of uncertain outcome

Hebrew for "adversary"

Milton makes use of various images of the cosmos in Paradise Lost: (1) The earth is the center of the (Ptolemaic) cosmos of ten concentric spheres; (2) the earth and the whole cosmos are an appendage hanging from Heaven by a golden chain; (3) the cosmos seems Copernican from the angels' perspective (see Book 8). Here the fall from Heaven to Hell is described as thrice the distance from the center (earth) to the outmost sphere.

The phrase alludes to Dante ("All hope abandon, ye who enter here")

range of sight

Opening questions like this are typical in epics.

Helicon, home of the classical muses.

"Zion Hill" - site of Solomon's temple.

Reference to Moses - "who first taught that chosen seed"

i.e. what action to take

Church Fathers, the Christian writers of the first centuries.

i.e. of the earth

According to Horace, the epic poet should begin "en media res" (in the midst of things).

"Paradise Lost" appeared originally without any sort of prose aid to the reader, but the printer asked Milton for some "Arguments," or summary explanations of the action in the various books, and these were prefixed to later issues of poem.

A group of channel ports, originally five in number ("cinque" is French for five); most English shipping to or from the Continent pass through these ports.

Charles I must have feared the capture or assassination of the heir apparent, Prince Charles, then in France with his mother, Marie Henrietta. If the younger son, James, were alive and at liberty, there would be no point in such an attempt to cut off the succession.

St. James Palace, a royal residence. The two named below were other children of Charles I.

The service of Charles I, then a close prisoner of the parliamentary army under Cromwell. In less than a year, he would be executed.

The center of the law courts and legal profession.

writ to release the prisoner

reminded

In December 1653, Cromwell was invested as Protector under a written constitution called the Instrument of Government. In 1657, another constitution, the Humble Petition and Advice, invested him with quasi-monarchical powers and restored the House of Lords.

personal qualities/abilities

Dunbar and Worcester were important battles that Cromwell had won on September 3.

Whitehall, in London, was the traditional residence of the head of state.

Built by Cardinal Wolsey and ceded by him to Henry VIII, Hampton Court is an impressive palace up the Thames from London.

An acute fever, with paroxysms (spasms) recurring every third day.

Here Clarendon is describing, in the manner of ancient historians, the last days, sickness and death of Oliver Cromwell before summarizing his character.

William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, favored a highly ritualized form of worship that Puritans considered tantamount to Roman Catholicism. He was executed by the Parliamentarians in 1645.

abilities

"Bloody Mary" Tudor, queen of England from 1553-1558, reintroduced Roman Catholicism to England and burned many Protestants for heresy; the Scottish Mary Stuart, also Catholic, was executed in 1587 for plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I.

Fatefulness.

how rude!

Aspire to. "Distaff": spinning staff, emblem of female household management.

Kingly powers.

Rule of church by bishops.

Puritans suspected that Charles planned to invite Catholic forces to invade his realm in order to consolidate his own power.

The French king reigned without a Parliament.

Courts administered by the Church of England tried and punished those who refused to attend church services, frequented alternative religious gatherings, or disputed church doctrines or policies.

Thwarted; out of favor.

Colony, such as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, founded in 1630.

Roman Catholic.

early Christian period

satiric

engravings

Clowns and homosexuals.

Though the terms are general, Hobbes refers in this chapter especially to the covenants men make with each other when they transfer power to the sovereign. Milton makes very different use of covenant theory to justify the rebellion and regicide in The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates

confuse

property

Hobbes here is probably referencing the English Civil War but might also be thinking of the Greek civil wars, as described by Thucydides (whom he translated).

This is very well put; war begins when there is no longer a desire for peace.

Scorners

pleasure

alliance

mirrors

i.e. accessible through the senses.

Hobbes' physiology of sense is, in keeping with his premises, strictly mechanical.

This view of the mind as a blank sheet written o by physical experience will influence the philosophy of John Locke and David Hume.

Genesis 1:26

Hobbes' definition of life as a motion collapses the distinction between the life of humans and the life of machines or institutions.

The title refers to the primordial sea creature Leviathan, described in Job 41 as the prime evidence of and analogue to God's power, beyond all human measure and comprehension. Hobbes takes him as figure for the sovereign power in the state. Leviathan was also sometimes take a as a figure for Satan, on the basis of Job 41:34.

I love how this modern expression shows up here...

In 17th century England, gifts were customarily exchanged on New Year's Day, not Christmas.

The Israelites, traditionally governed by judges, demanded a king despite God's warning against monarchy, as conveyed by the prophet Samuel.

Church Father Tertullian wrote against earthly monarchs in On the Crown

"beck and call" = The king's command. Charles had claimed that Parliament could not assemble unless called into session by the king.

Freed from having to obey.

Judgement

Kings and magistrates

law

delegated

biased

Adam's fall introduced sin and violence into human life.

purposes

The suffering but not its causes.

played fast and loose

Make their slavishness look good.

impulses, passions

Terms of holding office.

Ten commandments

Father of his country.

Partial, limited.

