est, from this flying steed unreined, (as once
Belerophon, though from a lower clime)
Dismounted, on the Aleian field I fall,
Erroneous there to wander, and forlorn.
Half yet remains unsung, but narrower bound
Within the visible diurnal sphere.
Standing on Earth, not rapt above the pole,
More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchanged
To hoarse or mute, though fallen on evil days,
On evil days though fallen, and evil tongues,
In darkness, and with dangers compassed round,
And solitude; yet not alone, while thou
Visit'st my slumbers nightly, or when morn
Purples the east. Still govern thou my song,
Urania, and fit audience find though few.--vii. 1-32.

The Muses were Greek mythological divinities who possessed the power of
inspiring song, and were the patrons of poets and musicians. According
to Hesiod they were nine in number and presided over the arts. Urania
was the Goddess of Astronomy, and Calliope the Goddess of Epic Poetry.
They are described as the daughters of Zeus, and Homer alludes to them
as the goddesses of song who dwelt on the summit of Mount Olympus. They
were the companions of Apollo, and accompanied with song his playing on
the lyre at the banquets of the Immortals. Milton does not invoke the
mythological goddess, but Urania the Heavenly Muse, whose aid he also
implores at the commencement of his poem prior to his flight above the
Aonian Mount. Under her divine guidance he ascended to the Heaven of
Heavens and breathed empyreal air, her tempering; in like manner he
requests her to lead him down to his native element lest he should meet
with a fate similar to what befell Bellerophon. Half his task he has
completed, the other half, confined to narrower bounds within the
visible diurnal sphere, remains unsung, and in its fulfilment he still
implores his celestial patroness to govern his song.

The natural phenomena which occur as a consequence of the motions of the
heavenly bodies and the diurnal rotation of the Earth on her axis, are
accompanied by agreeable alternations in the aspect of nature with which
every one is familiar. The rosy footsteps of morn; the solar splendour
of noonday; the fading hues of even; and night with her jewelled courts
and streams of molten stars, have been sung with rapturous admiration by
poets of every nation and in every age. They, as ardent lovers of
nature, have described in choicest language the pleasing vicissitud