...While the ploughman, near at hand, Whistles o'er the furrow'd land. And the milk-maid singing blythe, And the mower whets his scythe ; And every shepherd tells his tale, Under the hawthorn in the dale." Example 2. The Penseroso presents the following account of the objects of the evening. " Oft on a plat...

...his state, Rob'd in flames and amber light, The clouds in thousand liveries dight, While the plowman near at hand Whistles o'er the furrow'd land, And...shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale. Strait mine eye hath caught new pleasures, Whilst the landskip round it measures; Russet lawns, and...

...The clouds in thousand liveries dight. While the ploughman near at hand Whistles o'er the furrowed land ; And the milk-maid singeth blithe. And the mower...shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale." And one of the poet's earlier compositions had afforded a strong suspicion of his idolatrous tendencies—...

...of sound, song, dance, folk tale and pageant: the ploughman near at hand Whistles o'er the furrowed land, And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower...shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale. Where throngs of knights and barons bold, In weeds of peace high triumphs hold, With store of ladies,...

...Sees the great sun begin his state, " While the ploughman, near at hand, Whistles o'er the furrowed land ; And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower...shepherd tells his tale, Under the hawthorn in the dale." A thorough Englishman, his eye observes not only the simplicity of rural life, but " Towers and battlements...

...remains nevertheless lighthearted in tone: While the plowman near at hand Whistles o'er the furrowed land, And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower...shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale. There is a happy stylization here, a stylization even more deliberately cultivated in such an image...

...begins his state Robed in Flames & amber Light The Clouds in thousand Liveries dight While the Plowman near at hand Whistles o'er the Furrow'd Land And the...Shepherd tells his Tale Under the Hawthorn in the Dale. They are 11. 57—68 in The Works of John Milton, vol. 1, pt. 1, p. 36. Blake's comments on his illustration,...

...And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower whets his scythe, And every shepherd tells his tale52 Under the hawthorn in the dale. Straight mine eye...pleasures, Whilst the landscape round it measures: 70 Russet lawns, and fallows grey, Where the nibbling flocks do stray; Mountains on whose barren breast...

...labor in L'Allegro, the speaker is always looking at other people working. He watches the "Plowman near at hand, / Whistles o'er the Furrow'd Land, /...singeth blithe, / And the Mower whets his scythe" (62-65). Certainly, otium is a convention of the pastoral tradition, and its presence signals L'Allegro's...

...din/Scatters the rear of darkness thin," and the various sun-greeters go about their tasks; While the Plowman near at hand, Whistles o'er the Furrow'd Land, And...Shepherd tells his tale Under the Hawthorn in the dale.9 The similarity of types of dawn images are obvious. It is not necessary to ask whether Lewis...