. ii. p. 93. SAMSON. 167 and yet four years later he commenced the task of learning Greek. And he was not satisfied with a merely superficial knowledge of these tongues. He made himself thoroughly at home with the masterpieces of classical literature. He rendered the whole of Virgil into Dutch verse, and some portions as many as three times ; and afterwards translated in a similar manner the greater part of Horace, of Ovid, and other Latin poets ; and at intervals during his long life he occupied his leisure-time in giving Dutch metrical versions of a number of Greek plays. 1 His last literary efforts were his translation of the " Phcenissae " and " Trachinise," at the age of eighty-two, and a paraphrase of the " Meta- morphoses " of Ovid two years later. 2 Now his primary object in undertaking these tasks was not so much to make known the Greek and Latin authors to his countrymen, but to familiarise himself with their thoughts, their style, and their diction, and, in the case of the dramatists, with their form. 3 Com- mencing his literary life at a time when religious mysteries and moralities (Spelen van Zinne) repre- sented the highest dramatic art and were the only public spectacles, Vondel deliberately set himself to the task of reforming the popular tastes and restoring to the drama something of the elevation and dignity, both in matter and manner, of the classic tragedy. All his earlier plays, and notably the " Palamedes " and the " Gysbrecht van Amstel," were avowedly imi- 1 " Electra " of Sophocles, 1639; " CEdipus Rex," 1660; "Iphigenia in Tauris," 1666; "Phcenissae" and "Trachiniae," 1669. 2 Brandt's "Leven,"p. 67. 3 Vondel, unfortunately for his style, became acquainted with the so- called plays of Seneca before those of the Greek dramatists. He trans- lated "Hecuba," 1625 j " Hippolytus, " 1628. 1 68 SAMSON. tations of the best Greek examples, 1 and are modelled in accordance with the rules of Aristotle and Horace. One of the chief features of the Vondelian drama is the large use made of the chorus. 2 The poet, feeling that in the choral odes he could give free play to his lyrical genius, has here freely indulged his natural bent ; and in so doing, he alone, of all the modern writers of so-called classical tragedy, has grasped the fact that the Hellenic drama had its origin in rhythmic song, and that the choral ode is not an excrescence, but should gather round it the action and movement of the play. And so Vondel's chorus are not only singers, but, as in the classic drama, they act as interpreters of the action, mediators and moralists, and not unfrequently take part in the dialogue. 3 How entirely original and self-evolved was this attempt of the Dutch poet to revive the best traditions of the Hellenic tragedy may be judged from the fact that Vondel was fifty years of age at the time of the appearance of Corneille's " Le Cid." 4 But Vondel was not satisfied with these his earlier efforts. He de- termined to write a play which should conform in all its minutest details to the Aristotelian requirements. The subject he selected was the story of the death of Jephtha's daughter, and the play appeared in 1659, the very year after his misfortunes, and the year before the publication of the " Samson." 1 See " Commentatio de Graecse Tragedise ratione et Nobillissima Vondellii fabula Gysbrecht van Amstel ad earn exacta." Auctore P. Huet, 1 82 1, p. 89, &c. 2 " J. Vondel, Etude Historique et Litteraire," par l'Abbe* A. Stil- lemans, pp. 1 6, 17. 3 See at length N. Beet's " Reizangen van Vondel." 4 "Dichter, J. Vondel," Du Bois, p. 39. SAMSON. 169 To this play, the " Jephtha," he contributes a some- what lengthy preface (which may be compared to Milton's preface to the " Samson Agonistes "), in which he subjects his own tragedy to a close and critical review, in order to show that in every respect it con- forms to the required regulations ; and he further assures his readers that he has spared no pains to gain the fullest information upon the subject. We quote his own words. " In order," he says, " that we might in no way fall short of our exemplar, we refreshed our memory by reading over and re-reading the poetics of Aristotle and of Horace, and the commentators upon their works, such as Eobertellus, Madius, Lombardus, Scaliger, Heinsius, Hugo Grotius, Vossius," &c. He concludes with the following quaint sentence : * We judge it not unserviceable to analyse this tragedy in its details, that students tossed upon the waves of dramatic authorship may use it as a stage-compass, so as to avoid all the rocks and shoals of error, and ship- wreck from unlawful constructions, and at length, fully equipped, may sail into the wished-for haven of the perfection of the dramatic art." A learned writer, Jerome de Bosch, invokes this play in support of his thesis that " great writers remain at their ease even when tied down by the strictest rules." l Vondel was accustomed at times, before commencing a new work, to translate a Greek play, as if for the purpose of perfecting and refining his art by close study of the old masters. He thus translated the " Electra " of Sophocles immediately before he wrote his tragedy " De Maeghden," founded upon the history of Saint Ursula ; and after publishing (what may be 1 Du Bois, p. 61. i7o SAMSON. called) his specimen play after the Greek model, the " Jephtha," as if still not satisfied with the result, he translated " (Edipus Eex " as a prelude to the com- position of the " Samson." It is just possible that the fate of (Edipus may have suggested to Vondel's mind the dramatic capabilities of the story of the blind Jewish hero. Certain it is that the influence of Sopho- cles can be traced in the second and third acts of the " Samson." The interview, in particular, between the High Priest of Dagon and the Prophetess of Akkeron, in which the former makes light of the portents and the dubious reply of the oracle, recalls forcibly the arrogant levity of Jocasta, and there are in this portion of the play some passages of oTiyppvQla which have a peculiarly Sophoclean ring. But we need not pursue the subject farther. We have now shown that the two most noticeable characteristics of the " Samson Agonistes," the personal element which runs through it and its dramatic form, modelled upon that of the ancient Greek tragedy, are even more markedly the special features of the " Samson " of Yondel. We know, further, that the Dutch play preceded the English one by at least five years. It only remains for us to show from internal evidence that Milton was acquainted with the language of Yondel's play in order to complete the chain of evidence, and make it more than probable that the one is the direct descendant of the other. The first act of the earlier tragedy bears a consider- able resemblance to what may be called the first act * of the "Samson Agonistes." Each commences with a Euripidean prologue. The speaker in the one case 1 The "Samson Agonistes" naturally divides itself into parts, which correspond to the five acts of the legitimate drama. SAMSON. 171 is Dagon, in the other, Samson, but, with an appropriate difference of tone, the matter of either soliloquy is the same. Dagon triumphs over his fallen foe and recites his great deeds in order to gloat over his present humiliation. Samson likewise dwells upon the glories of his past career, but in a spirit of self-reproach and utter despondency. Vondel then begins the real action of his play by a short dialogue between Samson and his keeper, who guides the blind hero to a seat in a hollow oak, where he leaves him to breathe the air and enjoy the sun- light, while he proceeds to ask instructions from his superior at the court, where all the lords are gathered for Dagon's festival. " Samson Agonistes," as the following quotation will show, opens in an analogous manner Samson (Attendant leading Mm). " A little onward lend thy guiding hand To these dark steps, a little farther on ; For yonder bank hath choice of sun or shade. There am I wont to sit when any chance Relieves me from my task of servile toil. Here I feel amends The breath of heaven fresh blowing, pure, and sweet, With day spring-born ; here leave me to respire. This day a solemn feast the people hold To Dagon, their sea-idol, and forbid Laborious works ; unwillingly this rest Their superstition leaves me." 1-5, 9-15. A Chorus J in either case closes the act by moralisings over the triumph of idolaters and the fall of God's champion. Again, in both the Dutch and English plays the opening of the second act discloses the Chorus finding 1 Vondel's Chorus consists of Jewish maidens, Milton's of Danites. 172 SAMSON. Samson as he sits solitary in his blindness. Collo- quies take place, certain passages of which contain close verbal similarities. The Vondelian Chorus do not at first recognise the hero ; they, ask " What man sits in this oak in solitude A lone ? He seems, to utter beggary Reduced, to beg of us an alms.'" ii. 184. Samson discovers himself and declares his miserable state ; upon which the Chorus " God help us all ! what a sight for us ! Bow can we fix our thoughts or credit it ?" ii. 196-197. Compare with these Milton's lines " This, this is he ; softly a while j Let us not break in upon him. O change beyond report, thought, or belief ! In slavish habits, ill-fitted weeds, O'erworn and soiled, Or do my eyes misrepresent?" 11 5- 118, 1 21-124. Samson's words " / have for many months, in fetters yoked, In the mill-prison here my sad time spent, Thus blind, as you may see, ill-used and aged," 1 ii. 204-206, recall these " My task of servile toil Daily in the common prison else enjoined me, Where I, a prisoner chained, . Grind in brazen fetters under task, 1 These and other citations surely contain bitter personal allusions to the condition of the aged and destitute poet, condemned to unworthy drudgery in the pawnbroking office. SAMSON. 173 Blind among enemies. worse than chains, Dungeon, or beggary, or decrepit age," 5-7, 35, 69-70, taken from the opening soliloquy of " Samson Agonistes." Samson (Vondel's) asks for a draught of water, which is given him. The Chorus then inform him (exactly as Milton's Chorus do under the same circumstances) that they have come from his native land to offer con- solation. The whole passage is so important in its bearing upon the Miltonic question, that we translate it at length. Samson has just allayed his thirst and expresses his gratitude " Sam. When through God's power a fountain sprang From out the ass's jaw, I, parched in fight, Refreshed my soul and drank. The wondrous fount My anguish thus allayed. Upon you all May Heaven's blessing rest for kindness done. Chorus. Samson, our valorous prince, what pain is ours To find you thus in miserable plight ! We, Jewish maidens, to this festival Are come from East and West, to seek for you And offer consolation, as the time, And not our wish, give opportunity. No brute's so shameless as a thankless man. We owe, defender of our land, to thee Help, service, honour ; that we know. bear your sorrow patiently, till God Dispose. What heart-ache ! what sore agony ! Though sun refuse his light, God can your soul Illumine with an inward flame more bright Than sheen of thousand suns. Who can confine The Might Supreme ? He,who endowed your frame With wondrous strength, concealed in your hair, Is mighty, should He please, in you to work, To arm and strengthen you, though shorn of locks." ii. 211-230. 