B.A.(Hons.) Programme, English PAPER IV : English Literature - 2 PARADISE LOST By : John Milton Study Material & Reading Material : 3 SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING (Campus of Open Learning) University of Delhi Department of English Prepared by : Dr. Anil AnejaGraduate Course Paper - IV English Literature - 2 PARADISE LOST By : John Milton Book I Lines 1-26 and Book IX Prepared by: Dr. Anil Aneja SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING UNIVERSITY OF DELHI 5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007JOHN MILTON : A BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE John Milton was born on 9 of December 1608 at Spread Eagle, on the East side of Bread Street. In Cheapside, Mi Ma shop and conducted his business as a scrivener a profession ‘which by the cvenwenth century had extended beyond the work of ascribe to include the functions of notarising, money- Jending and investment brokerage. “To begin with, Milton’s early education was inthe hands of private tutors until 1615 when he joined a school, St Paul's which adjoined the Cathedral. In 1621, one of the ereat metaphysical poets, John Donne ‘vas appointed as Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral and Milton ‘probably heard Donne preach on several occa- ‘Sons, Right from his childhood Milton was encouraged to read on ext subjects until late in the night. “This could probably have been one of the reasons for Milton's total blindness in 1652. Milton thanks his Ter in dd Panrem for the encouragement 10 lear five languages: Latin. Greek, Hebrew, French and Italian apart from English In 1625, Milton moved to Christ’s college, Cambridge. His stay at Cambridge was not altogether a happy one, with Milton developing differences first, with one ‘of his tutors and later with the University’s way ‘fawarding degrees which made it mandatory for candidates 0 sign a written declaration subscribing to the Goetrines of the Church of England and acknowledge the supremacy ‘of the King, For unknown reasons Mitton had developed differences with his tutor William Chappell and was even sent down from the University. Later, vas readmitted and assigned t anew tutor, On 3" uly. 1632, Milton Was awarded his M.A. degree and for Hilton. the next six years were devoted to private study, primarily’ Greek and Latin authors. One of the most decisive influences on his lifeand his choice of vocation as a poet was the continental tour which Milton took #n 1638. He had composed many of his poems in the English language, ‘but the warmth with which they were received in Htaly and other parts of Europe cemented his resolution ‘of becoming not only a poet but a national poct. The years following his return to England in 1639 are crucial as far as his pamphlet writing is con- cemmed. From 1641-1642, Milton wrote five important anti-preatic rats: ‘Of Reformation in England Of Srelavical Episcopacy, Animad versions upon the Remonstrant Defence; The Reason of Church Govern- aren and Apology for Smectyimus, However, Of Education and a act on the freedom of the press, Areopagitica. poth published in 1644 are his most important pamphlets. Milton’s tumultuous life as a public figure during the 1640 and V 650 distracted his activities as a poet, anda series of personal crises disturbed his domestic peace, His contemnporten John Donne and George Herbert never Meat faith n the Anglican Church and never doubted that a true Church e sted in spite of hersuperficial divisions tee blemishes, However, Milfon viewed the institutional Churches as having ‘been corrupted. From 1638 onwards, Milton did not view the Anglican Church as any better than the Roman Catholic Church. Fora man as interested as Milton was in the Church, in personal religion ‘and in marriage, he invokes the biblical marriage rope seldom, He does not attempt to separate the case of human marriage and divorce from dt ideal exemplar, the divine marriage of Crist and his Church Ashe grew inet coming into the center of all activities pol casingly disillusioned with the progress ofthe Reformation in ingland. he saw himself ical and religious. After 1660, Milton retired to private life and concentrated on the compos ion ofhis epic. Paradise Lost (1667. After publishing Paradise Regained and Samson Agonists (1671) Milton died early in 1674 and on 12" November was buried in St. Giles’ Cripplegate.THE EPIC FORM AND PARADISE LOST ‘An epic is usually described as a Jong narrative poem, which is exalted in style and heroic in theme and content, Epics are classified into two categories ~ “primary” epics and “secondary” epics. Early or primary epics, such as the Miad and the Odyssey of Homer are “written versions of oral legends of a tribe or nation.” Tasso’s Jerusalem Delivered, Virgil's Aeneid and Milton’s Paradise Lost come under the category of “secondary” or “literary” epic. Primary epics are ancient in their origin and character. Since they were recited or sung orally by bards, who relied on memory and improvisations to produce an evocative effect on their audience, “primary” epics have a spontaneous and free grand style. ‘The poet of the “literary” or “sec ondary” epic, on the other hand, creates an effect of grandeur by a conscious elevation of his poetic style. Paradise Lost, which deals with the lofiy subject of justifying “the ways of God to men,” is well-known for ton’s use of grand style. Published in 1667, Paradise Lost represented for Milton the fulfillment of his two aspirations. For several decades he had wanted to write an epic and had at the same time wanted to recreate the story of the fall of man. To begin with these were to be separate projects as Milton had chosen the tales and adventures of King Arthur to be the subject of his epic. The story of the fall of man was to be treated differently as a tragedy. disenchantment about the historicity of Arthur gradually led to the abandonment of the plan to write an Arthuriad. Finally for Milton the two projects merged into the writing of an epic which dealt with the tragedy of the fall of man. Milton decided to explore his theme in the form of an epic and this gave him a licence to range over vast tracts of human experience. Geographically, the poem ranges over the entire world and Milton delights in cataloguing the names of various places. Satan’s journey round the Earth in Book IX depicts the names of places presumed to be comers of the earth. Milton supposedly used contemporary a the Bible and Biblical commentaries and several works of classical antiquity for place names and otherreferences. Howev Milton's choice of writing an epic was a reflection of the Renaissance notion of hierarchies of being. Poetic genres were ranged in an ascending order starting at the lowest rung from simple lyrics up to the highest. the heroic poem or epic. For Dryden “A heroic poem, truly such is undoubtedly the greatest work which the soul of man is eapable to perform.” Spencer’s Faerie Queene, while inspirational for Miiton, was ‘more of a romance than an epic. For the seventeenth century, Virgil was the writer whose Aeneid provided a model for emulation. A classical epic would present a heroic tale of adventure, usually along journey accom- panied by fighting and the hero victorious. In order to revise classical epic upon Christian lines Milton needed tore-evaluate the epic hero, Adam is not a warrior like Aenas or Odysseus and this was Dryden's objection in calling Paradise Lost an epic. For Milton, heroism did not center in military warfare (the theme of