...him as the blind old man, equal in fate and renown with blind Thamyris and blind Mceonidcs, feeding on thoughts that voluntary move harmonious numbers,...and in shadiest covert hid tunes her nocturnal note ; one who . • thinks of Milton will find it a hard thing to believe that he is one aud the same with...

...equal'd with me in fate, So were I equal'd with them in renown, Blind Thamyris and blind Mseonides, ss And Tiresias and Phineus prophets old. Then feed on...the year 40 Seasons return, but not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, 25 quendi'dl drench' d. Benil. MS. 25 orbs] Val. Flacc....

...equalled with me in fate, (So were I equalled with them in renown !) Blind Thamyris and blind Maconides, And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old : Then feed...hid, Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus with the year Seasons return ; but not to me returns Day, •>- the sweet approach of even or morn, Or sight of vernal...

...reflects on his own sightless eyes, Milton's thoughts turn to the nightingale singing in darkness: Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move Harmonious...and in shadiest Covert hid Tunes her nocturnal note. How consciously Keats remembered this passage one cannot say, but it contains the whole kernel of the...

...exhibit how he broke up his fynes, will serve well: in Paradise Then feed on thoughts, that voluntarie move Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful Bird Sings...Covert hid Tunes her nocturnal Note. Thus with the year Seasons return, but not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach ofEv'n or Morn. These fynes are gratly...

...equall'd with me in fate, So were I equall'd with them in renown, Blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides, And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old. Then feed...covert hid Tunes her nocturnal note. Thus with the year Seasons return, but not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn, Or sight of vernal...

...equall'd with me in Fate, So were I equall'd with them in renown, Blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides, And Tiresias and Phineus Prophets old. Then feed on...and in shadiest Covert hid Tunes her nocturnal Note. (21-40) The blindness of three of the poets and prophets listed was a punishment from the gods. Are...

...and morn "where the Muses haunt /Clear Spring, or shady Grove, or Sunny HUP (3.27-28), Then feed[s] on thoughts, that voluntary move Harmonious numbers;...and in shadiest Covert hid Tunes her nocturnal Note. (3.37-40) Eve sings her nocturn as she and Adam move hand in hand toward a bower whose "thickest covert...

...equalled with me in fate, So were I equalled with them in renown, Blind Thamyris, and blind Maeonides, And Tiresias and Phineus prophets old.* Then feed...the year 40 Seasons return, but not to me returns Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn, Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose, Or flocks,...

...Book Three of Paradise Lost, likewise sympathizes with that creature of darkness, the nightingale: "Then feed on thoughts, that voluntary move/ Harmonious...in shadiest Covert hid/ Tunes her nocturnal Note" (PL, 3:37-40), evoking the traditional figure of song, but also laying claim to a poetics of darkness....