Comus (The Masque at Ludlow Castle) · chunk 10 of 15
Milton, John · published 1637 · first performed or written 1634 [Sep 29] (Annals) pastoral; masque T56 Magic, spells and conjuring typicality 0.83 · 454 words
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T56: magic, faustus, charms, charm, conjure, spirits, skill, ho, power, spells.
Alas good venturous youth, I love thy courage yet, and bold Emprise, But here thy sword can do thee little stead, Far other arms, and other weapons must Be those that quell the might of hellish charms, He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints And crumble all thy sinews. Why prithee shepherd How durst thou then thyself approach so near As to make this relation? Care and utmost shifts How to secure the Lady from surprisal Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled In every virtuous plant, and healing herb That spreads her verdant lease toth' morning ray, He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing, Which when I did, he on the tender grass Would sit, and harken even to ecstasy, And in requital ope his leathern scrip, And show me simples of a thousand names Telling their strange, and vigorous faculties, Amongst the rest a small unsightly root, But of divine effect, he culled me out; The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it, But in another Country, as be said, Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this soil: Unknown, and like esteemed, and the dull swain Treads on it daily with his coloured shoon, And yet more medicinal is it then that Moby That Hermes once to wise Ulysseses gave, He called it Haemony, and gave it me And bade me keep it as of sovereign use 'Gainst all enchantments, mildew blast, or damp Or ghastly furies apparition; I pursed it up, but little reckoning made Till now that this extremity compelled, But now I find it true, for by this means I knew the foul enchanter though disguised, Entered the very lime-twigs of his spells, And yet came off, if you have this about you (As I will give you when we go) you may Boldly assault the necromancers hall, Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood And brandished blade rush on him, break his glass, And shed the luscious liquour on the ground But seize his wand, though he and his cursed crew Fierce sign of battle make, and menace high, Or like the sons of Vulcan vomit smoke, Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink Thyrsis lead on apace I'll follow thee, And some good angel bear a shield before us. Nay Lady sit; if I but wave this wand, Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster, And you a statue; or as Daphne was Root bound that fled Apollo. Fool do not boast, Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind With all thy charms, although this corporal rind Thou hast emmanacled, while heaven sees good.
nodes 620–679 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 10 of 15 in this edition
Length
454 words · 603 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T56 — Magic, spells and conjuringcross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.832 (cosine to the topic centroid)
Other seeds
seed 43: T45 · seed 44: T51 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
Alas good ventrous youth, I love thy courage yet, and bold Emprise, But here thy sword can doe thee little stead, Farre other arms, and other weapons must Be those that quell the might of hellish charms, He with his bare wand ca uthred thy joynts And crumble all thy sinewes. Why prethee shepheard How durst thouthen thy selfe approach so neere As to make this relatio? Care and utmost shifts How to scure the Ladie from surprisall Brought to my mind a certaine shepheard lad Of small regard to see to, yet well skill'd In every tuous plant, and healing herbe That spreds her verdant lease tth morning ray, He lov'd me well, and oft would beg me sing, Which when I did, he on the tender grasse Would sit, and hearken even to extasie, And in requitall ope his leather'n scrip, And shew me simples of a thousand names Telling their strange, and vigorous faculties, Amongst the rest a small unsightly , But of divine effect, he me out; The leafe was darkish, and had prickles on it, But in another Coun, as be said, Bore a bright golden flowe, but not in this soyle: Vnknowne, and like esteem'd, and the dull swayne Treads on it dayly with his cloured soone, And yet more med' cinall is it then that Moby That Hermes once to wise Vlsses gave, He call'd it Haemony, and gave it me And bad me keepe it as of soveraine use 'Gainst all inchantments, mildew blast, or damp Or gastly furies apparition; I purs't it up, but little reck'ning made Till now that this extremity compell'd, But now I find it true, for by this means I knew the foule inchanter though disguis'd, Enter'd the very limetwigs of his spells, And yet came off, if you have this about you (As I will give you when wee goe) you may Boldly assault the necromancers hall, Where if he be, with datlesse hardihood And brandish't blade rush on him, breake his glasse, And shed the lushious liquor on the ground But sease his wad, though he and his curst crew Feirce signe of baile make, and mace high, Or like the sons of Vlcan vomit smoake, Yet will they soone retire, if he but shrinke Thyrsis lead on apace Ile ollow thee, And some good angell beare a sheild before us. Nay Ladie sit; if I but wave this wand, Your nervs are all chain'd up in alablaster, And you a statre; or as Dap was Root bound that fl Apoll. Foo'e doe not boast, Thou not touch the freedome of my mind Withall thy charms, although this corporall rind Thou hast , while eav'n sees good.