classical epics) but was to be found in the spiritual warfare ofthe active Christian, While Satan’ expedition against mankind might look like a heroic mission ata surface level, a deeper analysis shows that it is self: glorifying and inferior to that which glorifies god. Military valour is devalued in comparison to “suffering for truth’s sake/(which) is fortitude to highest victory” (Bk. XII. $69-70). By such radical reassessments of heroic ‘ales, Milton redefines and revises the epic tradition, Some critics argue that for values military and glorious Milton has substituted the domestic and pastoral ones, for the theme of human greatness, divine greatness, With emphasis on the daily chores of Adam and Eve, Milton makes Parculise Lost the first “domestic epic’. It ts not an epic in the traditional sense of the word because Milton does not follow the conventions and norms ofa classical epic. However, Milton does follow some ofthe conventions ofa traditional epic. For instance. the Supernatu- ral intervention is a part ofthe epic tradition where gods and goddesses intervene in human actions either validating them or disapproving of them. The Invocation to the Muse is another such convention which Milton Follows, He invokes Urania to inspire and illuminate him so that he ean write good poetry. Beginning the story in ‘media res’ (‘in the middle’) is also an epic convention which Milton follows closely. After the statement ofhis theme and invocation to the Muse in Book I, Milton begins the narration in the middle of the action Chronologically the story begins in Book V. Milton’s use of epic similes, which form an integral part of his grand style, is another epic convention that he follows. Milton invests his poem with complexity and richness of meaning through his use of epic similes, To illustrate from Book 9, take the instance of the temptation scene when thie poet describes the tempter as he is about to address Eve: “As when of old some Orator, renown'd So standing, moving, orto highth upgrown’ (670-77) Through such a simile Milton conveys a sense of the deceit and cunning in Satan’s rhetorical powers and theatrical performance that the Tempter puts up to beguile Eve. ‘THE RELIGIOUS AND THE POLITICAL BACKGROUND OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY The literature of any age is influenced by the social, religious and political factors of the period. Milton’s views and his writings demonstrate the deep impact of the events of his age. As David Daiches puts it, “The great debate on religion and politics which divided the English nation in the middle of the seventeenth century helped to determine the course of Milton’s career and the shape of his literary ambitions.” Religious controversy in the seventeenth century is quite inseparable from political controversy. The Elizabethan gov- erment had used the pulpit for political propaganda. Stuart governments also did the same, and as a counter force, were opposed by the Puritans who strove to establish “an alternative politics as well as an alternative religion.” The uncertainty in the post-Elizabethan era was aggravated by the fact that Queen Elizabeth left no natural successor of hers. James VI of Scotland, Lord Essex, Lady Arabella Staurt and many others put thei claim to the throne after Queen Elizabeth’s death in 1603. With James’ accession to power there were several atterpts to depose him. The Puritans had never liked the coming to the power of monarch who was a favourable ‘compromise between the Catholic and the Protestant ideas. For the Puritans, their time was ripe in 1642 when Charles | ruled. Under Oliver Cromwell the Civil War was led to a meaningful conclusion for them when Charles I was beheaded in 1649. The Puritans ruled England from 1642-1660 and in these years there was emphasis on thrift, economy, moral exaltation, purity of the self and home. Quite early on Milton had cast his cause with the Puritan revolutionaries and was active politically writing pamphlets which supported the execution of Charles I. One of the consequences of the Puritan rule was their antipathy towards all forms of fun and entertainment. As a result, all theatres in England were closed down in 1642. Literary activities took ‘backseat for almost twenty years, The Puritanical strain is obvious in Milton's advocacy for righteousness and moral purpose in his writings. To understand Paradise Last in relation to Milton’s age and career, we have to bear in mind that Milton spent almost twenty years between 1641 and 1660, writing prose works which upheld ecclesiastical and civil liberty, and attacked all forms of ecclesiastical and political tyranny. In the years following the Civil War, Milton began to increasingly question the validity of institutional and centralized forms of secular power and external authority. He came to rely more and more the authority found in the Bible, “those written Records pure,” as he puts it, in Paradise Lost (Book XII, line 513) The year 1660, which ended the Puritan rule in England got Charles Ito the throne. The subsequent Years are referred to as the Restoration period—with an obvious reference to the restoration of monarchy and the theatres in England. The Restoration was a period when theatre reopened with a new and added vigour after eighteen years.Renaissance Hierarchy and Cosmology Mitton follows some of the dominant conventions and beliefs of his age, such as the belief in the hierar- chical order of ll things in the universe. All beings were arranged in a hierarchy beginning from God atthe tap to the meanest of the inanimate class. Every speck of ereation was a fink in the chain of being thus it enhanced the dignity ofall creation To begin with, there is the inanimate class which includes the elements, liquids and metals. Next in hierarchy was the vegetative class which had both existence as well as life. Next came the sensitive class Which had feeling as vil. Allanimals were a part ofthis. What distinguished man from beasts/ animals isthe faculty of reason which man possesses. Higher up, angels and finally God completed the hierarchy. To an ordinary Elizabethan, this hierarchy was a part of divine order which was meant to keep everything in place Sof the Elizabethans believed in an ideal order. they were also afraid lest it should be upset. Disorder to them nant cosmic anarchy. So when Satan tries to disrupt this natural, hierarchical scheme of things, he is thrown out of heaven, Milton was exposed to the competing cosmologies ofthe time- Ptolemaic with its conception of a geo- centric view of the universe and Copernican, with its heliocentric view of the Universe. Milton primarily follows the Ptolemaic system of the universe with the earth as the center though there is ample external idence to suggest that Milton was familiar with Copernicus’ theories very well Milton’s universe started with the Empyrean Heaven, the abode of God and his angels. Heaven is sepa rated from the New World by a golden chain. This golden chain by which the New World hangs on to the: Heaven also serves as an opening for the passage of angels from Heaven to Earth. The center of this New World isthe Earth around which revolved the sun, the moon, the seven planets, the fixed stars, the crystalline Sphere and finally the premium mobile. Then there was further Chaos and finally Hell atthe end. Che os consisted of shapeless matter whereas the New World was conceived to be made up of the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Milton’s Hell is a burning pool of fire