174 SAMSON. At this point, for convenience we pause, and turn our attention to Milton's drama. We first quote the words of Manoah to his son, which should be compared with the beginning and end of the extract " God, who caused a fountain at thy prayer From the dry ground to spring, thy thirst t' allay After the brunt of battle, can as easy Cause light again within thine eyes to spring, "Wherewith to serve Him better than thou hast ; And I persuade me so. Why else this strength Miraculous yet remaining in those locks ? His might continues in thee not for nought, Nor shall His wondrous gifts be frustrate thus." 580-589. With this must be taken the following lines, which contain an image parallel with one of Vondel's " But he, though blind of sight, With inward eyes illuminated, His fiery virtue roused From under ashes into sudden flame." 1 1 686- 1 689. We now revert to the commencing lines spoken by the Chorus, and compare them with the words with which the corresponding Miltonic Chorus commence their address to Samson " He speaks : let us draw nigh. Matchless in might, The glory late of Israel, now the grief ! We come, thy friends and neighbours not unknown, From Eshtaol and Zora's fruitful vale To visit or bewail thee ; or, if better, Counsel r>r consolation we may bring, Salve to thy sores." 178-184. 1 See "Paradise Lost," iii. 50-54. SAMSON. 175 The answers of Samson contain two passages which are paraphrases on the Yondelian line which condemns ingratitude " How counterfeit a coin are they who ' friends ' Bear in their superscription (of the most I would be understood). In prosperous days They swarm, but in adverse withdraw their head." 190-193. And again " Whom God hath of His special favour raised As their deliverer 1 If he aught begin, How frequent to desert him, and at last To heap ingratitude on worthiest deeds." 273-276. We draw special attention to this, because we have here not only similarity of expression, but the same chain of thought. For Milton's Chorus proceed thus " Tax not divine Disposal," 210, and moralise upon the theme " Just are the ways of God, And justifiable to men," 293-294, making use therein of Vondel's words in the line " As if they would confine the Interminable." 307. We conclude our analysis of this extract with the production of one more parallel passage " God, when He gave me strength, to show withal How slight the gift was, hung it in my hair. But peace ! I must not quarrel with the will Of Highest Dispensation." 57-62. The next quotation, which tells the story of Samson's hapless love, is almost continuous with the previous translation 176 SAMSON. ' ' Sam. would I had from Philistine l women kept Aloof, by nature treacherous and false. Well may I rue the day when I at length In Sorec with Dalilah fell in love, Light, wanton, full of greed. To drift at will On favour or disfavour of a wench Is on a tranquil sea at time of need To tarry long and venture recklessly. She, who on promised offers turned her eyes, By hostile gold seduced, both night and day Pressed me with importunity to tell The secret of my strength, all in her height And glow of love ; a storming of their heart Seldom by men withstood. Had then, alas ! My mind as strong in native power and force, Been as my body, I had firm remained ; This must I needs confess. Yet knew I well How to delude her thrice and play her false." ii. 237-250. The circumstances of the poet when he penned these lines, and the miserable ending of his prodigal son through the snares of a wanton woman, give to this excerpt an autobiographical interest and pathos. "We do not look in vain to that same dialogue be- tween the Chorus and the Miltonic Samson, from which we have already quoted, and which corresponds in its position to this opening scene of Vondel's second act, for parallel passages " Sam. The next I took to wife (0 that I never had ! fond wish too late) Was in the Vale of Sorec, Dalilah, That specious monster, my accomplished snare." 227-230. 1 Compare the scanning of this line with " Samson Agonistes," 577. SAMSON. 177 And immediately before " Who, like a foolish pilot, have shipwrecked My vessel, trusted to me from above, Gloriously rigged, and for a word, a tear, Fool ! have divulged the secret gift of God To a deceitful woman. . . . Immeasurable strength they might behold In me ; of wisdom nothing more than mean. This with the other should at least have paired." 198-202, 206-209. The regret at yielding to a deceitful woman, the comparison to a vessel endangered at sea, and of bodily with mental strength, are to be found in both writers. Once more a succession of ideas in common. Such co- incidences thus recurring can scarcely be due to chance. There is, however, another and longer narrative in " Samson Agonistes " which tells of the treachery of Delilah. From this we now quote. The language will be seen to bear a close similarity to that of our trans- lation " In this other was there found More faith, who also in her prime of love, Spousal embraces, vitiated with gold, Though offered only, by the scent conceived Her spurious first-born, Treason against me ! Thrice she essayed, with flattering prayers and sighs And amorous reproaches, to win from me My capital secret, in what part my strength Lay stored, in what part summed, that she might know ; Thrice I deluded her, and turned to sport Her importunity. .... She surceased not day nor night To storm me." 387-397, 404-405. If there be one portion of " Samson Agonistes " which has been more quoted than another, it is that latter M 1 78 SAMSON. portion of the hero's soliloquy in which he mourns the loss of his sight. This is the passage in which, more intensely than elsewhere, Milton seems to be giving utterance to the sorrows of his own heart, to his grief at the calamity which had befallen him. Yet, strangely enough, we discover some of the most characteristic expressions in this lament of Milton in the work of his predecessor in the same field, as will be seen in the two citations we now make, the one from the second, the other from the third act of Vondel's play. In the former, the Chorus (here playing the part of Manoah in the * Agonistes ") are supplicating the Prince of Gaza on behalf of Samson, and, to excite his pity, dwell upon the greatness of the misfortunes which have brought the Jewish champion to such a miserable state. They acknowledge that the injuries he has done to the Philistines are beyond pardon " But the relentless fate which fell on him. The light extinct, in night of darkness sunk, What else is this than half his life to lose ? Half death he suffers, since, bereft of strength, Thefoeman bored out both his eyes." ii. 484-488. In the latter, it is Samson who declares that for him all favours are now in vain " No man, no prince can give me back mine eyes. I mourn my sight ; His more than half the life. My daylight once for all hath set; no more I hope for dawn; eternal night is mine, Yet in the night all other creatures sleep And rest. Such rest shall Samson never see." iii. 871-876. The parallel passage of Milton is so familiar to all educated Englishmen that it appears almost superfluous SAMSON. 179 to quote the well-known lines. We select only those which are necessary to establish the close resemblance between the language of the two poets " But chief of all, loss of sight, of thee I most complain ! Sight, the prime work of God, to me is extinct. Inferior to the vilest now become Of man or worm, the vilest here excel me. Scarce half I seem to live, dead more than half. O dark, dark, dark, 1 amid the blaze of noon Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse, Without all hope of day. Then had I not been thus exiled from light, As in the land of darkness, yet in light, To live a life half dead, a living death." 66-69, 73-74, 79-83, 97-iQo. There is one other place where Milton's Samson utters a cry of despair, and here, too, there seems to be a reminiscence of the latter of the two extracts from Vondel " Sleep hath forsook and given me o'er ; Thence faintings, swoonings of despair, And sense of Heaven's desertion Left me all helpless, with the irreparable loss Of sight. .... Nor am I in the list of them that hope ; Hopeless are all my evils, all remediless." 629, 631-632, 644-645, 647-648. The Chorus, in the course of their supplicatory inter- 1 This seems a reminiscence of Vondel's " een nacht van duisternissen " a night of darknesses. 180 SAMSON. view with the Prince above referred to, speak of Samson as ' ' This hapless man, ensnared, surprised, seized, Bereaved of heavenly light, with chains oppressed, To labour doomed, at stem taskmaster's will." ii. 569-571. Compare the words of Manoah " Ensnared, assaulted, overcome, led bound, Thy foes' derision, captive, poor, and blind, Into a dungeon thrust, to work with slaves." 365-368. In the third act (Vondel) a dialogue takes place be- tween the Princess of Gaza and the High Priest of Dagon, the latter of whom, after some demur, agrees to the wish of the Philistine lords that the Hebrew prisoner should play before them at the festival " Princess. Through force of prayer the gods delivered him Into our hands. Now all the lords desire That Samson at this solemn feast of joy, The enemy so late endowed with strength Invincible, on a triumphal stage Might in the temple play to Dagon 's praise, And the delight of all. Priest. Let Samson don fresh clothes. Wide open set The place for public show. We bless the play In honour of our god, great Dagon 's name." hi. 756-761, 774-775- Take with this the lines in which the officer in " Samson Agonistes " commands the appearance of Samson at the feast " Samson, to thee our lords thus bid me say : This day to Dagon is a solemn feast, With sacrifices, triumph, pomp, and games ; Thy strength they know surpassing human rate, SAMSON. 181 And now some public proof thereof require To honour this great feast and high assembly. Rise, therefore, with all speed and come along, Where I will see thee heartened and fresh clad." 1310-1317. And also the following words of Manoah " This day the Philistines a popular feast Here celebrate in Gaza, and proclaim Great pomp and sacrifice, and praises loud To Dagon as their god, who hath delivered Thee, Samson, bound and blind, into their hand : So Dagon shall be magnified." 