Forefathers of the Jews, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons.

the conduct of public affairs

commonly held

agreeable

Systematic theology, as undertaken by medieval philosophers in the universities ("schools")

A jeweled pendant representing St. George killing a dragon, worn by Knights of the Garter. The prince (following) is the king's eldest son, Charles II, who had escaped to exile in France.

As was customary, Charles tips Hacker, the person supervising his execution in hopes of ensuring a quick death.

something

spoken

Because I upheld the liberty of the people.

all the rationale

Both show you how you are wrong and put you on correct course.

St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, prayed that God not hold his persecutors responsible for their actions; recounted in Acts 7.

In an attempt to appease his opponents in Parliament, Charles reluctantly consented to the execution of his adviser, Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, for treason in 1641, despite lack of evidence that Strafford had committed any crime.

corrupt go-betweens

Of blaming either side for the war.

Practicing the charity that befits a Christian, I refuse to lay the blame for the war on my enemies.

"Commissions" and "declarations" warrants for enlisting troops and proclamations of war.

In 1642, Parliament's Militia Ordinance transferred local militias from the king's control to Parliament's. Despite its failure to secure Charles' ascent to the measure, Parliament declared it legally binding.

Remain silent. It was common for condemned prisoners to address onlookers before their executions.

Matthew Tomlinson commanded the guards assigned to Charles. He was tried after the Restoration but was spared because he had been courteous to the king.

William Juxson (1582-1663), Charles I's personal chaplain, was bishop of London until 1649, when he was deprived of office. In the late 1630s, he had also served as one of the king's financial advisors. After the Restoration, he became archbishop of Canterbury.

Guards armed with partisans, spears with lobed points.

St. James Palace

Whitehall Palace was the English monarch's principal residence from 1530-1698, when most of it was destroyed by fire. The Banqueting House, designed by Inigo Jones with ceilings painted by Peter Peter Paul Rubens, was built for King James I in 1619-1622.

Plot twist: "The Duchess of Newcastle" is MARGARET CAVENDISH (seriously).

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), Italian astronomer and defender of the Copernican system; Pierre Gassendi (1592-1655), proponent of a mechanistic theory of matter; Rene Descartes (1596-1650), French mathematician and philosopher who had a major influence on the new science; Jan Baptista van Helmont (1579-1644), Flemish chemist; Thomas Hobbes, English mechanistic philosopher and political scientist, author of Leviathan; Henry More (1614-1687), one of the anti materialist Cambridge Platonists.

The Renaissance saw the birth of Christian Kabbalah (often transliterated as Cabala to distinguish it from Jewish Kabbalah and Hermetic Qabalah), also spelled Cabbala. Interest grew among some Christian scholars in what they saw to be the mystical aspects of Judaic Kabbalah, which were compatible with Christian theology.

There you go...it's good to be the empress.

Yes, these logic games can be rather taxing (quite a few logical fallacies demonstrated above).

Harsh.

Ah, of course - the supernatural substance...kryptonite anyone? Vibranium? In this case, a gum (then "oyl") of longevity....she later equates this to the philosopher's stone.

I think Cavendish is referring to herself here...

She's quite taken with these worm-men...seems they are her favorites thus far.

Cavendish criticizes microscopes here and the experimental method in general.

Also called a hoverfly:

singular of "lice" - imagine this guy the size of an elephant:

Remember that "glass/glasses" during this time can refer to lenses generally or mirrors.

Why do you suppose Cavendish belabors this point about the divisive arguments that arise from the use of telescopes?

interesting theory...

This is the first "non-utopian" aspect of this society I'm picking up on...something tells me the new Empress will do something about this...

Remember that she is writing in 1666; the monarchy has just been restored six years previously - what might the following passage betray about her own feelings on government?

Interesting....

"Galenic formulation" deals with the principles of preparing and compounding medicines in order to optimize their absorption. It is named after Claudius Galen, a 2nd Century AD Greek physician, who codified the preparation of drugs using multiple ingredients.

Definition: "one of a class of lustful, drunken woodland gods. In Greek art they were represented as a man with a horse's ears and tail, but in Roman representations as a man with a goat's ears, tail, legs, and horns."

Mermen, the male counterparts to mermaids:

Definition: "a man who has been castrated, especially (in the past) one employed to guard the women's living areas at an oriental court."

I'm picturing Nicholas Roerich's "Mother of Worlds" (1924)

That was quick!

I really love this word as it is so evocative across cultures; etymologically speaking, it comes to us from Greek, though originally proto-Iranian meaning "walled enclosure" or "walled garden."

I'm picturing this:

Cavendish's husband, William, was formally banished from England and his estates confiscated in 1649l they were all restored after the Restoration. During his banishment, Margaret estimated that he suffered financial losses of around GBP 940,000.

her virtues

commission

accustomed

soon take away from it

As was common, Anne Clifford here is referred to by her husband's title.

Ie., we (lowly) may also love God and enjoy God's love, and hence are equal to anyone.

construe

thought/fancy

"the lowest are always above" - an egalitarian sentiment playing on the Christian notion that in spiritual matters - love and charity - the poor and lowly surpass the great ones.

qualities

espoused (i.e., married); Anne Clifford was married to Richard Sackville, third earl of Dorset on February 25, 1609.