where sinners are tortured and punished. The presence of the two competing theories of the universe is suggestive ofthe public nature of the poem, He did not use the poem to propagate his own views, rather he allowed itto voice the range of opinions prevalent in England at the time. PARADISE LOST: AN INTRODUCTION Paradise lost, divided into XI Books tells us the story of Satan and his followers who liave. been expelled from Heaven on the charge of rebelling against God. Satan firmly resolves to take revenge upc n God by harming God's ereation, Adam and Eve. The rest of the poem depicts Satan's eraft and dece’ as he manages to tempt Eve into eating the Forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Thus the story ofthe: fall of Man is given to the reader through these XII Books. The Bible and Biblical commentaries account for substantial part of the poem. Book IX coneen trates on the temptation of Eve by Satan, The book begins with a conversation between Adam and Eve where Eve suggests a separation from Adam to cater to the large amount gardening work. Adam, who has be en fore. warned of the coming danger is unwilling to let Eve go alone, His argument is thatthe enemy when cor fronted by two people instead of one, would find himself weak. Eve sees the argument as Adam’s distrust of Eve and insists on moving alone in Eden, The parting takes place and Satan gets his opportunity when he s ces Eve alone, taking care of the plants. ‘Satan enters Eden and takes the shape of a serpent and proceeds towards Eve. He tempts Eve through flattery and is able to convince her that eating of the fruit will make her move up the hierarchy. the we y he hasmoved up from being a beast fo possessing the powers of speech and reason. Eve is conv inced and she plucks sed eats the apple. Immediately she becomes aware of achange in herself and she appears before Adam ready nike to him Adam listens to the story and is aware that Eve ‘will now be permanently separated from im. ‘Unable to bear this separation, Adam knowingly plucks the fruit and eats it, An unknown element of lust now ‘enters into the relationship in sharp contrast to the innocence ‘and purity of their earlier married life ‘AsaCristian poem in classical epic form, Paradise Lost reflects the humanist fusion of Christian with classical learning ts assertion of man’s free will wth God's omnipotence ‘classical irresolvable concern throughout ‘The Invocation “The Invocation isa device used by all epic poets. The purpose ‘of the invocation is the introduction of the theme and seeking inspiration from the Muse. The Muse is invoked for the reason of providing Milton with idems and expressions which have not been attempted ti] now In the light of the narrator's rejection of uiasica! Muses ofthe Spirit, we can judge how faran epic has Been ‘transformed. The narrator provides unity to the Epic by is invocations opening books I II, IV and IX ‘Although claiming the status ifliterary authorship, the text mio display the tenuousness of its spiritual authority. Accordingly, atthe narrator's fist appearance the pray for divine inspiration, for the authority to speak truth, involves an equally emphatic reference 10 ‘blindness, both physical and spiritual, “What in mes Frey lhumine”(I,22-3)- Constant reference to the reader maintains the reader’s sensc of the text's construc tion, its objectives and its problems as well. “The juxtaposition of the narrator's self with hero and heroic er is a reading clue to his courage in confronting the tragedy of Fal, striving to describe adequately something by which he himself is compro- mised as a storyteller Mikon’s theme is man’s disobedience of God’scommandment andthe consequences of this Fall. Refer- ences to “one greater man” and that Shepherd” are to Christ whers the narrator looks up for redemption. He overs ona feat of spiritual danger, presuming to portray God and his truth despite all the human fallibilities inthis postlapsarian world. Without his guide, the Holy Spirit: his flight will fail In this alienation from God's sight, a8 also in his boast of a daring undertaking, the narrator's one counterpart within the narrative quite strongly is Satan himselt ‘Against this sinister parallel. this embodiment dof the false speaking and fake authority to which the narrator himself may succumb, the invocations repeat eadly announce the narrator's lack ofself-suficieney and the ‘need for God’s authorization by way of inspira tion Book I Lines 1-26 Book Lopens with a statement of the theme and subject ofthe whole post the disobedience of man, his fall andthe consequent loss of paradise. Milton goes on to refer tothe redemption of mankind by Christ till one greater Man! Restore us’ (14-5). For the ambitious task ‘of justifying “the ways of God to men’ (1.26), Maton seeks divine inspiration and help from the Heavenly Muse. ‘The poet believes that his subject is more exalted and heroic than any other epic, as he is writing of “Things ‘unattempted yet in prose or rhyme’ (1.16) Inthe following notes brief explanations of references in the text and the meaning of difficult words! phrases are provided: Line 1 first = Man's firstact of transgression was eating the apple ofthe forbidden ree of knowledge.2 mortal 3 Eden 4 one greater Man 5 the blissful seat 6 heavenly Muse Tooreb, or Sinai 8 shepherd 8 chosen seed 9-10 in the beginning... Rose out of Chaos 10 Sion hill U1 siloa 15 Aonian mount 17 spirit 18 Before all temples, the word combines a sense of *human’ and fatal” or death-producing. ‘The garden or beautiful place in the newly-created Earth, where Adam and Eve lived in a state of bliss before the fall. Christ, in theological tradition ‘the second Adam.’ Christ provides man with an opportunity to regain bliss by His supreme sacrifice. Paradise, When all wickedness is dissolved after the Last Judgment, Earth and Heaven shall be blissful. the Spirit of God. Milton follows the epic convention of invocation to the ‘Muse, but with the difference that his Muse is no classical symbol of poetry. the mountain top which was set apart by God for his communication with Moses. Here Moses received the Law from God (the Ten Commandments). Moses, who was a shepherd, God first spoke to him when he watched sheep ‘on Mount Horeb and gave him the Law when he became the “shepherd” of his people. The chose rase of Israel. Moses, the supposed author of Genesis, tells us “In the beginning god created the heaven and the earth.” “And the earth was without form, and void; ... And the Spiritof God moved upon the face of the waters,’ (Genesis 1: 1-2). According to Milton God created out of Chaos. Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. the brook and pool near the temple of Jerusalem. Mount Helicon in Boetia, considered sacred to the Muses. Milton’s inten- tion is to make his poem, which is inspired by God, excel the great classical poems which were inspired by the Muses. The Spirit of God. Milton now appeals directly to the Spirit of God and seeks divine help and instruction. The pure heart is preferred before all temples. Compare Psalm 15: 1-2 (Old Testament) and 1 Corinthians 3:16 (New Testament), 21-2 Dove-tike ... pregnant : The Spirit of God brooded and brought out the Universe out of the unshaped 24 highth ... argument 25 assert 26 justify Book IX Lines 3 ‘matter of Chaos (“abyss”), thus putting 1.fe into Chaos. Milton wishes to measure up to the demands of his great subject (argument), vindicate show the justice of. Milton says that he is not going to talk any more of God or angels sitting comfortably with man, He ‘writes that those times have come to an end when man used to share with angels in his pastoral repast, The tone must change to a tragic one because of betrayal of trust, defiance and disobedience on the part of managainst God. The loss of harmony is the loss of mutuality, of communion, of communication in which man’s converse with God was possible. The notion of his compulsion to change his tone records his own implication in this spiritual infection. Milton, on his part justifies God’s anger and alienation from man which is quite in consonance with the purpose of his writing this poem- to justify the ways of God to man, He writes that man’s disobedience (of eating the forbidden fruit) prompted God’s anger which brought suffering and misery and eventually death, Milton believed in liberty and the pursuit of knowledge. Since he also believed in God's authority over man, liberty for him was problematic. He here deplores the disobedience of man, but the act of Adam and Eve to choose knowledge over total obedience is also for him the birth of man’s capacity for true liberty. Milton is tunable to resolve this contradiction. Milton's God has also been a subject of some discussion. For most critics, Milton’s God is so tyrannical that Satan’s rebellion has appeared just and reasonable, In these lines as well, God’s anger is highlighted which brought misery and death to all mankind. A. J. A. Waldock comments that, Milton’s attempt to justify God lies in ruins, for he is neither just nor merciful Lines 13-19 Here Milton justifies hid theme by saying that it is not less heroic than the action-taking place in Homer's Iiliad and Virgil's Aeneid. In fact, Milton writes his theme is superior to these two poets’ tales of adventure and heroism. Lines 14-16: ‘The wrath/OF Stern Achilles’ is the subject announced at the beginning of the /Mliad: “his Foe’ is Hector. Line 17: In the Aeneid Turnus is the suitor of Lavinia; he is killed by Aeneas, who marries Lavinia himself. Lines 18-19- In the Odyssey, Neptune's ire is directed against Odysse( ‘the Greek’) who had blinded Neptune's son, the Cyclops Polypthenius; in the Aeneid Juno’s ire is directed against Aeneas, Cytherea’s (i.e, Venus) Son, who is so described because Juno’s ire was prompted by Paris” judgement in favour of Venus, Celestial Patroness— Urani Next Milton again implores the Muse Urania for inspiration in lines 20-26. He thanks Urania for visit- ing him in sleeps and inspiring him with verses ever since he has chosen to write on the subject of fall of man. ince first this subject... beginning late” isa reference to Milton’s deliberation and initial choice of King Arthur’s heroic adventures as his epic story. Milton here justifies himself by writing that he is unfit by nature to write on traditional subjects of epics like war and military heroism. Instead, he writes that he values the inner heroic virtues which are far superior to the powers of a warrior. Important here is the common assump- tion that courage low compared to the spiritual warfare of the active Christia Line 48 onwards- The last direct contact with Satan was at the end of Book IV when Satan narrowly escaped atrial of strength with Gabriel., Milton here begins his story with Satan intent on deceiving the human race, ‘more determined now after having been driven out of Eden by the angel Gabriel. He has meanwhile, circled the earth cautiously avoiding daylight because the angel. Uriel had obseryed him entering the Paradise and had forewarned the other angels who guarded the Paradise. However, Satan kept encircling the earth for seven nights, keeping himself on the dark side always, The reference to the equator and the two poles is symptomatic of Milton’s avid interest in contemporary geography. Lines 70-82 describe Satan’s journey on earth. Satan has reached earth by entering the river Tigris which, going underground from Paradise, entered earth in the shape of a fountain. Satan’s stature has undergone a 9dramatic change from an effective orator and general rallying his troops to a sly, deceiving creature who is always hiding himself. Searching for man everywhere, Satan traverses the earth from Eden to Pontus (the Black Sea) and the refer- ence of poo! Maeotis isto the Sea of Asov. This movement of Satan is northwards which culminates with river \ginto the Aretic Ocean, Next Satan travels westwards past the Orontes River in Turkey and Syria to the Pacific Ocean and finally to India. After his roaming around the world, Satan finally chose the serpent as the creature in whom he thought it fit toenterand hide his evil intentions there. The choice is made because the “wilie snake” is so naturally cunning and subtle that whatever sly tricks he might employ no one would regard them as suspicious, whereas if observed in other animals they might arouse the suspicion that diabolical power was operative there beyond the range of animal behaviour. Before he enters into the serpent, Satan indulges in an outburst of lamentation, envy and malice: “Thus he resolved, but first from inward griefe His bursting passion into plaints thus pourd:” (97-98) Satan's speech which follows praises God's creations, namely, earth and man. The picture of the universe presented here is of a geocentric one with earth at the centre and other heavenly objects. Lines 109-113 talk about the hierarchical conception of the universe where each speck of creation was put in fa graded hierarchy from bottom to the top. Satan says that this hierarchy starts from herbs, plants and ‘animals, and finally culminates on earth in the power of reason of man, inthe, Not in themselves, all thir known vertue appears Productive in Herb, Plant, and nobler birth Of Creatures animate with gradual life Of Growth, Sense, Reason, all summmd up in Man. (109-114) The next few lines describe the torment Satan feels in the pleasure of others around him as he acknowledges that in heaven torment would have been greater: ‘and the more I see Pleasures about me, so much more | feel ‘Torment within me, as from the hateful siege Of contraries (119-122) He muses that the only way he can take his revenge upon God is by harming his creation. Satan argues that man’s position is below the angels and it is a great indignity that angels have been employed to serve man on various quarters. Milton's point of emphasis is that this placing is not static. By means of rational self- deployment human beings can perfect themselves, fulfilling God’s promise that unfallen humanity will even- tually rise to the heavenly state, Milton’s doctrine of human perfectibility is, then, the informing principle of Edenic happiness. He deplores the fact that he once used to sit with God and is now constrained to hide himself into a beast. But then, Satan has justified himself all along in the name of ambition and revenge: foul descent! that f who erst contended With Gods to sit the highest, am now constrained Into a Beast, and mixt with bestia slime This essence to incarnate and imbrute But what will not Ambition and Revenge Descend to? (163-169) 10Next, Satan enters the serpent who is asleep and prepares himself for the temptation of Eve. The senses ofthe serpent which are pertaining to brutes are now transformed into intelligible one. The powers of reason and speech are in additions to the Faculties of the serpent. With the approach of morning, Adam and Eve appear in the garden and wonder how they would manage this garden where the work was more than the people assigned todo