436-441. Out of a number of such-like coincidences in language and metaphor, which might be given from this portion of the drama, we think it necessary to present but one more, which is taken from a lyrical soliloquy which Samson utters immediately before following his keeper to the festival " The angel of my birth descending, My drooping courage once more stayed, As on my knees for strength I prayed. Through all my limbs fresh vigour sending. God's Spirit, which from mother's womb Hath led me on to high achievement, Bids me now calmly bear bereavement, Prepares for me a glorious tomb." iv. 1077-1084. There are two passages of Milton to compare with this, both lyrical. The farewell words of the Chorus to Samson as he follows the officer run thus " Send thee the angel of thy birth to stand Fast by thy side ; That Spirit that first rushed on thee In the camp of Dan, Be efficacious in thee now at need, 1 82 SAMSON. For never was from Heaven imparted Measure of strength so great to mortal seed As in thy wondrous action hath been seen." 1431-1432, 1435-1440. The other comes from Samson's reverie, and the Chorus which follows, at the close of what may be styled Mil- ton's second act M I was his nursling once and choice delight, His destined from the womb, Promised by Heavenly message twice descending. He led me on to mightiest deeds Above the nerve of mortal arm. This one prayer yet remains, might I be heard, No long petition speedy death, The close of all my miseries and the balm." The Chorus moralise upon this, and state that though " Many are the sayings of the wise Extolling patience as the truest fortitude," yet that such advice is of little avail to the sufferer " Unless he feel within Some source of consolation from above, Secret refreshings that repair his strength And fainting spirits uphold." 633-636, 638-639, 649-654, 663-666. And now, before we proceed to examine the fifth act of Vondel's drama, which has a stronger affinity to *' Samson Agonistes " than any other portion of the play, except perhaps that which treats of the treachery of Delilah; we shall endeavour to render into their original metres two lyrical #des assigned to the High Priest of Dagon and the Choral Singers, whom he is addressing. They are interesting not merely from SAMSON. 183 having numerous points of contact with Milton's poem, but as specimens, though far below the level of his best efforts, of Vondel's lyrical art. The High Priest is the speaker, his audience the singers who are to take part in the sacred procession at Dagon's festival " Solemn pageantry along, Graced of yore by play and song, To great Dagon's name redounding. For our mortal foe confounding. Let the archers on the route First advance with drum and flute, Festal horn and soft recorder. Then God's ministers in order, Fair by pair, their stately ranks Muster for this rite of thanks, And with oaken garlands crowned, Duly keep this feast renowned. Let the quires their notes of praise Blent with pipe and viol raise, In their walce blind Samson bringing, Torches flashing, censers swinging, Followed by a gallant train. Throned aloft on sacred wain, Dagon next, our shrine and treasure ; We, submiss to do his pleasure, March behind, and all the great Chiefs and princes of the state, While lords and ladies, bright in hue, Form a long courtly retinue. Sacred singers, forward press On the path your god doth bless." iv. 1 379-1404. With these directions compare the account given by the Messenger in "Samson Agonistes" of this same festival " As the gates I entered with sunrise, 1 84 SAMSON. The morning'trumpets festival proclaimed Through each high street. Immediately Was Samson as a public servant brought, In their state livery clad ; before him pipes And timbrels ; on each side went armed guards ; Both horse and foot before him and behind, Archers and slingers, cataphracts and spears. At sight of him the people with a shout Rifted the air, clamouring their god with praise." 1598-1600, 1614-1621. The following is the hymn of praise in which the Singers reply to the High Priest's injunctions " Great is Dag on, Chief of Powers, Who God's foeman unawares Hath encompassed in our snares, At whose might each giant cowers. Who alone inspired dismay, Swordless, all their arms disdaining, Like a princely host campaigning, Marshalled in its deep array. Great is Dagon, Chief of Powers, Who God's foeman led in bands And betrayed to hostile hands, Shamed and blind, in harlot's bowers. See the champion sunk low, Who Philistine armies scattered A nd their pride in battle shattered ; See how Gaza triumphs now. Great is Dagon, Chief of Powers, Who God's foeman, once for all, Brought to such a direful fall. Quail not, friends, when Samson lowers ; At the hour of sacrifice, On this temple stage inveighing, Ye shall see him grimly playing His sad part in tragic guise." iv. 1405-1428. SAMSON. 185 Now the text of this hymn, the refrain with which each verse begins, is precisely contained in the lines of Milton " This day the Philistines a popular feast Here celebrate in Gaza, and proclaim Great pomp and sacrifice and praises loud To Dagon, as their god, who hath delivered Thee, Samson, bound and blind, into their hands, Them out of thine, who slew'st them many a slain." 433-438. The speaker was Manoah, who shortly before had apostrophised his son " miserable change ! Is this the man, That invincible Samson, far renowned, The dread of Israel's foes, who with a strength Equivalent to angels walked their streets, None offering fight ; who single combatant Duelled their armies ranked in proud array, Himself an army 1 " 340-346. Even more nearly does the language of the first of the Miltonic choral odes recall that of Vondel " Can this be he, That heroic, that renowned, Irresistible Sampson ? whom unarmed No strength of man .... could withstand ; Who Ran on embattled armies clad in iron, And, weaponless himself, Made arms ridiculous, In scorn of their proud arms and warlike tools, Spurned them to death by troops." 123-127, 129-131, 137-138. Even the line " At whose might each giant cowers" 1 86 SAMSON. has its representative in the episode of Harpatha, of whom the Chorus say " His giantship has gone somewhat crestfallen." 1244. We now pass on to the consideration of the fifth act of Yondel's play, which contains the account of the revenge of Samson and the destruction of the Philis- tines. The narrative bears the most striking analogy to that of the " Samson Agonistes," both as to the action and the diction. In both poems (for the unity of place is in both strictly maintained) the Chorus are repre- sented as standing at some distance from the scene of the catastrophe, and the tidings are brought by an escaped spectator who is flying from the scene of de- struction. Where the two writers differ in subordinate details, it is generally through a stricter adherence on the part of the Dutch writer to the facts of the Biblical narrative. In Vondel's account we are to imagine the Chorus standing, as before, by the hollow oak and near to Dagon's temple. They hear a terrible crash and up- roar, which fills them with bewilderment and panic. " Chorus. mercy ! mercy! Help us now, God ! Believe us in this need ; we cry from earth To Thy high throne ! What is this sudden shock ? where, where do we stand ? This hideous shout Deafens our ears. This dust obscures our sight. A cloud of ruin rises in the air. The town is full of shrieks and groans ; the noise, The cry, the wailing spreads throughout the streets. We dare not venture out for further news ; But stay awhile beneath this temple fence. Here cometh one, amazed, perplexed, cast down ; SAMSON. 187 Let us inquire of him the state of things. A moment stand, so please you, friend, and tell To us the accident and how it chanced. Mess. Hebrew maidens, Gaza's all undone, The whole Philistine land in deepest woe. Chorus. How fared Samson ? Is he alive or dead 1 Mess. All dead and cold, but timely met his death, No longer blind and fastened to a chain. Maltreated, harassed, buffeted, provoked, He hath in his revenge himself destroyed,. Chorus. We then have lost our judge, for ever lost ; 'Tis terrible! but further in detail Relate to us all that you saw and heard." v. 1460-1468, 1471-1487. In the Miltonic narrative the Chorus and Manoah (in a place nigh to Gaza but somewhat retired) are discussing of the old man's mission to ransom his son, when suddenly Manoah breaks off his discourse with the startled exclamation " O what noise ! Mercy of Heaven ! what hideous noise was that ? Horribly loud, unlike the former shout. Chorus. Noise call you it, or universal groan, As if the whole inhabitation perished ? Blood, death, and deathful deeds are in that noise, Ruin and destruction at the utmost point. Of ruin indeed methought I heard the noise. Man. ....... Some dismal accident it needs must be. What shall we do 1 stay here or run and see 1 Chorus. Best keep together here, lest, running thither, We unawares run into danger's mouth. Man. ....... A little stay will bring some notice hither. 1 88 SAMSON. Chorus. ...... To our wish I see one hither speeding, An Ebrew, as I guess, and of our tribe. Mess. O whither shall I run, or which way fly The sight of this so horrid spectacle, Which erst mine eyes beheld, and still behold ? Man. The accident was loud, and here before thee With rueful cry ; yet what it was we hear not. No preface needs ; thou seest we long to know. Mess. Gaza yet stands, but all her sons are fallen, All in a moment overwhelmed and fallen. Man. Suspense in news is torture ; speak them out. Mess. Then take the worst in brief : Samson is dead. At once both to destroy and be destroyed, The edifice where all were met to see him Upon their heads and on his own he pulled. Man. A dreadful way thou took'st to thy revenge : More than enough we know ; but, while things yet Are in confusion, give us, if thou canst, Eye-witness of what first or last was done, Relation more particular and distinct." 1508-1515, 1519-1522, 1536, 1539-1543, 1552-1555, I55S-I559* 1569-1570, 1587-1596. We have made these extracts as brief as we could, and have contented ourselves with bringing forward the most salient points in these dialogues between the Chorus and Messenger in the one case, and between the Chorus, Manoah, and Messenger in the other. Our next task is to compare the two narratives of the catastrophe. The following is a portion of the description as given by the Dutch poet SAMSON. 189 " Samson we saw, first in procession led, Before the shrine step up, with strings and pipes, With songs of triumph and, with shouts of joy. He patient bore the peoples taunts and jeers, And, quiet as a lamb, refrained his wrath, But meanwhile vengeance in his mind revolved. The sacrificial feast with pomp began More splendid than is wont, from stress of joy That now the land her greatest enemy A captive in her hands in thraldom keeps. A din of voices rose, Which grew with wine as the great cup went round To Bagon's honour and his fellow-gods. They, as the feast drew on, to sport inclined, Made ready. When blind Samson to his guide : Pray, lead me, keeper, where the theatre On two main pillars leans, which the vast weight Of all the building hold, that we, by play And dance overtired, may rest awhile? and then With unabated force begin once more." v. 1492-1502, 1 525-1 5 33. Here we pause. For purposes of analysis and com- parison our quotations already err on the side of ex- cessive length. We now give the Miltonic parallel " The feast and noon grew high, and sacrifice Had filled their hearts with mirth, high cheer, and wine, When to their sports they turned. Immediately Was Samson as a public servant brought. At sight of him the people with a shout Rifted the air, clamouring their god with praise, Who had made their dreadful enemy their thrall. He, patient but undaunted, where they led him Came to the place. .... He his guide requested, 190 SAMSON. As overtired, to let him lean awhile With both his arms on those two massy pillars That to the arched roof gave main support." 