Main line of the family tree. Anne Clifford, only surviving child of the seaman-adventurer George Clifford, third earl of Cumberland, and the countess, A Russell ("of Bedford's blood").

Like Joseph, who fed the starving Israelites in Egypt, you fed the hungry.

You often sang David's psalms.

You sought out and followed God's law like Moses, who received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

perceive

suit; To urge some unexpected petition, as to a monarch.

resisted the sun

Not sure what happened here (?) The word is "Phoenix" referring to the mythical bird that lived alone of its kind for five hundred years, then was consumed in fire and reborn from its own ashes; metaphorically, a person of rare excellence.

In myth, Philomela was raped by her brother-in-law Tereus, who also tore out her tongue; the gods transformed her into a nightingale. Here the bird's song is joyous ut late mournful (line 189) , associated her own woes with those of Cookham at the women's departure.

behaved in similar way

liveries; distinctive garments worn by persons in the service of great families, to indicate whose servants they were.

in preparation for

joys

Apparently a reference to the countess as her patron, commissioning her Passion poem.

write

palace

Here, both God's grace and the favor of Her Grace, the Countess of Cumberland. Lanyer attributes both her religious conversion and her vocation as a poet to a period of residence at Cookham in the countess' household. We do not know how long or unde rwhat circumstances Lanyer resided there.

perfect

The poem was written in honor of Margaret Clifford, Countess of Cumberland, and celebrates a royal estate leased to her brother, at which the countess occasionally resided. The poem should be compared with Jonson's "To Penshurst" Lanyar's poem is based on a familiar classical topic, the "farewell to place," which had its most famous development in Virgil's Eclogue 1. Lanyer makes extensive use of the common pastoral motif of nature's active sympathy with and response to human emotions--which later came to be called the "pathetic fallacy"

King of Israel who sought the death of God's anointed prophet-king, David. The parallel is with Pilate, who sought Christ's death.

damned

"just man" = Christ

claim

In the Ptolemic system, the sun was larger than the other planets and the fixed stars.

Sins punishable by damnation.

Tradition identifies the serpent with Satan though that identification is not actually present in Genesis.

May refer to the commonplace belief that man is a "little world" - here applying it to women.

Genesis 2:21-22 reports God's creation of Eve from Adam's rib.

experience

Here Lanyar argues that Eve ate of the apple in pursuit of knowledge...Adam? He thought the fruit looked tasty ("The fruit beeing Faire perswaded him to fall...")

prevent

The breath of life, which would have been eternal.

strict

in this case, "fashioned" or "made"

determine

This is a great line; basically, though others may be weak (here she is referring to Eve who has already been enticed) ultimately, each individual is responsible for his/her own actions so Adam is as worthy of blame.

the serpent

asserted

consented

"bereaved" = "deprived". Here Lanyar is referring specifically to eternal life. In Genesis 3, Eve was enticed by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit; she, in turn, enticed her husband. God expelled them from Eden, condemning Adam to hard labor, Even to pain in childbirth and subjection to her husband, and both to suffering and death.

In Eden, Eve ate of the forbidden fruit first, at the serpent's bidding. Genesis commentary usually emphasized Eve's full knowledge that God had forbidden them on pain of death and banishment from Eden to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Her action was usually ascribed to intemperance, pride and ambition.

The fall of Adam, and the prospective fall of Pilate.

Pilate's wife wrote her husband a letter urging Pilate to spare Jesus, about whom she had a warning dream (Matthew 27:19).

stain

case

Lanyar supplies the title for this subsection of the Salve Deus on her title page. Eve is not, however, the speaker; rather, the narrator presents Eve's "apology" (defense of her own actions), which also a defense of all women. She does so by means of an apostrophe (impassioned address) to Pilate, the Roman official who authorized the crucifixion of Jesus. Lanyar makes Pilate and Adam representatives of the male gender, whereas Eve and Pilate's wife represent womankind here.

Mary Magdalen (John 20:1-18).

dispose = "take care of". In this case, referring to Jesus' request that his apostle John care for his mother Mary (John 19:25-27).

Good use of repetition here; an argument that Jesus himself honored women and took them as his disciples as well, and first appeared to women once resurrected.

Jewish wife and example of chastity) (6th century BCE). She was falsely accused of adultery by two Jewish elders, in revenge for refusing their sexual advances, and condemned to death. The wise judge, Daniel, saved her by uncovering the elders' perjury (Apocrypha, Book Susanna).

Sisera (Canaanite leader, hence "Cesarus" ie "Caeser") was a Canaanite military commander (12th century BCE) routed in battle by the Israelites under the leadership of the prophetess Deborah. Sisera was subsequently killed by the Kenite woman Jael, who enticed him to her tent then drove a tent spike through his temples while he slept.

Or, "Esther" (5th century BCE), the Jewish wife of the Persian king Ahasuerus (Xerxes I), who by her wit and courage subverted the plot of the king's minister, Haman, to annihilate the Jews of Persia.

As her poetry of praise cannot possibile do justice to the queen, she abandons an attempt that would obscure rather than promote the queen's fame.

Nature and those (especially women) under Nature's protection.