this work. In lines 205.225 Eve addresses her speech to Adam telling him that they need to divide their labours because if they stick together, their conversations interrupt the work. ‘Adam's reply. though beginning with a clear demarcation ofthe works assigned to man and woman in household will move away to mutual work and sharing. Adam praises Eve for what she has proposed in that she has been thinking out the best way of working. There is nothing finer in a woman than to set her mind on ‘shat is good for her home and will strengthen her husband in worth while work (232-4), But God has not imposed work as a duty so strict that it precludes the intermittent refreshment of food. Adam argues that god “Tad not make man to work only but, to take delight in things, delight to Reason joyn’d’(243), The seene shows ‘Adam and Eve planning and working together to preserve, cultivate and sustain and raise to higher levels of perfection the world that has been made for them. Adam, however, is apprehensive ofthe division of labour as suggested by Eve. He voices his concern in Lines 251-260 that he has been forewarned of an enemy who would attempt to harm the couple. Adam’s argument is that ifthe two of them are together, the enemy’y might not be successful ims attempt. He explains that itis notin distrust of her that he discourages separation. He would avoid any hostile attempt against her, Anyone who tries to tempt another, however vainly, does sling mud in supposing that the person he assaults may be corruptible, Adam advises Eve not to write off too contemptuously the malicious cunning and subtlety of a foe who proved capable of seducing angels to revolt Next, Adam ascribes two reasons forthe enemy's designs- one, to withdraw the grace of God from them or the second which is to disturb the state of mutual love and bliss in which Adam and Eve are. Adam concludes by saying that whenever and wherever there isa hint of danger, the wife stick’s by her husband's Side only, “who guards her, or with her the Worst endures (269). Milton expresses a simifar view of the tnartiage in The Judgement Of Martin Bucer (1644). He argues that husband isthe “head and preseryer not nly ofhis wife but also of his children and family, as Christ is of his Church.” The whole action ofthe posm canntinms that Adam excels in the manly graces, Eve in the womanly. Adam is more rational, Eve more loving ‘Adam is prone to unconsciousness, Eve to sef-love. Eve shows her displeasure at Adam's distrust of her. She tells Adam that she was present while he and Raphael talked about higher things. But Milton’s insistence on Eve's intellectual capacity and individual moral responsibility is less widely recognized, complicated as it s by her hierarchical subordination to Adam. Adam's reply from Tine 290 ‘Gawards is only a reassertion of his earlier belief tha the enemy would not dare to attempt any attack when the couples together. Adam further argues thatthe ways ofthisenemy would surely be very subtle since he could seduce angels against God. Eve, supremely confident of herself argues that itis worth taking a chancs against this enemy because by shunning his advances she would gain double honour and prove herself worthy of God. ‘She says that faith love and virtue are not worth much until they are tested and tried against dificulties And if our virtues are so easily shaken by the guile and persuasions of an enemy then God has ereated us in an imperfect manner: Fraile is our happiness, if this be so, ‘And Eden were no Eden thus exposed (340-41) [Adam’s reply isa fitting disquisition on the irresolvable conflict between God’s omnipotence and free will aocorded to man. He argues that God has created us perfect but by giving us the faculty of reason he has made nlus responsible for our own actions. He further says that inspite of our perfect creation we are liable to be swayed away by deception The danger lies yet lies within his power: Against his will he can receive no harm, But God left free the Will, for what obeyes Reason. is free, and Reason he made right. (349-352) His argument is that since they have been warned of this oncoming danger they should avoid confronting danger rather than confronting it and putting oneself through the test. He tells her that it is not mistrust but Jove which prescribes that he should be often mindful of her and she of him. Adam exhorts Eve that before she wishes obedience to be considered, she should prove her constancy to Adam. In the context of Milton’s ethic of Christian liberty, Eve has a right to make an independent ethical decision, She argues that virtue is only tested by temptation, a view supported by Milton’s own notions of Christian wayfaring and struggle. Of course, Adam’s reply that temptation should not be actively sought is also plausible. Finally, he cannot be criticized for not forbidding Eve to leave him, for such a draconian command would be an offence against all forms of liberty. Adam may possess authority, but obedience must not be coerced. According to Maureen Quilligan’s Milton s Spenser (1983), since Milton rejects ‘macho’ epic heroism, his domestic em- phasis may make Eve the central protagonist. Eve's reply clearly indicates that Milton views Adam and Eve "Not equal” and that Adam is the image of God with direct access to the deity. Finally the separation scene takes place where Eve is compared to Diana, the wood nymph from Virgil's Aeneid. Oreads are mountain nymphs, the favourite companions of Diana. Dryads are nymphs of forests and groves. Eve looked far more resplendent than Diana with a bow and arrow. As for Eve, she carried only her gardening tools Pales was the Roman goddess of flocks and shepherds. Pomona was the Roman goddess of fruit trees. In Renaissance art she is often portrayed with a pruning knife in her hands, Vertumnus was a Roman deity associated with the changing seasons and the effect of the seasons on vegetation, He assumed a series of disguises and was thus able to seduce Pomona. Proserpina, daughter of Ceres and Jove, was carried off by Pluto while gathering flowers. Eve is compared to all these mythological figures for different reasons- for her beauty or for her separa- tion from their mates. Meanwhile, Adam looks on with eyes desiring Eve’s return, Lines 404-41 are authorial interventions which are a comment on Eve. The narrator tells Eve that she is q «deceived in her presumptuous retum because the enemy is hidden on the way who shall intercept her and rob her of her innocence, faith and bliss Satan, in the disguise of a serpent seeks both Adam and Eve, but primarily is on the lookout for Eve whom he wishes he might find alone, To his surprise he does find Eve alone standing amidst the fragrance of various flowers. She is tending to the flowers whose branches she finds drooping or bending one way o the other. The narrator calls Eve the “fairest unsupported Flower” which is meant to highlight the irony that Eve, who is tending to other flowers is herself the flower without any support and the storm so near.Arborets- little trees, shrubs Hand of Eve- handiwork of Eve Satan admires the work of Eve in the garden of Eden which is compared to the Garden of Adonis in Spenser's Fuerie Queene Ul vi, 43-50 and the Garden of Alcinous, Alcinous- was the king of the Phacacians in the mythical island of Scheria, Laertes’ son- Odysseus Lines 442-3 Solomon (sapient king) married a daughter of the Pharoah, The reference isto the place where Solomon made love to his spouse. ‘The next few lines are an example