Comus
Comus names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Comus ko'mus, a mask by John Milton
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ko'mus, a mask by John Milton, presented before the Earl of Bridgewater at Ludlow Castle September 29, 1634. It was first printed in 1637. It is the longest and most important of Milton's minor poems. At this time the popularity of the mask, as a form of entertainment, was at its height. Charles I appointed the Earl of Bridgewater Lord President of Wales, the official seat of which position was Ludlow, Shropshire. The earl requested Henry Lawes, his children's tutor, to arrange a mask, or masque, as the word was then spelled, to celebrate his taking possession of Ludlow Castle. Lawes was something more than a tutor. He was also a musical composer of talent. He was the friend of Milton, whose assistance he asked in preparing the mask. Lawes explained the nature of the event to be celebrated, and told his friend what characters would be expected to take part. Milton wrote the poem. Lawes furnished the music and looked after the staging. He also took one of the prominent parts, that of the attending spirit. The part of "The Lady" was taken by the earl's fourteen year old daughter. The Lady's brothers were represented by his two younger sons. The other characters of the Mask are Comus, an enchanter, son of Circe, and Sabrina, a nymph. Comus carries off the Lady and places her in a beautiful palace under the spell of his magic art. Her brothers, led by the attendant Spirit, put Comus to rout; and with the aid of Sabrina, liberate their sister from the spell which holds her. That is all the story, but Milton, as Taine says, was able to "impress his own character even on ornamental poems which were only employed to exhibit costumes and introduce fairy tales ." The poet makes use of his simple setting to glorify virtue; to show that the inherent power of goodness is proof against any evils that may assail it. He does this in a poem of lofty style and perfect finish. "the most perfect mask in any language." It is interesting to note that the name Comus was not given to the mask until after Milton's death. Milton himself called it "A Masque Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634, before the Earl of Bridgewater, Lord President of Wales." Comus was presented by the students of Tufts College, Massachusetts, in 1901. Comus has been widely quoted. The last quotation given includes the closing lines of the mask, which embody the lesson of the poem, and, we may say, present Milton's guiding principle. The entire poem contains only 1,023 lines. There are few poems of equal length that will better repay careful reading. He that has light within his own clear breast May sit i' th' center and enjoy bright day; But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts Benighted walks under the midday sun. Virtue could see to do what virtue would By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. So dear to heav'n is saintly chastity, That when a soul is found sincerely so, A thousand liveried angels lackey her, Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt, And in clear dream and solemn vision Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear, Till oft converse with heav'nly habitants Begin to cast a beam on th' outward shape. . . . Against the threats Of malice or of sorcery, or that power Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm: Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt, Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled: Yea, even that which Mischief meant most harm Shall in the happy trial prove most glory. Mortals, that would follow me, Love Virtue; she alone is free. She can teach ye how to climb Higher than the sphery chime; Or, if Virtue feeble were, Heaven itself would stoop to her. CRITICISMS. Judged in respect of its allegory, its pastoral beauties, its lyric strains, its epic flavor, its lofty philosophical tone, its "inevitable" lines or poetic "touchstones," Comus must be regarded as one of the most perfect fruits of Milton's genius.--Gayley and Young.
Comus well worked out
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
well worked out, with a complete originality and extraordinary elevation of style, is perhaps Milton's masterpiece, and is simply the eulogy of virtue.--Taine. I did not perceive its faults.--Anon. Conch (konk) Shell, a large spiral shell with a flowing lip, formerly much used as a dinner horn to call the men from the field. In Hawthorne's day the fish dealer announced his passage along the village street by blowing lustily on a conch shell. The large pink conch of the West Indies is in demand for its pearl, and is much used for inlaid work, buttons, pearl handles and the like. Held to the ear, the conch gives forth a murmuring sound likened by the poets to that of the distant ocean. But I have sinuous shells of pearly hue Within, and they that lustre have imbibed In the sun's palace-porch, where when unyoked His chariot-wheel stands midway in the wave; Shake one, and it awakens; then apply Its polished lips to your attentive ear, And it remembers its august abodes, And murmurs as the ocean murmurs there. --Walter Savage Landor.
Comus ko'mus, in ancient Greece
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ko'mus, in ancient Greece, a festal procession in honor of the gods, especially Bacchus. In the later age of Rome, Comus was the god of mirth, who presided over revels and merry-makings. Milton uses the name to designate an evil enchanter in his Masque of Comus. See Comedy
Comus in later Greek mythology
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in later Greek mythology, a divinity of festive mirth, represented as a winged youth, sometimes drunk and languid as after a debauch, or slumbering in a standing posture with legs crossed. Comus thus becomes the representative deity of riotous merry-making, of tipsy dance and jollity.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 account of Milton's masque still holds: it was performed at Ludlow Castle on 29 September 1634, printed anonymously in 1637, and Milton never called it "Comus" — that title came from John Dalton's popular 1738 stage adaptation, set to music by Thomas Arne. What has moved is the criticism. Where Taine could call the poem "simply the eulogy of virtue" and Aiton praise its glorification of "saintly chastity," scholars since the mid-twentieth century have read the Lady's chastity as a far more unsettled thing, and have set the masque in the politics of Charles I's court, the Bridgewater family's own scandals, and Ben Jonson's "Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue" (1618), from which Milton took his enchanter. On the mythological side, modern handbooks are blunter than Aiton's 1910 or Collier's 1921 notes: Comus had no real cult, and the winged, drunken youth they describe comes chiefly from a painting described by Philostratus rather than from Greek religion — while the enchanter as "son of Circe" is Milton's own addition.
Written for this edition, 2026.