1612-1615, 1620-1624, 1630-1634. Compare also with Vondel's description of the sacri- ficial feast " While their hearts were jocund and sublime, Drunk with idolatry, drunk with wine, Chaunting their idol." 1669-167 1. These passages, taken from the concluding portions of the plays, are so full of minute coincidences, that, even if taken by themselves, and apart from other testimony, it would be scarcely possible to hold that they were entirely unrelated to each other. But when we consider them not in isolation, but as merely a portion of the internal evidence we have accumu- lated, and so hardly more important than that which we have adduced from other parts of the plays ; and when, further, this strong internal evidence in favour of our thesis, that Milton was much indebted to the language of Yondel's " Samson," is supported by external evidence equally convincing that he likewise borrowed from the same poem the dramatic form he has adopted and his particular treatment of the subject, we feel that all reasonable doubt has been removed. In such matters we cannot, of course, attain to absolute certainty, but our argument is practically unassailable. A few words in conclusion. It will be admitted, we think, after making every possible deduction from the long array of parallel passages set forth in the preceding pages for resem- blances which are accidental, for material derived from CONCLUSION. 191 common sources, for comparisons that are strained, that we are justified in describing this disclosure of the obli- gations of Milton to Vondel as A curiosity of litera- ture. We have already plainly stated, but again repeat, that depreciation of Milton's supreme poetical merits lies as much beyond our power as it is outside our purpose. A closer acquaintance with his works tends not to diminish, but to increase the homage due to the great Puritan Poet, the wonder felt at the rich stores of his erudition, at the gigantic sweep of his imagination. Milton had no need to borrow from Vondel or any other poet, however eminent, and the stern uprightness of his character forbids us to place an evil construction upon his tendency to "plagiarise." He undoubtedly interpreted in the widest manner the liberty accorded to every great writer of building in for the embellish- ment of his work the materials provided to his hand from well-known and recognised sources, and, conscious of pre-eminence, never scrupled to extend to his own appropriations from others the qualification contained in his own definition " To borrow, and better in the borrowing, is no plagiarie." But borrowing is a sin which grows by the using. And the very large use which Milton has made, with- out acknowledgment, of the ideas and language of a distinguished contemporary, from works but recently published, and written in a tongue unknown to the vast majority of English readers, cannot be altogether excused or defended. At the same time, it must be conceded that the seventeenth century permitted much greater license in these matters than would be countenanced by the stricter literary morality of our own days. The fol- 1 92 CONCLUSION. lowing excerpt from an extremely interesting essay by Vondel 1 is evidence on this point, and shows that the Dutch poet himself was no purist. " Knowledge of foreign tongues/' he writes, " is no slight advantage, and the translating of celebrated poets helps the coming poet, just as the copying of masterpieces of art the student of painting. One thus observes the art of the best masters, and learns, dexterously stealing, to make another's one's own. In this manner has Virgil, him- self the prince of poets, borrowed from Homer and others, and imported from the Greek language with such judgment that he has won imperishable renown." He then adds a few words of warning to the reader, which are, in their bearing upon the subject of this work, curiously apposite " If, then, you wish to pluck some flowers upon the Dutch Helicon, so manage it that country-folk (de boeren) do not notice it, and that it do not too palpably attract the attention of the learned." 1 "Aanleidinge ter Nederduitsche Dichtkunst" van Vloten, vol. ii. P- 54- APPENDIX. BAT AVIAN ANTHOLOGY. By John Bowring. P. 143- (Portion of Chorus from VondeVs " Palamedes.") P. 26. O sweetly-welcome break of morn ! Thou dost with happiness adorn The heart of him who cheerily Contentedly, unweariedly Surveys whatever Nature gives, What beauty in her presence lives, And wanders oft the banks along Of some sweet stream with murmuring song. Oh ! more than regal is his lot, Who, in some blest secluded spot, Bemote from crowded cares and fears, His loved, his cherished dwelling rears ! For empty praises never pining, His wishes to his cot confining, And listening to each cheerful bird Whose animating song is heard : When morning dews, which zephyr's sigh Has wafted, on the roses lie, Whose leaves beneath the pearl drops bend ; When thousand rich perfumes ascend, And thousand hues adorn the bowers, And from a rainbow of sweet flowers, Or bridal robe for Iris made From every bud in sun and shade, N 194 PALAMEDES. Contented there to plant or set, Or snare the birds with crafty net ; To grasp his bending rod and wander Beside the banks, where waves meander, ' And thence their fluttering tenants take ; Or, rising ere the sun's awake, Prepare his steed, and scour the grounds, And chase the hare with swift-paced hounds ; Or ride beneath the noon-tide rays Through peaceful glens and silent ways, Which wind like Cretan labyrinth : Or where the purple hyacinth Is glowing in its bed ; or where The meads red-speckled daisies bear, While maidens milk the grazing cow, And peasants toil behind the plough, Or reap the crops beneath their feet, Or sow luxuriant flax or wheat. Here flourishes the waving corn, Encircled by the wounding thorn ; There glides a bark by meadows green, And there the village smoke is seen ; And there a castle meets the view Half fading in the distance blue. All the following extracts from VondeVs Works are taken from Van Vloten's complete edition. Schiedam : H. A. M. Eoelants. mdccclxiv. LUCIFER. P. 37. Heer Belzebub ! gij Raad van's Hemels Stedehouder, Hij steigert steil, van kreits in kreits, op ons gezicht Hij streeft den wind voorbij, en laat een spoor van licht En glansen achter zich, waar zijn gezwinde wiecken De wolken breken. Hij begint ons lucht te riecken, In eenen andren dag en schooner zonneschijn, LUCIFER. 195 Daar 't licht zich spiegelt in het blaauwe kristalijn. De hemelkloten zien met hun gezicht, van onder, Terwijl hij rijst, hem na, een ieder in't bijzonder, Verwonderd om dien vaart en goddelijken zwier, Die hun geen Engel schijnt, maar eer een vliegend vier, Geen star verschiet zoo snel. i. 10, &c. P. 39. Verwittigd uit den hoogen Door's Hemels afgezant, die neder quam gevlogen Nog sneller, dan een star, die door de lucht verschiet. v. 1739, &c. P. 40. Ik zie de goude bladen, Met perlen van de lucht, den zilvren dauw geladen. 'T Gezicht bekoort den mond. Wie zou niet watertanden Naar aardsche lekkernij 1 hij walgt van onzen dag, En hemelsch mann', die 't ooft der aarde plukken mag. i. 29, &c. P. 41. 'K Verzwijg mijn hene vaart, om niet te reppen, hoe Gezwind ik nedersteeg, en zonk door negen bogen, Die sneller dan een pijl, rontom hun mid punt vlogen. Het rad der zinnen kan zoo snel niet ommeslaan, In ons gedachten, als ik, lager dan de maan En wolken, afgegleen bleef hangen op mijn pennen Om 't oostersche gewest en landschap t'onderkennen. i. 44, &c. P. 42. Van verre zag men hier een hoogen berg verschieten, Waaruit een waterval, de wortel van vier vlieten, Ten dale neder bruist. Wij streken steil en schuin Voorover neet ons hooft, en rustten op de kruin Des bergs, van waar men vlak de zalige landouwen Der onder welt en haar weelde kon aanschouwen. i. 53. &c. ?. 44. In 't midden rijst de berg, waaruit de hooftbron klatert, Die zich in vieren deelt en al het land bewatert, Geboomte en beemden laaft, en levert beeken uit, 196 LUCIFER. Zoo klaar gelijk kristal, daar geen gezicht op stu.it De stroomen geven slib en koesteren de gronden. Hier zaaide Vrou Natuur in steenen een gestarnt, Dat onze starren dooft. Hier blinkt het goud in d'adren Hier wou Natuur haar schat in eenen schoot vergadren. i. 61, &c P. 45. Dan zwelt de boezem der landouw van kruid en kleur En knop en telg en bloem en allerhanden geur, De dauw ververscht ze's naclits. i. 74, &c. P. 45. De bergleeuw kwispelde hem aan met zijnen staart, En loech den meester toe. De tijger lei zijn aard Voor's Koning's voeten af. De landstier boog zijn horen En d'olifant zijn snuit. De beer vergat zijn toren. i. 91, &c. P. 46. Geen schepsel heeft om hoog mijne oogen zoo behaagd Als deze twee om laag. Wie kon zoo geestig strenglen Het lichaam en de ziel, en scheppen dubble Englen Uit kleinaarde en uit been ! Het lichaam schoon van leest, Getuigt des Scheppers Kunst, die blinkt in 't aanschijn meest, Den spiegel van 't gemoed. Wat lid mij kon verbazen, Ik zag het beeld der ziele in 't aan gezicht geblazen Bezit het lijf iet schoons, dat vindt man hier bij een. Een Godheid geeft haar glans door's menschen oogen heen De redelijke ziel komt uit zijn tronie zwieren. Hij heft, terwijl de stomme en redenlooze dieren Naar hunne voeten zien, alleen en trotsch het hooft Ten hemel op naar God, zijn Schepper, hoog geloofd. i. 104, &c. P. 47. De man en vrou zijn b6i volschapen, even schoon, Van top tot teen. Met recht spant Adam wel de kroon, Door kloekheid van gedaante en majesteit van 't wezen, Als een ter heerschappij des aardrijks uitgelesen ; Maar al wat Eva heeft vernoegt haar bruigom's eisch : LUCIFER. 197 Der ledeii tederheit, een zachter vel en vleisch, Een vriendelijker verf, aanminnigheit der oogen. i. 1 50, &c. Nu blinkt geen Serafijn, in 't hemelsch Heiligdom Als deze in 't hangend haar, een goude nis van stralen, Die schoon gewaterd, van den hoofde nederdalen En vloeyen om den rug. i. 168, &c. P. 50. Al schijnt het Geestendom alle andre t'overtreffen, God sloot van eeuwigheid het menschdom te verheffen, Ook boven 't Engelsdom, en op te voeren tot Een klaarheid en een licht, dat niet verschilt van God Gij zult het eeuwig Woord, bekleed met been en aren, Gezalft tot Heer en Hooft en Kechter, al de scharen Der Geesten, Engelen en menschen te gelijk, Zien rechten, uit zijn troon en onbeschaduwd Rijk. i. 217, &c. P. 51. Zou God een jonger zoon, geteeld uit Adams lenden, Verheffen boven hem] ii. 418, &c. P- 53- Gij vat het recht : het past rechtschape Heerschappijen Geensins, haar wettigheid zoo los te laten glijen ; Want d'oppermacht is d'eerste aan haare wet verplicht ; Verandren voeght haar minst. Ben ik een zoon van licht, Een heerscher over 't licht, ik zal mijn recht bewaren : Ik zwicht voor geen geweld, noch aartsgeweldenaren. Laat zwichten al wat wil ; Ik wijk niet eenen voet. Hier is mijn Vaderland. Noch ramp, noch tegenspoed, Noch vloeken zullen ons verwaren, noch betoomen : Wij zullen sneven, of dien hoek te boven komen. Is't noodlot dat ik vail', van eere en staat beroofd, Laat vallen, als ik vail' met deze krone op't hoofd, Dien schepter in de vuist, dien eersliep van vertrouwden, En zooviel duizenden als onze zijde houden. Dat vallen strekt tot eer en onverwelkbren lof ; En liever d'eerste vorst in einig lager hof, Dan in't gezaligd licht de tweede, of nog een minder ; Zoo troost ik mij de kans, en vrees nu leed noch hinder. ii. 427. 