of a Miltonic simile. Satan’s delight in watching Eve is compared to that of a person who has been brought up in cities and one morning finds himself in a pastoral place which smells fully of grass, cows and dairy. Amidst this rural landscape if he sees a nymph-like Virgin pass, his happiness would know no bounds. Such delight felt Satan on beholding Eve and such was her heavenly charm and her innocence that for a moment Satan is disarmed of his own evil intentions, The emphasis is upon sudden freshness after long enclosure in what is foul and noisome, because Eve's beauty, grace and innocence momentarily knock the dirt out of Satan her Heav’nly form Angelic. His Malice, and with rapine sweet bereav'd His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought: That space the evil one abstracted stood, From his own evil (457-464) But this was only momentary and as soon as he looks at the pleasure which he feels is not intended for hhim the feeling of hate and revenge overtakes the better part of his feelings. He dismisses the sweet thoughts that have compulsorily carried him out of himself to forgetfulness of his purpose, which is hate, not love. Hell's aim is to destroy all pleasure except the pleasure of destroying, Recollecting himself, Satan strikes the opportunistic note when he says that he must not let occasion go by when Eves alone and the “higher intellectual” (Adam) is not around, Eve, though divinely beautiful, is not frightening- though there is a power to be feared in love and beauty if they are not accosted by a greater strength of hate, hate that is stronger if it is well disguised under a show of love. Lines487-88 describe- Satan's nostalgic recollection of what once he was in heaven and what he is now in hell. An element of pathos is introduced in the narrative with Satan's ruminations here. In spite of everything Satan says that he is going to go ahead with his plans by hiding his hate and evil intentions under the guise of love and flattery. Satan moves towards Eve in the guise of a serpent not crawling on the ground like a snake but moving ahead with his head carried aloft in a zigzag manner. The shape of this moving serpent was not more pleasant than some of the classical instances of snakes. Cadmus, son of the king of Tyre, went in his old age to Illyria (an ancient kingdom which corresponds to modern Albania) where he and his wife were turned into serpents. The reference can be found in Ovid's Metamorphosis .iv. 563-603. Epidaurus- was the sanctuary of Aesculapius (the God of healing) who tured himself into a serpent to travel to Rome to deal with a plague B‘Ammonian Jove- assumed the form of a serpent ‘and became the father of Alexander the great, whose mother was Olympias The Capitol ste hill in Rome on which stood the Temple of Jupiter (hence Capitoline). Scipio was said to have been the son of Jupiter Capitolinus, who took the form of a serpent. Satan's forward movement is compared to that ofa ship which sways with the moving wind bus moses nits course nevertheless. Eve hears the rustling of the leaves but does not mind it as she is used 40 listening che sound of beasts around her who are more obedient o her than the herd of Circe in Odysseus. [At first Satan acts the part of one who secks to approach but is loath to interrupt. He Zig-2ags on af indirect like a ship tracking offan estuary or a foreland in a veering wind. He curls his body in ‘many a wanton wreath’ (517) in the hopes of catching and luring Eve's eye. Once he had gained her attention he spoke as human beings speak. Satan addresses Eve as “Sovran Mistress”, “Fairest resemblance of ty Maker fair”, and Celestial Beautie” which suggests thatthe tone ofhis speech i ull of guile and flattery. He praises her beauty which he suggests isan imprint of the beauty of God. He points out that what isthe use of such beauty which is not universally admired and appreciated but ean only be looked upon by beasts and only one man. The suggestion that Eve's beauty should be admired by the angels and others and make her a goddess among Gods. Eve expresses her disbelief a! the faculties of speech and reason being possessed By an animal. She says that speech is ruled out as a faculty universally from all animals whereas she concurs that reason does appear in mest animals. Eve is anxious to know the causes forthe disruption in the hierarchy. 567 onwards what follows isthe Temptation scene where Satan is at is flattering best, with his magnificient thetorie The description of Satan(the serpent) being tempted by apples on a tree are rich. He says that other rants who watched him also wanted to reach the fruit but could not manage to, Eating of the fruit also Contains descriptions which are very suggestive. The eating ofthe fruit is linked up to the alteration of the powers of speech and reason being inculeated in the serpentine 601). He says that now possessing these powers he thought about some of he deeper philosophies of life and the universe ‘Targetting the woman's anit, Satan adds that inthe beauty of Eve he has beheld all divine beauty (line 612) “Though Eve is conscious of the fact tha the serpent is overpraising her she does not dismiss him as a Aaterer and instead asks him about the tree; * Lead then, said Eve" (631), The serpent is only too willing to Mead Eve tothe ree which grows just pasta thicket of blossoming and myrth and "Balme, Myre is the thomy shrub producing the gum resin from which incense is made; trom the balsam tree is derived a healing oint- sara ‘The Miltonic simile here (634-642) compares a night wanderer who is misled by a flame kindled by ome condensed gases in the ar to Eve who is being misled by the serpent. The night ‘wanderer and Eve both lose their way afterwards. (Lines 647-654) When she arrives atthe tree of knowledge she tells the serpent they might have spared (eines hes the trouble of coming here because the eating of the frat of ths ree had been forbidden by the aaciend of God. She argues that though God had commanded it, he had left the decision in the power of sara mankind. The serpent is quick to point out the contradiction in the position of Adam and Fve as rulers of Eden and yet being at the command of God. (Lines 670-76) Here is another Miltonie simile which compares Satan recolleeting himself before speaking to Some great orator in Athens or Rome who is about to address the audience on an imporiant issue. The high ~ pitched outburst of hisopening words expresses passionate zeal, which can brook ne delay in utterance. First, ai daresses the tree as the “Wisdom-giving Plant” and to ithe ascribes the vires of providing knowledge of theuniverse. Next addressing Eve he tells her thatthe tree isa giver of lifeand not of death. By shying his own txample of trying to overreach himself and his lot, Satan argues that he has attained a better deal by doing so 4Satan argues that he has attained a better deal by doing so. Satan further instigates Eve by telling her that instead of punishing her God would commend her courage. Lines 703 onwards Satan tries to include Eve in his rebellion against God by telling her that God had commanded forbiddance in order to keep mankind low and ignorant. Had it not been for this, Satan speaks then mankind would have been like Gods only in their knowledge of both good and evil. Continuing his arguments, Satan proceeds by saying that if everything belongs to God then the tree cannot impart knowledge without his own will. The argument that somewhere in every action, God’s will is implicit carries