occasion of Birth. Comus was first performed for John Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater, at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, in honour of his installation as Lord President of Wales on the 29th of September 1634. It featured his two sons and their sister, Alice, as the Elder Brother, Second Brother, and Lady, respectively.

not openly acknowledg'd. John Milton's name does not appear on the 1637 title page, nor does it appear on the 1645 title page, but that edition of Comus was bound together with Poems of Mr. John Milton, Both English and Latin (London 1645). And his name does appear on the Bridgewater MS: "Author Jo: Milton." See the BMS.

Henry Lawes. This letter appears as an "The Epistle Dedicatorie" in 1637. Henry Lawes (1596?-1662)served as music tutor to the Egerton family. He was a noted composer and member of the King's Music.

Henry Wootton. Sir Henry Wotton (1568-1639) was Ambassador to Venice and various other European states. From 1624 he served as Provost of Eton College, about five miles from Milton's Horton home. Milton wrote to Sir Henry for advice about his intended tour of the continent and for possible letters of introduction to important people abroad. He enclosed a copy of A Mask as a gift, and perhaps as a means to encourage Sir Henry take him seriously as a poet.

Mr. H. Perhaps John Hales, a fellow of Eton College.

Dorique. Doric probably signifies rustic or pastoral here as in "Lycidas" 189. The word derives from the Dorian region of Greece and its dialect, often associated with the pastoral poets Theocritus, Bion, and Moschus.

Ipsa mollities. "Itself a sweet (delicate) thing."

true Artificer. Sir Henry had apparently read Comus in the 1637 edition that did not bear the author's name. His copy seems to have been bound together with Thomas Randolph's Poems of 1638. Sir Henry implies that Comus is a better poem than any of Randolph's.

Con la bocca dolce. "With a sweet taste in the mouth." As if Milton's poem was a kind of dessert.

blanch. Skip, pass by.

Mr. M. B. Michael Branthwaite, Wotton's assistant when he was Ambassador to Venice.

Lord S. James Scudamore (1624-1668), son of the Ambassador to the French Court, Viscount John Scudamore (1601-71).

as Diurnal. As a daily commonplace. Barges sailed from Gravesend to London and back at least daily.

recess. Departure.

Signor Arrigo mio... "My Signor Harry, your thoughts close, and your countenance loose" (as in Logan Pearsall Smith, The Life and Letters of Sir Henry Wotton [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1907]: 364).