198 LUCIFER. P. 57. Zooveel 't geoorlofd zij te melden uit God's bladen ; Veel weten kan altijd niet vordren, somtijds schaden. De Hoogste ontdekt ons slechts wat hij geraden vindt. Het al te sterke licht schijnt serafijnen blind. De zuivre Wijsheid wou ten deel haar wil bezeglen Ten deele ontsluiten. Zich te schikken en te regeln Naar henr gestelde wet, dat voegt den onderzaat, Die aan zijn meesters last en wil gebonden staat. ii. 483, &c. P. 58. Genoeg u met uw lot En staat en waardigheid, u toegeleid van God Hij hief u in den top van alle Hierarchijen ; Doch niet om jemand's glans en opgang te benijen. Zoo buig ze 00k voor 't besluit der Godheid, die het al Wat wegen heeft uit niet, of namaals wezen zal, Bestiert tot zeker eind. ii. 501, &c. P. 59. Nu leeren wij allengs God's wijsheit tegen stappen Erbiedig en beschroomt. Zie openbaart bij trappen Het licht der wetenschappe en kennisse en begeert, Dat ieder, op zijn wacht, zich onder haar verneSrt. ii. 555, &c. P. 59. Ap. Geleende macht te wegen In eene zelve schaal met d'Almacht ! haar gewicht Weegt over. Wacht uw kroon ; wij vallen veel te licht. Bel. Zoo licht niet, of de kans zal eerst in twijfel hangen. ii. 612, &c. P. 60. De wacht is hem betrouwd. Hij houdt op alle Hoven Getrouw een wakende oog. .... Wat tuig, wat stormgevaert Kan tegens hem bestaan, en d'opperbenden slopen ? Al zette's Hemels slot zijn diamant poort open Het vreesde list, noch laag, noch overrompeling. ii. 632-633, 638-641. P. 61. Zijn tronie glad vernist van veinzen en bedriegen, In 't mommen niemand kent, die haar voorbij kan vliegen. ii. 663. LUCIFER. 199 P. 61. Het lust ons ..... Op een gewichtig stuk, dat zal me niet niislukken : Het wit is Michael de slagveer uit te rukken. ii. 590. P. 62. Gij ziet, hoe 't Hemelsch heer, geharrenast in 't goud En in 't gelid gesteld, zijn beurt en schildwacht houdt ; Hoe deze star gedaald ; en gene in top daar boven, De klaarste en minder klaar in luister kan verdooven ; Hoe d'eene een kleine ronde, en d'andre een grooter schrijft ; De laagste Hemel snelst, de hoogste langsam drijft ; En evenwel verneemt ge, in deze oneffenheden Van ampten, licht, en kreits en stand en trand en treden, Geen tweedract, nijd, noch strijd ; des Albestierders stem Geleidt dit maatgezang, dat luistert scherp naar Hem. iii. 971. P. 62. Is't geene helf, gij sleept een staart van 't derde deel Der Geesten mede ? iii. 1 244. Des Hemels derde deel heeft reede zijnen standert Die valsche Morgenstar gezworen. iv. 1336. P. 63. Ik zag Gods blijdschap zich met een wolk van rouw Beschaduwen ; in 't end de wraak een vlam ontsteken In d'oogen van het licht. iv. 1362. P. 63. Zie had haar zegel en gelijkenis gedrukt Op uw geheiligd hoofd en voorhooft, overgoten Met schoonheit, wijsheit, gunst, en wat er komt gevloten, En stroonien, zonder maat, uit aller schatten bron, Gij blonkt in 't Paradijs, voor 't aanschijn van de zon Der Godheit, uit een wolk van dauw en versche rozen. Uw feestgewand stond stijf van perlen en turkosen Smaragden, diamant, robijn en louter goud. iv. 1470. P. 65. Och, Stedehouder ! wat verbloemt gij uw gepeinzen Voor 't alziende oog 1 gij kunt uw oogmerk niet ont- veinzen. iv. 1541. Ik handhaaf 't heilig Recht, door hoogen nood geperst. iv. 1536. 2oo LUCIFER. P. 66. Luc. Wat baat het, schoon men zich op 't uiterste bera ? Heir is geen hoop van peis. Eaph. 'K verzeker u gena. iv. 1 63 1, &c. P. 66. De gansche Hemel, van den grond op tot de kruin Der aartspaleizen, juicht op Michaels bazuin En zwaayende banier. De veldslag is gewonnen. Ons schilden schitteren, en scheppen nieuwe zonnen Uit elke schildzon straalt een triomfanten dag. Daar komt Uriel zelf, de Schildknaap, uit den slag En zwaait het vlammend zwaard, dat, scherp van weder- zijden Gewet van's Hemels wraak en gramschap, onder 't strijden Door schild en harrenas, en helm van diamant, Gevaagt heeft, slinks en rechts. v. 171 7-1 726. P. 67. De Veldheer Michael, verwittigd uit den hoogen Door's Hemels afgezant, die neder kwam gevlogen, Noch sneller dan een star, die door de lucht verschiet, Hoe Lucifer zoo trotsch zich tegens 't hoog Gebied Had opentlijk gekant, gereed hem aan te voeren Die hem bewierookten, zijn starre en standert zwoeren ; Schoot voort, op't aanstaan van den trouwen Gabriel, Het schubbig panser aan en gaf terstont bevel Aan al zijn oversten en hoofden en cornellen, De heeren, in God's naam, in nun geleen te stellen, Om met gemeene macht en kracht, op 't luchtich ruim Van 't zuivre hemels blaauw, al dit meineedig schuim Te vagen, al dit spook in duisternis te domplen, Eer zij op 't ongezienste ons mochten overromplen. v. 1739, & c - P. 69. Het groeide snel, en wies gelijk een halve maan ; Het wet zijn punten, zet twee horens op ons aan. v. 1769, &c. P. 70. De trotsche standert, daar de dag scheen op te klaren Uit zijne Morgenstar, werd van Apollion Gehandhaaft, achter hem, zoo moedig als hij kon. v. 1780, &c. LUCIFER. 20 1 P. 70. Omringd van zijn staffiers en groene livereyen, Hij, wrevlig aangevoerd van onverzoenbren wrok, In 't gouden panser, dat, op zijn wapenrok Van gloeyend purper blonk en uitscheen, steeg te wagen Met goude wielen, van robijnen dicht geslagen. De Leeuw en felle Draak, ter vlucht gereed en vlug, Met starren overal bezaaid op hunnen rug In 't parele gareel, gespannen voor de wielen Verlangden naar den strijd, en vlamden op vernielen De heerbijl in de vuist, de scheemrende rondas, Waarin de morgenstar met kunst gedreven was, Hiiig aan den slinken arm, gereed de kans te wagen. v. 1788, &c. P. 72. O Lucifer ! gij zult dien hoogmoed u beklagen. Gij, fenix onder al wat God daar boven looft ! Hoe steekt gij, onder 't heer, zoo fier met hals en hooft, En helm en schoudren uit ! Hoe heerlijk past u't wapen Als waar't natuurelijk uw wezen aangeschapen ! O liooft der Engelen, niet hooger ! Keer wedrom. v. 1800, &c. P. 73. Zoo stonden zij gekant en slagree, drom bij drom, Een ieder op zijn lucht en hoefslag, en bij rijen Gesnoerd aan hun gezag, om 't schoonst van wederzijen, Wanneer de dolle trom en klinkende trompet Zich mengen, net geluid geweer en handen wet, En steigert in den trans van 't beilig liclit der lichten ; Een klank, waarop terstond een zwangre wolk van schichten Geborsten, slag op slag, een gloenden hagel baart Een storm en onw^er, dat de Hemelen verwaart, De hofpijlaren schudt : de kreitsen en de sterren Verbijsterd in hun ronde en ommeloop, verwarren Op zwijmen op de wacht, en weten niet waar heen Te drijven. v. 1806, &c. P. 75. De dolle Lucifer hervat den strijd drie reizen, En stut de flaauwte van zijn regement zoo trotsch 02 LUCIFER. Gelijk het zeegedruisch al schuimende op een rots Gestuit wordt, reis op reis, en meer niet uit kan rechten. v. 1836, &c. P. 75. De heerbijl in zijn vuist, aan d'eene en d'andre zijde, Den toescheut stuit en sloopt, of schut ze op zijn rondas, Tot dat hem Michael, in 't schitterend harrenas, Verschijnt, gelijk een God, uit eenen kring van zonnen : 11 Zit af, O Lucifer ! en geef het God gewonnen Geef over uw geweer, en standert ; strijk voor God ! Voer af dit heillos heer, dees goddelooze rot, Of anders wacht uw hoofd "Zoo roept hij uit den hoogen D'Aartsvijand van God's naam, hardnekkig, onbewogen, En trotscher op dat woord, hervat in aller ijl Den slag, tot driewerf toe, om met zijn oorlogs bijl Den diamanten schild, met een God's naam, te kloven ; Maar wie den Hemel tergt gevoelt de wraak van boven. De heerbijl klinkt en springt op 't heilig diamant Aan stukken." v. 1908, &c. P. 77. Gelijk de klare dag in naaren nacht verkeert, Wanneer de zon verzinkt, vergeet met goud te brallen, Zoo wordt zijn schoonheit 00k, in't zinken, onder 't vallen, In een wanschapenheid veranderd, al te vuil ; Dat helder aangezicht in eenen wreeden muil ; De tanden in gebit, gewet om staal te knaauwen ; De voeten en de hand in vierderhande klaauwen ; Dat glistrend parlemoer in eene zwarte huid De rug, vol borstlen spreidt twee Drakevleugels uit. In kort, d'Aartsengel, wien noch flus alle En glen vieren, Verwisselt zijn gedaante en mengelt zeven dieren Afgrijslijk onder een. v. 1950, &c. P. 79. Hij rukte, na den slag, 't verstrooide heer bijeen Doch-eerst zijne Oversten, die voor elkandre gruwen, En zette zich, om't licht van't alziende oog te schuwen, In eene nolle wolk, een duistre moortspelonk Van nevlen, daar geen vier dan uit hun blikken blonk ; LUCIFER. 203 En, midden in den ring des Helschen Raads gezeten, Hief uit zijn zetel aan, te Helsch op God gebeten : "Gij machten, die zoo trotsch voor ons gerechte zaak Dien afbreuk hebt geledn ! nu is het tijd om wraak t Te nemen van ons leed, en listig en verbolgen, Met onverzoenbren wrok den Hemel te vervolgen In zijn verkoren beeld, en 't menschelijk geslacht Te smoren in zijn wieg en op gang, eer bet macbt In zijne zennw krijge en aanwinne in zijne erven. Mijn wit is Adam en zijn afkomst te bederven Ik weet, door 't overtredn der eerstgestelde wet, Hem aan te wrijven zulk een onuitwischbre smet, Dat hij, naar lijf en ziel, met zijn nakomelingen Vergiftigt, nimmer zal ten zetel innedringen, Waaruit men ons verstiet ; Natuur zal van dien slag geteisterd, schier verteren, En wenschen in een Niet of Mengelklomp te keeren Ik zie denMenscb, die naar bet beeld derGodheit zweemt, Van Gods gelijkenis verbasterd en vervreemd, In wil, gebengenis, en zijn verstand ontluisterd. Het ingescbapen licht beneveld en verduisterd ; En wat den dag beschreit, in's moeders bangen scboot, Gevallen in den muil der onvermijbre Dood. Ik wil de tiranny verbeffen, altijt stouter, En u, mijn zoons ! gewijd tot godhedn, op het outer, In kerken, zonder taal, tot aan de lucbt gebouwd, Vereeren offervee, en wierook geur, en goud, Ook zoo veel menscben, als geen tong vermag te noemen, En al wat Adam teelt in eenwigbeid verdoemen, Door gruwelstuk op stuk, God's naam ten trots begaan. Zoo dier wil hem mijn kroon, en zijn triomffest staan. v. 2038-2078. P. 84. Hoe gloeit dit ooft van goud en karmozijn te gader ! Hoe noodt u dit banket ! ei, docbter ! tree - wat nader ; Hier nestelt geen venijn in dit onsterflijk loof. Hoe lokt dees vrucbt ! ei pink, ei pluk vrij ! Ik beloof U wetenscbap en licht. Wat deist ge, bang voor schennis 1 204 LUCIFER. Tast toe, en wordt God zelf, in wijsheid, en in kennis, En wetenschap gelijk, en eere en majesteit, Hoe zeer Hij 't u benij. Zoo vat men 't onderscheid, Het wezen, en den aard, en d'eigenschap der zaken. Terstond begint het hart der schoone bruid te blaken, T'ontvonken, en zij vlamt op d'aangepreze vrucht. De vrucht bekoort het oog, het oog den mond, die zucht. De lust beweegt de hand al bevende te plukken Zoo plukt ze, en proeft en eet. v. 2091, &c. De Hemel treurt in rouw Het weMicht veis op reis, het dondert slag op slag Al wat men hoort en ziet is schrik en angst en zuchten. v. 21 12, 21 14-21 15. JOANNES BOETGEZANT. P. 92. Het lust me, van den held te ziDgen, die, zoo groot Voor Gode en Engelen, zijn zuiver bloed vergoot Gij, Englekooren, die omhoog, van trans in trans, Het Lam eert, dat den rei der maagden leidt ten dans, Die, door het nieuwe lied en onnazingbre toonen, Den trowen Bruidegom der zuivre zielen kronen ; Gelei met uw gezang mijn Hemel-heldenwijs ! Ik ken geen Zangberg dan het hemelsch Paradijs, Daar, uit den troon van God en 't Lam, door duizend aders Het levend water, op geruisch van pallembladers, Komt op gesprongen, klaar en louter, als kristal. Dat is mijn paardebron, mijn bosch en water val Waaruit de Koningen en Gods gezalfden dronken Ioannes 'schaduwen, woestijnen, en spelonken En kerker zullen, zoo uw Hemelbron mij laaft Veranderen in lieht en Paradijs. Dan draaft Mijn laag woestijn-gedicht op een woestijn-beminner Zoo trotsch, als d'ouden ooit op eenen overwinner Van Troje of Latium. i. 7, 24, &c. JOANNES BOETGEZANT. 