The Prose and Poetical Works of John Milton

To Charles Diodati, Making a Stay in the Country

P. 32. Erato: the muse of erotic poetry.

P. 32. the fierce dog: Cerberus.

P. 32. the Samian master: Pythagoras, who was a native of Samos.

P. 32. Tiresias: the Theban prophet, deprived of sight by Juno; Jupiter, in compensation, bestowed upon him the power of prophecy.

P. 32. Theban Linus: the singer and philosopher.

P. 32. Calchas the exile: a famous soothsayer, who accompanied the Greeks to Troy.

P. 32. Orpheus: the fabulous Thracian poet and musician.

P. 32. Circe: See Comus, 50-53.

P. 33. the heavenly birth of the King of Peace: his ode On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity, composed on and just after Christmas, 1629.