



Produced by Edward A. Malone








  L'ALLEGRO, IL PENSEROSO, COMUS, AND LYCIDAS

  By

  John Milton



  L'ALLEGRO


  HENCE, loathed Melancholy,
 ............Of Cerberus and blackest Midnight born
  In Stygian cave forlorn
 ............'Mongst horrid shapes, and shrieks, and sights
  unholy!
  Find out some uncouth cell,
 ............Where brooding Darkness spreads his jealous wings,
  And the night-raven sings;
 ............There, under ebon shades and low-browed rocks,
  As ragged as thy locks,
 ............In dark Cimmerian desert ever dwell.
  But come, thou Goddess fair and free,
  In heaven yclept Euphrosyne,
  And by men heart-easing Mirth;
  Whom lovely Venus, at a birth,
  With two sister Graces more,
  To ivy-crowned Bacchus bore:
  Or whether (as some sager sing)
  The frolic wind that breathes the spring,
  Zephyr, with Aurora playing,
  As he met her once a-Maying,
  There, on beds of violets blue,
  And fresh-blown roses washed in dew,
  Filled her with thee, a daughter fair,
  So buxom, blithe, and debonair.
  Haste thee, Nymph, and bring with thee
  Jest, and youthful Jollity,
  Quips and cranks and wanton wiles,
  Nods and becks and wreathed smiles
  Such as hang on Hebe's cheek,
  And love to live