205 P. 94. Toen sprak de Vader der Genade, in'hart bewogen Met's menschen jammeren, uit louter mededoogen " Mijn eenig Erfgenaam en uitgekoren Zoon, De glorie van mijn rijk en eeuwig rijke kroon, Het menschgeworden Woord schuilt, flaauw van glans en luister, Bij weinigen gekend, om laag noch stil en duister, Een rij van jaren. Het word tijd en meer dan tijd, Dat Hij te voorschijn kome, en eens zich zelven kwijt In 't heilzame ampt, tot heil der droeve sterfelijken Hem op den hals gelegd. Laat al wat wil bezwijken En wanklen in zijn trouwe, ons woord houde eeuwig stand. 'T Beeoogde heil vange aan van's Hemel's afgezant In moeders lichaam, door den Hemelraad bescheiden Om onzen lieven Zoon den intree te bereiden Ter poorte van het rijk, dat Hij bezitten moet. Zoo sprekende, en ontvonkt van onuitbluschbren gloed, Om zijn beloften, lang met een eed gestaaft, te sterken, En's menschdoms eeuwig heil volkomen uit te werken, Verdaagt fluks Gabriel, die, in het starlicht, kleed, Zich, op het hoog gebod, gedurig houdt gereed. " Aartsengel ! " zegt Hij " die voor hene bei de nichten Elk hare vrucht beloofde, en nooit in uwe plichten Den last verzuimde, u van den Hemel op gelegd." i. 90, &c. P. 97. Zoo sprak d'Almachtige, en d' Aartsengel, om te rennen, Bereidt zich, en ontvouwt, zoo schoon als fenixpennen, Zijn vleugels, geschakeerd van hemelsch blauw en goud En purper, in het licht, daar zich de Godheid houdt. Men ziet de verwen zich verandren en schakeeren, Gelijk de regenboog of schoone pauweveeren, In 't licht der zonne, die recht tegens over staat Reisvaardig in zijn vlucht verheft hij zich, en slaat De pennen tegens een wel driewerf, dat de reyen Der Englen ommezien, en zijne vlucht geleyen Met hun gezicht ; terwijl de vlieger nederstijgt, En zwaait van ronde in ronde, en onder 't dalen krijgt 206 JOANNES BOETGEZANT. Jeruzalem in 't oog, dat zijn gekroonde kruinen Ten hemel opwaart heft uit d'omgelege duinen, Waarvan de koningsstad in J t ronde omcingeld scheen. Toen volgde hij de streek, die naar den rijksstroom heen Hem 't woest quarante wees, niet rijk van groente en lover. Hier hing d'Aartsengel op zijn pennen, streek voorover Op's woestijniers spelonk ; gelijk een adelaar, Die uit de hoogte in 't ende een springbron wordt gewaar, En nederzwevende den dorst lescht, op 't geklater Des verschen watervals, aan 't hartverkwikkend water. i. 126, &c. P. 101. Op dat, zoodra hierop d'Alzegenaar verschijn, De mensch, geleken een verwilderde woestijn En done wildernis, verandere in een Eden Een hemelsch Paradijs, daar God wordt aangebeden, In d'eerste oprechtheid, recht als hem de Schepper schiep, Eer hij te reukeloos zijn heil en staat verliep. iii. 25, &c. P. 102. Maar boven (daar geen nacht den dag volgt op de hielen, Nooit donkre nevels noch slagredens nedervielen, Die 't licht verduisteren, dat eeuwig sehijnt en straalt, Waarin het geestendom den vrijen adem haalt) Kwam d'opperste (die al de starrelichte ronden Rondom den aardkloot drijft, en eeuwig houdt gebonden Aan hunne noodwet, eens voor eeuwig vastgesteld, Gestegen in den top der hemelen, verzeld Met veldheer Michael en eenen stoet staffieren, Die rondom hem en voor en achter henezwieren Hij overlei wat groots, dat ieder nadacht gaf En vaardigte terstond de rijksher outen af, Om al den hemelraad terstond uit vier gewesten Ten hoof te dagen, dat, met diamanten vesten Gesterkt, in 't midpunt rijst van's hemelsch ronden kring Zij strijven elk hun weegs, rondom den heldren ring JOANNES BOETGEZANT. 207 Der eeuwigheit. Men ziet hier op de heerschappijen, De vorstendommen, en de machten opwaarts glijen Door 't zuiver hemelsch blauw, en ieder uit zijn hof. De veldbazuin vooruit bazuint zijn konings lof. Gewaden slingren om hun leen, als hemeldrachten Vol regenbogen, rijk gewrocht van fenix-schachten, Bezet met perlen, en bezaaid met puik gesteent ; Het blinkende gestarnte, in 't geurig haar, verleent Het voorhooft eenen glans en goddelijken luister. iii 175, &c. 104. Zoo sprak de vader, en de zoon te Nazareth Gehoorzaamt dit besluit, en, offrende een gebed Den Hemel op, gelijk een goude schaal, vol geuren, Stapt bene, om nu het hoofd vrijmoedig op te beuren En aan de wereld, schuw van 't lang beloofde licht Der waarheid, openbaar t' ontvouwen zijnen plicht, Te toonen, dat hij is de Heiland der geslachten. iii. 265, &c. 05. Waar hij de voeten zette en aankwam, scheen de zegen Te vallen uit de lucht ; gelijk na eenen regen, Verwacht met smarte en daar de dorre beemd om riep, De zon veel schooner schijnt, het gras groeit, dat het piep. Een lent van bloemen verft de heuvels en de dalen. Geen schilder kan landouw en landschap schooner malen, Als hij een regenboog van duizend verwen mengt. 'T gevogelt kwinkeleert. De blijde leeuwrik brengt Zijn tonen bij, en volgt de keel der nachtegalen. De bronaar laaft het groen met versche waterstralen. De ceder neigt zijn kroon. Natuur zet heur gelaat Naar blijschap, en verkeert in eenen andren staat. De winterbuyen, laang aan 't buldren, waayen over. De bie, verlekkerd op den tijm en bloem en lover, Zuigt honig uit den dauw. De schaapskooi levert room. De harten huppelen. De blijschap kent geen toom. iii. 275, &c. 2 o8 JOANNES BOETGEZANT. P. 1 08. De Hel ontzette zich voor zulk een donderwoord ; Al d'Afgrond daverde. De roestige ijzerpoort Begon op haar gebit te knarsen en te kraken, De jammerpoel een stank en rook en smook te braken Ten balge nit, dat het licht verduisterde aan de lucht. De grootvorst van den nacht, voor zijnen staat beducht, Verdaagde datelijk alle onderaardsche raden, Die spoedden zich ten hoof door slangbochtige paden, Daar, recht in t middelpunt des aardrijks, even wijd Van Zuid-en Noord-as, 't hof op ketens hangt en snijdt De spil der wereld juist in twee gelijke deelen. Wat gruwzaam is, vloeit hier door duizend zwarte kelen Naar toe, op t schor getoet der nare hofklaroen. God Lucifer verscheen te .rade, en zette toen Zich op den hoogen stoel, wien d' onderdane nekken Van ongedierte en draak ten stilt en steunsel strekken, Hij spande een addrekroon om zijn wanschapen hoofd, En zwaayende den staf van staal, aan H punt gekloofd, Sloeg gloende blikken op. De lamp, vol pek en zwavel En basiliscusvet, verlichtte in 't rond den navel Van 't woeste raadshol, dik en vet begroeit van roet. 5 T Gestoelte werd bekleed van dit gevloekt gebroed, Een ieder naar zijn staat. Zij zaten stil, als stommen, En hij begon aldus, gelijk een klok, te brommen : Getrouwe machten, die 's Verdoemers naam verzwoert, En tegens 't eeuwig licht een eeuwig oorlog voert, U is bekend, hoe wij door 't eenig appel-bijten Macht kregen over al het zaad der Adamijten ; En d'offeranden, eerst geheiligd aan den Heer Van hemel, aard en zee, ontstaken tot onze eer. iv. 1, &c. P. 112. Men gunde u, na uw val, door d'ope lucht te zweven, Nu vlucht ge, door zijn naam ter wereld uitgedreven. Het is nu wakens tijd. 'T zij afgezant of heer, Zij zwoeren ons bederf ; men ga hun bei te keer. Ioannes moet er eerst, en dan de meester kleven ; Een ieder reppe zich. U wordt de macht gegeven. Apollion trSe voor en stell' zijn list te werk ; JOANNES BOETGEZANT. 209 Want zoo men langer draal', zij vallen ons te sterk. Men smore 't wassend kwaad bij tijds in zijn geboorte. Zoo sprak hij, en elk stoof zijns weegs uit d'ijzerpoorte Omhoog. Gelijk een vlucht roofvogels met geraas Komt vallen op een kreng, een dood en stinkende aas. Zoo zoeken ze op den grond van Jesses rijk en erven Hun kans, en leggen toe op schenden en bederven, Door heimelijk bedrog op openbaar geweld. De slede van den nacht was door het starlicht veld Nu steil in top gevoerd, en hing van wederzijden Gereed ten halven wege, om langzaam ner te glijden. "Wat ademt lag en sliep gerust. iv. 53, &c. P. 115. De poel, daar Lucifer ten halze in kwam te smoren, Gaapt wijd, en spalkt den mond wijd open tot aan de ooren. Men vaart er in ruimschoots, met paarden en karos, Eerst over keizelsteen en dan door kreupelbosch En heggen, wild en woest. De weg in 't ommezwaayen Loopt enger, anders dan de wenteltrappen draayen, Of als kinkhorens, de nerrollen op een punt Het koestrend licht, in 't eerst den ingang nog gegund, Verflauwt allengs, en als vergeet zoo diep te dringen, Genaakt men twijfellicht en avondscbemeringen ; Gelijk wanneer de zon, benee"n de kim gedaald, Nog scbijnsel nalaat, dat een poos ter zee uitstraalt, Dan is het nacht noch dag, of dag en nacht gemengeld, En teffens duisternis en licht, dooren gestrengeld Men wandelt hier, gelijk in maneschijn bij nacht, Wanneer het hemelsch heer in orden trekt te wacht, En op zijn ronde past, langs diamante wallen. vi. 276, &c. P. 119. Zoo stond een korte lust, die Eva zich verbeelde Een mond vol appelsaps. v. 46-47. De marmervloer bestrooid met een gebloemden regen ; De wanden met tapijt behangen, en een zegen Uit Arabye zwaait hun wyrookgeuren toe. v. 297, &c. 2io JOANNES BOETGEZANT. Het woelt er hene en weer van maagden en van knechten, Alle even jeugdig, en alle even schoon van leest. Men schenkt den koelen wijn, die teffens lijf en geest En God verheught. Al wat der tafel aanzat muntte In pracht voor andren uit. v. 310, &c. Nu schenen veld en bosch van wildbraad leeg gevangen Limoen, olijf, granaat, en goude oranje hangen Aan takken druipende de j offer in den mond. Een paradijslucht, pas gematigd en gezond Verkwikte 't hart van al die hier te gader zaten. De weelde en overdaad, nu teffens uit gelaten, Bejegenden elkandre uit onderlinge gunst Der stoffen dierbaarheid most wijken voor de kunst En arbeid, aan het goud en zilverwerk gehangen Kleenoodje en feest gewand. v. 321, &c. De koning vrolijk liet een koninklijke schaal Vol lekkren nectar van zijn Ganymedes schinken v. 372-337. De hemelsche musiek doorgalmde 't groot paleis De rijkhofmeester brocht de beide sluyerkronen, En spande ze om hun hooft, op 't mengelen der tonen Van zang en fruit en snaar. v. 388, &c. P. 122. Dan toont de Vader zacht van aard Zijn kindren eerst de roede, een star met eenen staart, Zoo vierig rood als bloed, den voorboo van God's tooren. iii. 117. P. 122. "Wanneer bij zomerdag een Koelte komt gevaren En lieflijk blayen in een zee van korenaren, Dan buigt de zwangere aar het hooft op haren halm. iii. 143. BESPIEGELINGEN VAN GOD EN GODSDIENST. P. 125. Hij kan 't bewegen, dat gezien wordt, niet ontschre- eu-wen, Hetzij Copernicus of d'eer der Ptolomeewen Het aardrijk om de zon om 't aardrijk draai', De roering hangt in 't een of 't ander hoe men 't zwaai'. BESPIEGELINGEN. 