Calendar: 1867-1868 Page 469

470 INGLIS SCHOLARSHIPS Show how Milton's studies are to be traced in the structure and style of this masque What is the probable date and the probable order of the Allegro and Penseroso How do they illustrate the opposite conditions of the Poet's mind and of the two parties in the nation which were then struggling for supremacy What indications do the two poems afford of the feelings by which the struggle was regarded by the Poet at this time Which of the two represents his more settled mood What evidences are afforded by his earlier poems and the events of his life that the scenes described in the Allegro were considered by him as reconcileable with his early Puritan training and inclinations Give brief summary of the Lycidas its structure its metrical arrangements and show how in its style and composition there are traces of transition period in the Poet's mind 10 Explain the following phrases and allusions Yet once more Ο ye myrtles &c Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year ii We were nurst upon the self-same hill iii And old Damaetas loved to hear our song iv Alas what beots it with incessant care To tend the homely slighted shepherd's task And strictly meditate the thankless Muse Were it not better done as others use To sport with Amaryllis in the shade Or with tbe tangles of Nesera's hair That strain heard was of higher mood But now my oat proceeds vi Camus-inwrought with figures dim vii Besides what the grim wolf devours apace viii That two-handed engine at the door ix At last he rose and twitched his mantle blue To-morrow to fresh woods