up to Eve. ‘The time being opportune, it raises an appetite in Eve and she looks hungrily at the fruit. She justifies her desire forthe fruit by saying that if the serpent has gained fiom eating the fruit then how can it wrongly affect her. Line 780 onwards Eve finally plucks the fruit and ate it and the effect was felt by the carth as it shook. ‘The act of plucking was seen as a threat of ruin of the entire natural order because she has undermined the law of obedience whereby the whole hierarchical system is governed; So saying, her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the Fruit, she pluckd, she eat: Earth felt the warnd, and Nature from her seate Sighing through all her Works gave sight of woe, That all was lost (780-84) Eve feels happy in the knowledge that she has attained knowledge comparable to Gods. A sense of ‘wrongdoing and guilt pervades Eve as she wonders how she would appear to Adam in this altered state now. Shall she make known her changed status to Adam so that he can share her full happiness; or shall she keep her additional knowledge to herself? This would set right the balance between the two sexes, compensating for what is lacking in the female sex, giving her a surer power over him, and perhaps even making her superior. For ‘inferior who is free?” she asks illustrating the total collapse of hierarchical thinking according to which there is no freedom except in obedience. ‘Though she is quite sure that her trespass has not been spied by God, yet she fears the thought ofthe idea that what if she should die and Adam married to another woman. Eventually she decides to part with her secret to Adam. Eve has engaged in a lengthy and dramatic dialogue with Satan and she has been given probing solilo- quies in which she has analysed her motives and emotions before eating the fruit. Meanwhile, Adam who has been waiting anxiously for Eve's return has woven a garland of flowers for her. He eventually meets her coming from the tree of knowledge with the fruit still in her hand. Eve now moves on to a discourse on companionship as she narrates her story of eating of the fruit of knowledge. She tells ‘Adam that she had done all this for his sake because if his company was not there she would not be able to enjoy anything in life, She seems to have an immediate fluency in falsehood. Eve's subsequent exhortation to Adam to partake of the same pleasure as she had experienced is a hollow declaration for perfect companionship. In his divorce tracts too, Milton had eloquently argued that the primary end of marriage was not procreation but companionship or mutual conversation. In making compat- ibility primary, Milton was avante-garde even among reformers who had generally sought to identify women’s status in marriage beyond their traditionally assigned role as “sexual vessels’ ‘On hearing Eve's story of trespass, Adam stands amazed and finally achieves a calmness like one who has gathered his strength after a shock and submitted to resignation after an inner turmoil. He tries to find some hope to cling to: that perhaps the death penalty may not apply. Lines 908 onwards spoken by Adam are 1uisition on companionship where he shudders to imagine a life without Eve. She is “Flesh of flesh/Bone of my bone” and Adam is unwilling to be parted from her (Line 916), 1s(Lines 921-959} The thought occurs to Adam as well that since the serpent who ate the fruit had not died, Eve to0 might be spared the pangs of death. He then reposes his faith in the goodwill of God whom he believes to bbe wise and wishes that he would not destroy the prime cre*:res of his creation. He further adds that God ‘would be unwilling to destroy them because this would mean a total collapse of his creation. And this would give an opportunity to the enemy to fee! triumphant and victorious about spoiling God’s own creation. More- ‘over, he says, it would create a bad impression about God that beings he favours are ultimately destroyed, first Satan and now mankind and who knows who might be the next one. And once again Adam reaffirms his belief that he is inseparable from Eve and bound to her by a natural bond which cannot be broken: ‘The bond of Nature draw me to my own, My own in thee, for what thou artis mine; Our state cannot be severed, we are one, One Hesh, to lose thee were to lose myself (956-59) Eve responds by calling Adam’s reply asa fitting example of true, romantic love. Glad to hear Adam speak of their unity in the flesh, she amplifies the bond: they are “One Heart, one soul in both’ (967), as evidenced by Adams noble resolve to share with her ‘one Guilt, one Crime* (971). This fortunate proof of Adam’s trial ‘would not have been possible had it not been for the crime of tasting the fruit. According to Harry Blamires (Milton § Creation) the whole sequence (973-6) shows how good proceeds from good. The argument here is a brief profane parody of the doctrine of how God brings good out of evil by using man’s fall asa starting point for the new manifestation and trial of divine love in the Son’s incarnation and redeeming self- sacrifice Eve is bringing her earthly Author, Adam, to a perverted test of fleshy love in crude imitation of the test to which divine love ultimately submits. She says that ifshe were sure that death was imminent after her trans- zression, she would not urge Adam to eat the fruit. She says thatthe result will be not death, but life enriched ‘with new insights, hopes and joys whose divine flavour already makes the sweet experiences she had before seem flat and crude by comparison. Eve is touched by Adam's readiness to incur God’s displeasure and even death for her sake. Adam's, acquiescence is “bad compliance”(994) because he eats the fruit against his better knowledge and overcome with female charm (998-9), Clearly, Adam has been willingly led into the whole thing by Eve he scrupt’d not to eat Against his better knowledge, not deceiv'd, But fondlyovercome with Femal charm Earth tremb'd from her entrails, as again he pangs. and Nature gave a second groan (997-1001) The mortal sin is now complete now with Adam also eating the fruit. Unmindful of the thunder and lightning and Nature’s reaction, both Adam and Eve eat the fruit. They are intoxicated and feel as if divinity developing within them and giving them wings to lift them above the earth. In fact. such feelings are cut short ‘when they realize that they can discern lust within them. (Lines 1017-21} Adam now declares Eve “exact of taste’, praising her fine palate and her precise judgement in matters of ambiguities. The “Sapience’ (1018) he attributes to her not only wisdom but tastefulness. It is ‘Adam’s first praise of Eve after eating the fruit, as it was Eve’s first praise of the tree after her eating the fruit IF Eve rapidly became a tree worshipper, Adam as rapidly becomes a woman worshipper. His lascivious invitation to sexual activity is notably different in idiom from the innocent sexual joys of their prelapsarian condition, Bodies as instruments and the sexual act as a game to be enjoyed are some of the changes which have occurred now. The consciousness of Eve’s beauty is not there; instead the overriding concern is a gratification of his own enflaming desire 16‘The sexual scene which follows can aptly be described as satiation of their lust, There is no reverent approach or any sweet reluctance and a sudden seizing of the hand describes the tenor of their lovemaking, Tired of this game, they go off to sleep and the awakening from this sleep is a heavy one. Instead