Warblest at eve when all the woods are still
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ut the early edition, which probably follows Milton's spelling thoughin this case we have no manuscript to compare, reads 'Warbl'st.' So theoriginal text of Samson, l. 670, has 'temper'st.' The retention of the old system of punctuation may be less defensible,but I have retained it because it may now and then be of use indetermining a point of syntax. The absence of a comma, for example,after the word hearse in the 58th line of the Epitaph on the Marchionessof Winchester, printed by Prof. Masson thus:-- And some flowers, and some baysFor thy hearse to strew thy ways, but in the 1645 edition:-- And som Flowers, and som Bays,For thy Hears to strew the ways, goes to prove that for here must be taken as 'fore. Of the Paradise Lost there were two editions issued during Milton'slifetime, and while the first has been taken as our text, all thevariants in the second, not being simple misprints, have been recordedin the notes. In one respect, however, in the distribution of the poeminto twelve books instead of ten, it has seemed best, for the sake ofpractical convenience, to follow the second edition. A word may beallowed here on the famous correction among the Errata prefixed to thefirst edition: 'Lib. 2. v. 414, for we read wee.' This correctionshows not only that Milton had theories about spelling, but also that hefound means, though his sight was gone, to ascertain whether his ruleshad been carried out by his printer; and in itself this fact justifies afacsimile reprint. What the principle in the use of the double vowelexactly was (and it is found to affect the other monosyllabic pronouns)it is not so easy to discover, though roughly it is clear thereduplication was intended to mark emphasis. For example, in the speechof the Divine Son after the battle in heaven (vi. 810-817) the pronounswhich the voice would naturally emphasize are spelt with the doublevowel: Stand onely and beholdGods indignation on these Godless pourdBy mee; not you but mee they have despis'd,Yet envied; against mee is all thir rage,Because the Father, t'whom in Heav'n supreamKingdom and Power and Glorie appertains,Hath honourd me according to his will.Therefore to mee thir doom he hath assign'd. In the Son's speech offering himself as Redeemer (iii. 227-249) wherethe pronoun all through is markedly emphasized, it is printed mee thefirst four times, and afterwards me; but it is noticeable that thesefirst four times the emphatic word does not stand in the stressed placeof the verse, so that a careless reader might not emphasize it, unlesshis attention were specially led by some such sign: Behold mee then, mee for him, life for lifeI offer, on mee let thine anger fall;Account mee man. In the Hymn of Creation (v.160-209) where ye occurs fourteen times, theemphasis and the metric stress six times out of seven coincide, and thepronoun is spelt yee; where it is unemphatic, and in an unstressedplace, it is spelt ye. Two lines are especially instructive: Speak yee who best can tell, ye Sons of light (l. 160); and Fountains and yee, that warble, as ye flow,Melodious murmurs, warbling tune his praise (l. 195). In v. 694 it marks, as the voice by its emphasis would mark inreading, a change of subject: So spake the false Arch-Angel, and infus'dBad influence into th' unwarie brestOf his Associate; hee (i. e. the associate) together calls,&c. An examination of other passages, where there is no antithesis, goes toshow that the lengthened form of the pronoun is most frequent before apause (as vii. 95); or at the end of a line (i. 245, 257); or when afoot is inverted (v. 133); or when as object it precedes its verb (v.612; vii. 747), or as subject follows it (ix. 1109; x. 4). But as wemight expect under circumstances where a purist could not correct hisown proofs, there are not a few inconsistencies. There does not seem,for example, any special emphasis in the second wee of the followingpassage:
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