JOHN MILTON 49 
we seem to hear a hurried sweep of stringed instru- 
ments, till ali at once enters the solemn note of the 
organ : — 
“Come pensive Nun, devout and pure, 
Sober, steadfast, and demure, 
All in a robe of darkest grain, 
Flowing with majestic train.” 
The passage is too long for quotation; we must pass 
to the evening picture, 
“Where glowing embers through the room 
Teach light to counterfeit a gloom, 
Far from all resort of mirth, 
Save the cricket on the hearth, 
Or the bellman’s drowsy charm, 
To bless the doors from nightly harm.” 
Then in silent meditation the scholar recalls the teach- 
ings of Plato, and seeks to imagine what may betide 
man’s immortal soul when all that is earthly shall have 
passed away. He peers into the secrets of science, but 
is not forgetful of the varied drama of human life. 
“Some time lét gorgeous Tragedy 
In sceptred pall come sweeping by.” 
With epic and legend and all the storied lore of the 
Middle Ages and the Orient, the night passes and the 
morning comes with soft showers. 
“ And when the sun begins to fling 
His flaring beams, me Goddess bring 
To arched walks of twilight groves, 
* * * * 
