To Cyriac Skinner
P. 91. 1. this three years’ day: this day three years ago. Milton became completely blind in 1652, so this sonnet must have been written in 1655. though clear: see passage from Second Defence, p. 13.
P. 91. 7. bate: from ‘abate.’
P. 91. 8. bear up and steer right onward: the nautical sense of ‘bear up,’ i.e. to put the ship before the wind, is indicated by what follows.
P. 91. 10. conscience: consciousness.
P. 91. 12. talks: the Trin. Coll. Ms. reading; the word ‘rings’ was substituted by Phillips in his printed copy of 1694; ‘talks’ does not sound so well, in the verse, but it is more modest.
P. 91. 13. mask: masquerade.