Introduction
Milton’s celebration of noble poetry set to music, which he presents as an echo of the music of heaven itself, is couched in terms of the Sirens of Greek mythology, two mysterious winged women hidden in cliff-tops whose enchanting song drew sailors irresistibly.
BLEST pair of Sirens, pledges of
Heav’ns joy,
Sphear-born* harmonious Sisters, Voice, and Vers,*
Wed your divine sounds, and mixt power employ
Dead things with inbreath’d sense able to pierce,
And to our high-rais’d phantasie present,
That undisturbed Song of pure concent,*
Ay sung before the saphire-colour’d throne*
To him that sits theron
With Saintly shout, and solemn Jubily,*
Where the bright Seraphim in burning row*
Their loud up-lifted Angel trumpets blow,
And the Cherubick* host in thousand quires*
Touch their immortal Harps of golden wires,
With those just Spirits that wear victorious Palms,*
Hymns devout and holy Psalms
Singing everlastingly;
That we on Earth with undiscording voice
May rightly answer that melodious noise;
As once we did, till disproportion’d sin
Jarr’d against natures chime, and with harsh din
Broke the fair musick that all creatures made
To their great Lord, whose love their motion sway’d
In perfect Diapason,* whilst they stood
In first obedience, and their state of good.*
O may we soon again renew that Song,
And keep in tune with Heav’n, till God ere long
To his celestial consort* us unite,
To live with him, and sing in endles morn of light.
(original spelling)
Modern spelling: ‘Sphere-born’, that is, coming from our universe rather than from heaven. According to ancient classical cosmology from Plato to Bede and Copernicus, the earth lies at the centre of a system of rotating, translucent celestial spheres or orbs, like onion layers, in which the stars and planets are embedded. Only a few years after Milton died in 1674, Sir Isaac Newton developed the theory of gravitation which led to the abandonment of the theory of celestial spheres; Copernicus and Galileo (whom Milton had met seven years earlier while touring Italy) had already rearranged the spheres to place the sun at the centre.
Modern spelling: ‘verse’.
Modern spelling: ‘consent’, i.e. voluntary agreement. In the 1646 edition the word was ‘content’, but it was emended for the 1673 reprint presented to the author. For the song of the angels, see Job 38:5-7, Isaiah 6:2-6 and Revelation 7:9-12.
Modern spelling ‘sapphire’, a semi-precious transparent blue stone, a variety of corundum (aluminium oxide). Milton is referring to Exodus 24:10, where Moses on Mount Sinai saw the God of Israel, “and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone”. On the throne of heaven, see Revelation 4.
Modern spelling: ‘Jubilee’, in the Authorised Version ‘Jubile’, a time of liberty, restored rights, and rest from labour. In ancient Jewish Law, every fifty years land that had been sold off reverted to its original owner; employees and slaves returned to their homes and families; and land was left trustingly uncultivated. See Leviticus 25:8-13. The Jubilee was announced by a blast upon a ram’s horn trumpet.
The seraphim (singular ‘seraph’) are spirits of fire who occupy a place in heaven closest to God himself. See Isaiah 6:1-8 and for a peculiarly English take, see our post Birds of Paradise.
Modern spelling: cherubic. The cherubim (singular ‘cherub’) are ‘living creatures’ (according to Ezekiel) who among other roles carry the throne of God; they were depicted doing so on the Ark of the Covenant in the Jerusalem Temple, and described by Ezekiel as accompanying God’s visit to the Temple. See Exodus 25:18-22, Ezekiel 10 and Isaiah 37:15-17.
Modern spelling: choir. The Prayer Book of 1662 still spoke of ‘quires and places where they sing’. In modern English, a quire is a quantity of sheets of paper: properly 24 (but sometimes decimalised to 25) sheets, or one twentieth of a ream.
Those Christians who have endured persecution at the hands of the world, and stayed faithful even to death. See Revelation 7:9-17. The palm-frond was a universally understood symbol of victory in the Greco-Roman world.
Diapason, from the Greek meaning ‘across all [notes]’, indicating a perfect harmony at the octave. It is also the name of one of the most common stops (sounds) on a church organ, providing a solid base for the rest. Milton wants us to understand a perfect harmony among all creatures.
That is, before Adam and Eve tasted of the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. See our post Adam and Eve.
Probably in the sense of a musical group (‘a consort of viols’), but possibly alluding to the Church as the Bride of Christ.
Précis
John Milton’s ‘At a Solemn Musick’ likens sung verses to Homer’s mythological sirens, echoing irresistibly the harmonious music of heaven as Man first sang it in the Garden of Eden, before the disharmony of sin. He ends by praying that one day, we will all sing the music of Paradise aright, with God and his angels in heaven. (58 / 60 words)
John Milton’s ‘At a Solemn Musick’ likens sung verses to Homer’s mythological sirens, echoing irresistibly the harmonious music of heaven as Man first sang it in the Garden of Eden, before the disharmony of sin. He ends by praying that one day, we will all sing the music of Paradise aright, with God and his angels in heaven.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, besides, despite, must, otherwise, ought, since, until.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Born. His. Whose.
2 Chime. Do. Pledge.
3 Host. Obedience. Wear.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Statements, Questions and Commands Find in Think and Speak
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Pair. 2 Love. 3 Burn. 4 Wear. 5 Answer. 6 Sound. 7 Present. 8 Voice. 9 Stand.
Variations: 1. use a minimum of seven words for each sentence 2. include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never 3. use the words ‘must’ to make commands 4. compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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