Good luck befriend thee, Son; for at thy birth The fairy ladies danced upon the hearth.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a wish for good fortune and happiness to accompany a person's life journey from birth.
In this quote, John Milton evokes the imagery of fairy ladies dancing at the birth of a child, symbolizing a blessing of good luck and happiness bestowed upon the newborn. It reflects the cultural belief that such auspicious events can shape a life filled with joy and fortune, emphasizing the hope that the child will be well-favored and supported throughout their journey in life.
In practice
A parent might share this quote at a baby shower to express their wishes for the child's future.
They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms: Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide; They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.
The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller.
Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones.
Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss
The end of all learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love and imitate Him.
Apt words have power to suage the tumors of a troubled mind.
From breakfast, or noon at the latest, to dinner, I am mostly on horseback, Attending to My Farm or other concerns, which I find healthful to my body, mind, and affairs.
Few women, I fear, have had such reason as I have to think the long sad years of youth were worth living for the sake of middle age.
Alone, all alone Nobody, but nobody Can make it out here alone.
A life without problems or limitations or challenges--life without "opposition in all things," as Lehi phrased it (2 Nephi 2:11)--would paradoxically but in very fact be less rewarding and less ennobling than one which confronts--even frequently confronts--difficulty and disappointment and sorrow.
I rose as from the death that wipes out the sadness of life, and then dies itself in the new morrow.
We wandered in a frenzy and a dream (301).
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