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  • Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise

    "Lycidas" l. 70 (1638). A 1619 play thought to be written by John Fletcher, Sir John van Olden Barnavelt act 1, sc. 1, refers to "the desire of glory (That last infirmity of noble minds)." That play was lost and not rediscovered until 1883, so Milton's parallel words were coincidental.