In quintum Novembris. English translation. Back to Latin text. Open Latin text in new window.

Introduction. Milton titled this collection of Latin and Greek verses, "Sylvarum," or "of the woods," indicating the variety of metrical forms included, even a variety of languages, since two are in Greek. The metrical forms employed here include iambics, hexameters and various kinds of Horatian modes, including alcaic stanzas. Milton arranged the poems in a roughly chronological order according to their dates of composition, probably to emphasize his progress as a poet from his earliest attempts to his more mature poems.

This miniature epic poem commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. It was probably composed in 1625 for the eleventh anniversary of the plot on November 5, the first to be celebrated following the death on 27 March of King James I (6th of Scotland). The plot, led by Guy Fawkes and a group of discontented Roman Catholics, was to explode gunpowder in the basement of the Parliament chamber while King James I was in assembly with both houses of Parliament.

far north. James came from Scotland where he had reigned since 1567 as King James VI. Elizabeth I, having died childless in 1603, named James as her successor to the English throne, thus initiating the Stuart dynasty in England.

descended from Troy. Legend had it that the Trojan prince Brutus founded Britain.

Albion. An archaic name for Britain.

fierce tyrant. Satan.

Summanus. In Roman mythology, Summanus was the god of midnight thunder.

Acheron's fiery flood. Acheron is one of the five mythological rivers in Hades, perhaps the source of the Styx.

slaves by birth. If this refers to mortals devoted to Satan, then it appears to depend upon a fairly Calvinistic notion of predestination from birth either to salvation and godliness or to perdition and evil.

white cliffs. The famous white cliffs of Dover on England's southern coast.

seu. Both 1645 and 1673 have "seu" here, as do most modern editions. Orgel and Goldberg follow Shawcross's conviction (in Flannagan xviii) that this is a misprint for "ceu". It may also simply be an idiosyncratic spelling.

Neptune's son. Neptune, Roman God of the sea was believed to have had several giant sons, among them the mythic giant, Albion, for whose sake ancient Britain was called Albion. Milton repeats the story of these mythic origins in his History of Britain, though he seems to doubt its veracity:

That which follows, perhaps as wide from Truth, though seeming less impertinent, is, that these Samotheans under the Reign of Bardus were subdu'd by Albion a Giant, Son of Neptune; who call'd the Island after his own Name, and ruled it 44 Years.

adamantinus. 1673 misprints this as "adamantius"; it is corrected in the Errata at the beginning of the volume.

Amphitryon's terrifying son. According to a legend Milton repeats in his History of Britain, the giant Albion crossed the channel to Gaul to rescue his brother, Lestrygon, from Hercules, and Hercules (son of Amphitryon) killed him there.

Ceres. Ancient Roman Goddess of agriculture, especially grains (hence, the word cereal).

Tiphoeus. Typhon, son of Gaia and Tartarus, king of the underworld, was thought by ancient Greeks to be the father of all monsters. See Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.346-53 and Hesiod, Theogony 820-68.

Ausonian. Italian.

Quirinus. Quirinus was considered by Romans of the first century BCE to be the deified Romulus.

Triple Crown. A synecdoche for the pope who sometimes wore a triple crown or three-tiered tiara.

Gods made of bread. A sneering reference to the eucharistic host or wafer of bread that Roman Catholics believe is the literal body of Christ once it has been consecrated. At the feast of Corpus Christi, consecrated hosts would be carried in procession throughout a town or metropolis like Rome.

mendicant friars. The mendicant orders were all established in the 13th century as friars who take a vow of poverty and so live on the charity of others. During the reformation they were frequently accused by reformers of corruption.

Cimmerian. The mythic land of Cimmeria was often depicted as dark and brutish.

St Peter's Eve. The eve of the feast of St Peter would have been June 28.

Bromius. Bromius refers to Bacchus or Dionysus in his noisiest and most boisterous form.

Echionian Aracynthus. A mountain range in Thebes, northern Greece.

Asopus. A river in Boeotia rising on Mt. Cithaeron and flowing through the district of Plataea into the Euripus.

Typhlon. According to Stella Revard, "Milton apparently has invented Greek names for Night’s horses – Typhlon (blind), Melanchaetes (black), Siope (silent), and Phrix (longhaired) – perhaps selected as the opposites of Ovid’s names for the Sun’s horses – Pyroneis (hot), Eous (bright), Aethon (light), and Phlegon (fiery)" (Shorter Poems, 214n). See the story of Phaeton's disastrous attempt to drive his father's (the Sun's) chariot in Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.153–4.

natat. 1673 misprints this as "notat" and corrects it in the Errata at the beginning of the volume.

Line 96. 1673 ends this line with a colon.

Relliquias. 1673 misprints this word as "Relliquas" and offers a correction in the Errata.

casúmque. 1645 has "casúque" here, but 1673 corrects it.

præruptaque. 1645 has "semifractaque" here, but most editors take 1673's "præruptaque" as an authoritative change.

Line 159. 1673 ends this line with a colon.

king-tamer. Both king-tamer and "heir of Phlegeton," refer to the pope.

dark lord of shadows. That is, Satan.

Francis. St. Francis, the founder of the Franciscan order. We are meant to imagine Satan disguised as a Franciscan friar here.

Apostolic key. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, St Peter held the keys of salvation and damnation, entrusted to him by Christ himself. The papal insignia features these keys prominently.

Hesperian fleet. The Spanish Armada, sunk by the English (and by storms) in 1588. The Pope supported this attempt by Catholic Spain to invade Protestant England.

Thermodontean virgin. The poem refers to Elizabeth I as an Amazonian virgin. Queen Elizabeth I had been declared a heretic by Pope Pius V in 1570, and her reign ended with her death in 1603.

Tithonia's rosy spouse. A rather Homeric-sounding way to refer to the dawn.

Babylonian priest. English Protestants frequently identified the Pope with the "whore of Babylon" referred to in Revelation 17:5.

tower of Fame. See Ovi'd description of the tower of Fame in Metamorphoses 12. See also Chaucer's Hous of Fame book 2.

son of Arestor. Argus Panoptes, or "all-eyes."

Temesaean trumpet. A trumpet made from copper mined in Italy.