2 1 1 Zoo d'eerste hemelring met zich trekt lager bogen, En boven d'opperste geen reden kan beoogen Een ander, die hen drijft en stil staat te gelijk, Dan stijgt men klimmende in het onbewogen rijk, Des Albewegers stoel, te schokken, noch verzetten, Terwijl hij 't onder zich al omdraait naar zijn wetten. Om dit t' ontworstelen verciert het los gezin, Dat een inwonende en een krachtig grondbegin In enkel hemelkreits de starren draait en ronden. i. 416, &c. Het aardrijk is zoo groot dat niemand, hoe bevaren, In vijftig eeuwen en nog drie paar honderd jaren, Den ganschen aardkloot heeft doorwandeld en bezocht ; En nog in 't aardsch gevaart, bij 't hemelsch te gelijken, Een enkel punt in 't oog, verlieft op starrekijken ; Want wanneer d'aardkloot recht de starren staat in 't licht Dan snijdtdie kloot geen punt uit's hemels aangezicht. Is elke star zoo groot als d'aardkloot in haar rijzen, Of grooter, naar 't besluit van alle starrewijzen, En schijnen ze evenwel, hoe wijd zij staan van een, Dus klein op ons gezicht ; wie kan van hier beneen, Met zijn gedachtenis, het hemelsch rond bepalen, Daar zoo veel duizenden van diamanten pralen Aan dien doorluchten ring, gepast als aan de hand Van God 8 onmeetbaarheid, die Oost en West bespant ? Is d'aardkloot nu zoo groot, gelijk de meters sluiten, Hoe groot is dan 't gewelf der hemelen van buiten ! Nu peilt de hoogte van den hemel, zoo gij kunt, Tot's aardrijks navel toe of 's afgronds middelpunt : Heei't deze grootheid nog haar eind en zekre palen, Wie kan d' oneindigheid van God dan achterhalen ? En wat is dit heelal, in dien men God beschouw, In grootheid meerder dan een druppel morgendouw ! iii. 240, &c. De schoonheid van de vrouw, die 't al te boven gaat Op aarde, en nimmermeer het hart en oog verzaadt, BESPIEGELINGEN. Ontvonkt de leeuwen zelfs, ontdekt zich hier in 't leven, Zoo schoon als God haar schiep, om aan den mensch te geven En proef van weelde en lust, die, eeuwig uitgestort, In God's bespiegeling alleen genoten wordt. Het aanzien en genot der schoonheid van de vrouwe, Een zaligheid geschat heeft duizenden in rouwe En schipbreuk van hun staat, gezondheid, lijf en ziel, Gedompeld over 't hoofd. De wijsste en sterkste hiel En boeide ze, gelijk haar slaven, aan de keten Van 't blond en hangend haar zoo raast geen dier, bezeten , Betooverd van het spook, als d'overdwaalsche mensch, Die blindling, op dit aas der schoonheid, ieder wensch En wellust aanbijt, God en naam en faam en stammen Ter zijde zet, om zich in 's vleisters minnevlammen Te smilten, als het ijs of wassen beeld in 't vier. Dat kan een wulpsch misbruik der schoonheid, en zoo dier, Zoo dier bekoopt een dwaas dit schijngoed,'twelk genoten Nog nauwlijks, of berouw komt, schichtig toegeschoten, En treedt het misbruik van Gods schepsel op de hiel ! Elendig was hij dan, die in haar strikken viel, Gevangen en gesmoord, om eenen blik der oogen, Een vreugd, in eenen droom, gelijk een damp, vervlogen. Wat eischt dees schoonheid dan ? wat was Gods wit en end, In 't scheppen van dit beeld, dat macht van zielen schendt ? Hij wil het hart des mans aan hare trouw verbinden, En leeren in dit schoon een grooter schoonheid vinden, Een wellust, die de ziel in God genieten zal, Die d'opperschoonheid is en weelde en 't eenig Al. Gij zoudt in dit gezang de vrouw nog schooner hooren, Maar ; k vrees door dees meermin een Heilig te bekoren, Indien bevalligheid en deugd en gunst en geest Van boven vail' en zwier' in 't lichaam, schoon van leest. iii. 419, &c. 29. Wat is 't een wonder, dat de hemel weet te passen Elk etmaal juist rontom te drijven op zijne assen, Te monstren 't hemelsch heer, in aller menschen oog, ADAM IN BALLINGSCHAP. 213 Van Osten naar het West ! wat veldkortouw, wat boog Kan kogel ofte pijl, wat bliksemstralen schieten Zoo snel door lucht en zwerk ? Wat watervallen vlieten Zoo snel ter steenrotse af ? En, evenwel bewaart De losse star, van 't West in 't Oost, haar streek envaart, Of snelst of trager, naar den hoefslag, daar de zeven Een hooge of lager wijk en wachthuis wierd gegeven Veel honderdduizenden van mijlen wijd van een. iii. 987, &c. P. 129. Hier moet Hevelius geen verrekijker leenen, Om sproet en vlek en licht, in't aanschijn van de maan, Te zoeken met den bril, en aarde en Oceaan In zijne manekaart te malen. iii. 968, &c. ADAM IN BALLINGSCHAP. P. 140. Ik, eerst geheiligd om de kroon van 't licht te spannen, En nu van 't eeuwig licht in duisternis gebannen, Kome uit den zwavelpoel opdondren van benetm, En, zonder mijnen ban en banpaal t'overtreen, Hier boven spoken ; want hoe gruwzaam en verwaten D'Erfvijand mij misschiep, nog wordt me toegelaten Met u, mijn Helleraad ! gedagvaard hier ter vlucht, Te heerschen over zee, het aardrijk, en de lucht, Dat past den Grootvorst van de wereld en zijn luister, Afkeerig van den dag en krachtiger bij duister : Waarom hij 00k den nacht tot dezen optocht kiest : En schoon de nanacht nu allengs het veld verliest, Nog kan de hater van het licht in schaduw duiken Van nachtspelonk of haag of lustbosch, boom en struiken Waar ben ik hier ? men hoort den schellen nachtegaal, Den voorboo van de zonne en heldren morgenstraal. 'K Hoor deven wekker met een morgenkoelte opkonien, En lieflijk klateren door klatergoud en boomen. Men hoort vier sprongen, uit een bron en waterval, Van eenen heuvel zich uitspreyen overal. Dit tuigt ons klaar genoeg, wat bodem wij betreden : Hier vloeit d'Eufraat. Hier bloet de hof in 't Oostersch Eden. 214 ADAM IN BALLINGSCHAP. Het rijk van Adam en zijn gade aan hem getrouwd. Hier most ik schuilen, met mijn schildwacht in een woud Of donker lustprieel of myrthegalerije, Dan achter uitzien, dan van vore, dan ter zije, En letten, hoe men best berokkene eenig kwaad ; Want ik, veraard van 't goed, dien vloek der vloeken haat, En wensche Hem, wiens niets kan in zijn wezen deeren, In zijn geschapenheen te schenden en schoffeeren. Zoo wordt het Helsche rijk van Lucifer gebouwd, Dat eeuwig duren zal. Geen aanklacht is te stout Voor mij, die niet ontzag den Hemel aan te randen ; Zoo neemt mijn wraakzucht al de wereld op haar tanden, En rukt dit groot heelal uit zijnen winkelhaak, Dat's hemels as nog eens van mijne heerkracht kraak' Het lust me hem voortan gedurig werk te geven, En, sehoon de bliksem mij ten troon hebbe uitgedreveri, Te laten blijken, wat ik, na dien val, vermag. Al schoot ons macht te kort daar boven ; 't hoog gezag Moet aanzien, dat ons nog die macht is bijgebleven, Zijn willekeure in al zijn werk te wederstreven. De naam van almacht is een titel zonder daad, Een krachtelooze klank van roemzucht. Wist hij raad Om eenig wezen gansch van iet tot niet te brengen, 'T was uit met mij ; men zou me in wezen niet gehengen, Min laten in 't bezit van's Afgronds heerschappij : Daar legt zijn macht te laag, al schijtn mijn macht in lij Te leggen. Loeft men aan, gewis, het kan niet feilen, Wij zullen in den wind dien hoek te boven zeilen, En drijven dan ruimschoots de rijke haven in, Waar naar men stevent. Al 't geluk hangt aan 't begin ; Aan d' uitkomst hoeft men niet te twijflen door mis- trouwen. Laat vrij al 't hemelsch hof van zijne tinne aanschouwen, Dat wij niet slapen, als er roof te halen is. Hij zette uit achterdocht, om 't rijk der duisternis In toom te houden, hier een schildwacht uit van Englen, Die zouden Adams hof beschutten en zich menglen In onraad en gevaar ; dies dienen wij bedekt Te werken, eer men hen tot tegenstand verwekt. ADAM IN BALLINGSCHAP. 215 De koning van den hof, onnoozel, zonder wapen, Mag op deze Englewacht gerust en veilig slapen. i. 1 , &c. P. 144. Doch dit's een poos te vroeg. Men moet den tweeden sprongk (Want d'eerste is ons mislukt) zoo reukeloos niet wagen, Maar zachter toetreim, en gelegenheid belagen Van waar en hoe men best den schepper bij den dag In eenig schepsel, groot of klein, bestormen mag Alle afbreuk strekt tot winst. Men moet allengs bij trappen Beginnen, en van laag op steigeren en stappen. Wie statig steigert raakt ten leste daar het stuit, Een rijp beraad draaf voor ; dat wint een slag vooruit. Laat zien, wat kans, wat stof d'opgaande dag wil geven ; De zon, aan 't rijzen, zal den lusthof verf en leven Bij zetten, Adam en zijn gade, hand aan hand, Door wandelen den hof, die, heerelijk geplant, Hen luttel min ziet dan aerts englen begenadigt En uit Gods vollen schoot, naar lijf en ziel, verzadigt. Men sla het onderling gesprek van verre ga, Bespie" wat middelen den schepselen tot scha En af bruek dienen ; lett' in eenen hoek gescholen, Wat hun verbaden werd en wat hen wordt bevolen Op lijf en ziel straf ; want Hoogste is niemands vriend, Dan die zijn hoovardij ten roem en aan was dient ; Eene oorzaak, waarom gij mijn Hemelsche eedtgenooten, Als weder spannigen, ten Afgrond zijt gestooten. i. 71. P. 148. Ben ik uw vleesch en been Zoo draag u, als een man, en laat 011s lotgemeen Te gader leven 'k noode u Gods eige gaven, Zoo zal uw kennis trotsch tot aan de staaren draven ; Zoo wordt gij in wetenschap en wijsheid God gelijk. Gebruik uw vrijen wil, en toon mij de eerste blijk Van liefde, in 't volgen van mijn aller eerste bede. Zij lijdt geen weigeren. Gevolgzaamheid baart vrede. iv. 1322. 216 ADAM IN BALLINGSCHAP. P. 149. O welk een strijd ! Hier staat het vrouwen beeld, daar God Hier vleit me hare bed, daar dreight me een streng verbod ; Zal ik de liefde en gunst van mijne vrouwe ontberen, Of de opperste genade in ongena verkeeren ? Een onwe&r barnt er in mijn geest. iv. 1338. P. 150. Een andre ribbe legt u nader aan het hart, Dat d'opperste u een vrouw, naar uwen zin, bootseere. iv. 1383. P. 150. Wij scheurden De witte zijde van hunne eerste onoozelheit. Dat zijn de slippen, ruil van stof, en rood beschreid Van slijk en sprenglen bloeds. Zij jammeren en krijten. Men hoort ze elkandre de schuld der misdaad wij ten En vloeken. Eden galmt van jammerlijk misbaar. Mistroostije Adam krapt zijn aanzicht, rukt het haar Met lokken.uit zijn hoofd en wekt de hofgeschallen, Uitschreeuwende : Waartoe, war ben ik toe vervallen ! Ik gaf mijn bruid niet, maar mijn vijandin gehoor. Mijn vleesch heeft mij verraan. Ik volgde een heilloos Een vuile snoeplust was de pijl, die Eva griefde En mij al teffens. Och! dit komt van vrouwen liefde ! Ik ben van mijne ribbe en eigen vleesch verraan ; De vroweliefde komt mij al te dier te staan. v. 1485. P. 152. De hovaardij heeft mij bedorven en bekoord. Het spook des Afgronds klampt mij met geweld aan boord, Ik voele en voere alre een oorlog in mijn leden ; Het vleesch wil anders dan de geest verstand en reden En wil, geteisterd van dien onverwachten smak, Gevoelen al te spade een vreeselijken krak K gevoel de jammeren van buiten en van binnen. v. 1502. SAMSON. 217 P. 153. Ev. Zoo schuift ge uw eige schuld alleen op mijnen hals. Ad. O oorzaak van mijn val en zooveel ongevals, Hieruit te spruiten ! och dit komt van echtgenosoten ! Op zulk een voorwaarde is ons huwlijk niet gesloten. Ev. Het voegt den man zijn vrouw Godvruchtig voor te treden. Ad. Laat dees gevloekte boom getuigen, wie eerst Eden Durf schenden, en zich aan 't verboden ooft vertast. Ev. De zwakke vrouwe kunne is van een lust verrast. Ad. En uw vervloekte lust mij bitter opgebroken. Ev. Het voegt een manshoofd zich te houden onbe- sproken, En stand te houden, zoo het vrouwebeeld bezwijkt. P. 154. Dus sleept de wellust van een oogenblik, eene uur, Een lange keten na van rampen en verdrieten. Het lust me langer niet, het leven te genieten. 'K verbeeld me, waar ik ga en sta, een bange dood ; Zij grimt me leelijk aan. Och, open uwen schoot, Ontvang me o aarde ! want de lust is mij benomen ; Ontvang me wederom, ik ben van u gekomen. Dit lichaam komt u toe. De ziel verhuize en zoek' Een heimelijk verblijf, daar een verdiende vloek Haar benevoere ; want zij heeft des Hoogsten zegen Misbruikt wat toeft de dood 1 het leven is me tegen, De nare duisternis veel liever dan de dag. Mijn schande legt te naakt. Zoo 't mij gebeuren mag Ze sterven, keer het niet. Laat u mijn doot behagen. SAMSON OF HEILIGE WKAAK. P. 172. Wat mensch zit in dien eik dus eenzaam en alleen ? Het schijnt, hij bidt ons om een aalmoes, gansch verlegen Van bittere armoede. ii. 184. P. 172. God hoede ons alien ! Wat verschijnt ons ! Och ! wat raad? [duwen?" Och, och ! hoe kunnen wij dit schikken 1 Dit ver- ii. 196. 2i 8 SAMSON. 'K heb vele maanden lang, gesloten aan dees keten, In't molentuchtuis hier mijn tijd bedroefd gesloten, Zoo blind, gelijk ge ziet, geslagen en begrauwd. ii. 204. P. 173- Sam. Toen door God's kracht een bron uit egels tanden sprongk, En ik verhit van slaan, liet hart verkoelde en dronk Bekwam die wonderbron mij dus in mijne smarte De hemel zegene u voor uw meMoogend harte. Rei. Prins Samson, vrome prins ! wat is het ons een pijn U hier te vinden, in dien jammerlijken schijn ! Wij zijn Iodinnen, hier vergaard van west en oosten, En komen op dit feest u zoeken, u vertroosten, Naar tijds gelegenheid, maar niet naar onzen wensch. Geen onbeschaamde dier, dan een ondankbar mensch ; Dat weten uij, u dienst en hulp en eere schuldig Verdadiger des volks, och ! draag uw smert geduldig, Totdat het God voorzie. hartewee ! O smart ! Al weigert u de zon haar licht, God kan uw hart Verlichten met een glans inwendig, die de stralen Van duizend zonnen dooft. Wie kan de macht bepalen Der Alleroppersten ? Die u zoo wonderbaar Begaafde met een kracht, verbogen in uw haar, Is machtig, als het Hem belieft, in u te werken Ook zonder haarlok u te wapenen en te sterken. ii. 261. P. 176. Och ! waar Ik schuw geweest van Filistijnsche vrouwen, Bedrieglijk in den aard ! Mij mag de dag wel rouwen, Dat ik bij Sorek lest verliefde op Dalila Lichtvaardig, liefdeloos, en gierig. Op gena En ongenade van een boelschap los te drijven, Is op een stille zee, in nood van eens te blijven, Zich reukloos wagen. Zie, die op beloften zag, Door's vijands geld bekoord, hield aan mij, nacht en dag, Te vergen het geheim van mijne kracht te melden In 't heetse van den gloed der minne ; een zielstorm, zelden SAMSON. 219 Van mannen wederstaan. Had toen ! helas ! mijn geest Zoo sterk van krachten en geweld als 't lijf geweest 'K had dicht gebleven, mij gehoed dit klaar te zeggen. Noch wist ik 't driewerp haar met eenen schijn t' ont leggen. ii. 237. P. 178. Maar 't ongenadig lot, dat hem ten deele viel, Het licht t' ont beren, in een nacht van duisternissen Wat is dit anders dan het halve leven missen ? Hij leed een halve dood, toen hem, van kracht beroofd, De vijand boorde bei zijne oogen uit den hooft. ii. 484. Geen mensch, geen vorst kan mij mijne oogen wedergeven. Ik mis mijne oogen, och ! dat 's meer dan 't halve leven. De dag ging onder, eens voor eeuwig. Ik verwacht Den opgang nimmermeer. Het is hier eeuwig nacht ; Nog mogen in der nacht alle andre dieren slapen En rusten ; Samson ziet geen rust voor hem geschapen. iii. 871. P. 180. Dees ongelukkige, verkloekt, verrast, gegrepen, Berooft van 't hemelsch licht, met ketenen genepen Gedoemd ten arbeid, op 's aanklager's straffen eisch. ii. 569. P. 180. De Goden leverden dien vijand in ons hand, Door kracht van uw gebeen. Nu wenschen al de Heeren, Dat Samson onder dit zeeghaftig banketteren, Die vijand, onlangs nog onoverwinbaar sterk, Op een triomftooneel, mocht spelen in de kerk, Tot prijs van Dagon en tot blijschap van hun alien. iii. 756. P. 1 80. Laat Samson inkle&n. Laat de schowburg open zetten. Wij zegenen het spel, God Dagons naam ten lof ! iii. 774. P. 181. Mijn Engel Fadael kwam heden Mij noch vertroosten, daar Ik zat En op de kniem om sterkheid bad ; 220 SAMSON. Toen steef een nieuwe kracht mijn leden, Gods geest, die mij, van kindsbeen af Tot hooge dadeii heeft gedreven Gebiedt inij rastig door te streven Bereidt me een heerlijk vorstengraf. vi. 1077. P. 183. Nu den grooten ommegang Eens gevierd met spel en zang, En in Dagons naam begonnen Die den vijand heeft verwonnen. Laat de schutterij vooruit Henetre6n, op bom en fluit, Festbazuinen en trompetten. Laat zich Gods gewijden zetten In hunne orde, paar aan paar, Met een statig kerkgebaar En, gekranst met eiken blaren, D 'eer van 't hooge feest bewaren. Laat koralen hunne keel Mengen met schalmeye en veel. Samson trede op hun gezangen, Met een braven stoet behangen. Dan de torts, dan 't wyrookvat. Dagon, 't Heiligdom der stad, Volge, op eenen stoel gedragen. Wij, gereed op zijn behagen, Volgen hem, en op dien trant Al de Vorsten van het land En Vorstinnen en de Grooten Met den stoet van 't hof gesloten. Gij, koralen ! zingt ons voor Op dit zegenrijke spoor. iv. 1379. P. 184. Groot is Dagon, 't hoofd den Goden Die Gods vijand onverwacht "Heeft geleverd in ons macht, Voor wiens kracht de reuzen vloden ; Die alleen zoo veel vermocht, Zonder zwaard op zie te gorden, SAMSON. 221 Als een heerkracht in slagorden Op een vorstelijken tocht. Groot is Dagon, 't hooft der Goden, Die Gods vijand leide aan band, En hem leverde in ons hand, Tot een schimp der blind e Joden. Ziet, hoe is hij nu verneSrd Tegens wien nooit Filisteenen, Ongekwetst in 't veld verschenen Ziet, hoe Gaza trionifeert ! Groot is Dagon, 't hoofd der Goden, Die Gods vijand, overal Zoo ontzaglijk, brocht ten val, Haalt uw hart op, gij genooden, Die ten offermaaltijd zult Samson zelf, op treur tooneelen, Zien zijne eige treurrol spelen. Schrikt niet, zoo hij briescht en bruit. iv. 1405. P. 186. Rei. Genade, o God ! genade ; help ons, help ons heden ! Vertroost ons in dien nood. Wij schreyen van beneden Naar uwen hoogen troon. Wats' dit een overval ! Waar zijn, waar staan wij ? Dit afgrijselijk geschal Verdooft onze ooren. Al dit stof verblindt onze oogen Wij stikken. Wij vergaan van stof. Het puin gevlogen, Gestoven door de stad, vervult de ruime lucht. De stad is vol geschreis, vol jammers Het gerucht Het huilen, het gekerm verspreidt zich door de straten. Wij durven, en 't is best, niet uitzien naar bescheid. Wij duiken stil een wijl in deze kerkhof hagen, Hier komt er een, verbaasd, verbijsterd, en verslagen Laat ons vernemen, hoe het staat, hoe 't is vergaan. Ai ! hoveling ! belieft het u, ai ! blijft wat staan. Verhaal ons toch, hoe 't legt geschapen en geschoren. Bode. Hebreeuwsche j offers, och ! heel Gaze is nu verloren, Al 't Filistijnsche land in zijnen hoofsten nood Rei. Hoe ging 't met Samson, is hij levendig of dood ? 222 SAMSON. Bode. Al dood en koud. Och, waar hij tijdig dood gesmeten, In stee van blindeling, gebonden aan een keten, Mishandeld, omgevoerd, verbitterd, en verstokt ! Nu heeft hij in zijn wraak zich zelven in gebrocht. Rei. Zoo missen wij Hebreen voor eeuwig onzen reenter En landdeschermer. Och, dit's jammerlijk ! Maar ecliter Verhaal ons, stuk voor stuk, al wat gij hoorde en zaagt. v. 1460. P. 189. Bode. Wij zagen Samson eerst den ommegang geleyen Voor Dagon's Heiligdom ten toon treSn op schalmeyen, Op snaar en zegezang en vrolijk feestgeluid. Hij stond den schimp en siuaad des geduldig uit En mak, gelijk een lam, en hiel zich in getrokken, Maar kanwde midderwijl de heimelijke wrokken Zoo raakte d'ommegang van Dagon aan zijn end ; Het offermaal begon, gelijk men is gewend, Doch heerlijker dan ooit, nit blijschap, dat de landen Den grootsten vijand, nu gevangen in hun handen Vast ringeloorden, in zijn blindheit en verdriet. v. 1492. De Kerkgalm banwt hen na. Men hoort de galmen klatren, Die groeyen bij den wijn. De groote kelk ging 0111 Op d'eer van Dagon, en het gansche godendom Men zou, tot slot van 't feest, ten spele zich bereiden De blinde Samson zegt : Ai, tuchtknaap ! wil me leiden Daar dit tooneel aan bei de hoofdpilaren leunt En 't schrikkelijk gevaart van al de kerk opsteunt. v. 1525. G. Brandt's Account of Vondel's Literary Method and Studious Habits. His industry and power of work were well-nigh incredible, knowing, as he wrote in a certain letter, "that he who ascends the heights of Parnassus all panting and perspiring, mounts by VONDEVS LITERARY METHOD. 223 slow degrees, and that study and vigilance sharpen the under- standing." All his extant writings, more than thirty plays, besides his other great works, and such a multitude of poems of every description, are witnesses of his industry. His avidity for information was intense, and he availed himself of every possible means for acquiring it. In order, upon every subject and topic, to find the right expressions, he inquired from every class of men what Dutch words each made use of in matters relating to their work, business, or art. The country people he asked how they spoke about agriculture, and how they named and expressed everything connected with it. Concerning house-building he questioned in like fashion the carpenters and masons ; con- cerning navigation and ship's tackle, the sailors ; concerning the art of painting, and whatever related to it, the painters ; and similarly concerning every other business, science, or art. This served for the building up of the language, and helped him to express whatever occurred to him in words which were appro- priate to the matter in hand. Zeven van Vondel, p. 100. Nederlandsche Klassieken door Dr. Verwijs, vol. iv. THE END. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. EDINBURGH AND LONDON. rx\/> \ ~ RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TO 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 ^ HOME USE _. , 2 3 4 5 ( S ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be Renewed by calling 642-3405. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW AUT0DISC.W18 , 88 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY FORM NO. 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