of providing them rest, the sleep has oppressed them. Their eyes open to the recognition of their darkened minds, to the disappearance of the veil of innocence that has shadowed them from the knowledge of evil. Adam’s waking to ‘guilt is like Samson’s waking from the lap of Delilah, who in his sleep had cut off his hair and thereby deprived him of his strength, The underlying idea is the concept of innocence as a positive power, The loss of innocence is expressed as an emasculation, “”’Shorn of his strength, They destitute and bare of all their vertue, silent, and in face Confounded” (1062-3). Aware of this new change now, Adam sees the irony of the whole thing, He can now see that the true thing about the serpent (“false Worm”) was that in it human reason and articulation had descended to the bestial level: in the serpent there was a fall to foreshadow their own fall, The serpent was wrong in promising the rise of mankind, Now that their eyes have opened to this fact of loss, they know good lost and evil got ‘Adam states that this is the bad fruit of knowing- to know yourself stripped of innocence, faith and purity and to see in each other’s faces the expressions of lecherous desire (which is surely an indication of evil) and shame, the worst of evils, Lines 1080 onwards, Adam wonders how he shall recall the faces of God and other angels. The feeling of remorse and shame makes him realise that he will never be able to face them again, He cries out for a solitary and savage life concealed within the woods impregnable by light. So persistent is the feeling of shame that he thinks they must devise some plan of hiding their private parts which they find unclean now. They finally seek ‘out the fig tree (the Indian banyan tree) whose branches grow so long that the bended twigs take root in the ‘ground and further trees spring up and create a network of branches and roots. ‘The description of the tree referred to here is that of the Indian Banyan tree, but this tree has sm: leaves. It is the banana tree which Milton must have had in his mind, when he talks about the big leaves. However, Adam and Eve pick out these leaves. which are as broad as an Amazonanian shield and are able to sew them into loin clothes such as more recently Columbus found the American natives wearing along with feathers on their heads. ‘Though they are able to sit comfortably, their minds are torn with discord and turbulence the minds which were once peaceful and calm. The ruling factor is no longer reason or understanding but sensual appetite which has usurped the kingdom of understanding: For Understanding rul'd not, and the Will Heard not her love, both in subjection now ‘To sensual Appetite, who from beneath Usurping over Sovran Reason claim'd Superior sway (2731) Adam reproaches Eve for not staying with him as he begged when the strange desire of wandering, for some unknown reason possessed her. Givinga statement for future reference, Adam says that in future ks ‘one look for an unnecessary situation to demonstrate the faith to which they are in duty bound. When they begin to look earnestly for opportunity to demonstrate, you can conclude that they have already bewun to lapse from their duty (1140-2). Eve remonstrates that Adam is being too severe in imputing all the charges against her when the incident ‘might easily have happened to Adam had he been present there. Even Adam would have been unable to detect the fraudulence of the serpent and there being no known grounds of hostility between serpent and man. ts she always expected to be at his side? If so she might just as well have remained a lifeless rib. He was too easy with her. did not oppose her enough, virtually approved her departure by his kind words of dismissal[Adam i incensed at Eve's words. Is this the reward for self-sacrificing joining her in her disobedi- ence? He could easly have lived his life of eternal happiness and instead had chosen willingly to live this life sirdeath, Ishe now reproached asthe cause of her transgression, and blamed for not strict enough in restain- inngher? He could not have done more than warning her, because that would have meant using force- and there iso place for force where the wills free. Adam protests that it was Eve's self confidence which brought wether downfall because she thought herself secure in that either she would meet no danger or find an attempt upon her an opportunity to achieve and count as. glorious victory He rues the ‘excessive admiration eee mnen, which has now become his crime and such is the lot of the man who puts too much trust in the in seventh ofa woman and lets her will govern his. She will kick against to restrain her: then, when left to herself ifthe results are evil, she will first ofall put the blame on his weakness in indulging her. In the frst eight books, Milton educates the reader in the values which must be brought to bear onthe tragedy of Adam and Eve. The clearest statement ofthese values occurs in Book IL in which Milton presents (ae the Father and God the Son as dramatic characters. The son volunteers to redeem mankind, and atthe conclusion of his speech the narrator says His words here ended, but his meek aspect Silent yet spake and breathd immortal love To mortal men, above which only shon Filial disobedience: as a sacrifice Glad to be offered. he attends the will Of his great Father. (UL 266-71) inthis passage, Milton asserts the preeminence of obedience over love, and so establishes a priority of valves vinich pnforms the action of Book IX, where the fallen Eve presents Adam’s temptation as a “glorious trial of Xeeading love” (961). ‘There isan apparent similarity between Chris's willingness to die for mankind, and ‘Adams willingness to die for Eve, but the values of Book Ill make it clear that the similarity isan illusion Christ's act entailed obedience, Adam’s disobedience, Christ's act was heroie, Adam's had only the illusion of heroism, QUESTIONS |. Identify the context, explain and comment on the following lines: shall L1o him make known As ,yet my change, and give him to partake Full happiness with mee, or rather not, But keep the odds of knowledge in my power Without Copariner? So to add what wants In Femal sex. the more to draw his Love, ‘And render me more equal, and perhaps thing not undesirable, sometime Superior: for inferior who is free? (as) 2. Read the passage and answer the questions below: With thy permission then, and thus forewarnd Chiefly by what thy own last reasoning words ‘Touchid only, that our trial, when least sought, May find us both perhaps farr less prepar’d IsThe willinger I go, nor much expect ‘A Foe so proud will first the weaker seek; So bent, the more shall shame him his repulse. ‘Thus saying, from her Husbands hand her hand Soft she withdrew, and like a Wood- Nymph light Oread or Dryad, or of Delia’s Train, Betook her to the Groves, but Delia’s self In gait surpassd and Goddess- like deport, Though not as she with Bow and Quiver armd, ies a (8) (i). Give the context ofthese (ii). Explain the allusions to Delia, Pomana and Proserpii 3.. Identify the context and comment on the following lines: But come, so well refresht, now let us pla As meet is, after such delicious Fare: For never did thy Beautie since the day I saw thee first and wedded thee, adornd With all perfections, so enflame my sense With ardor to enjoy thee, fairer now ‘Than ever, bountie ofthis virtuous Tree. (1s) 4... Write a short note on Miltonic simile by giving a few examples from Book IX (as) 5. Comment on Milton’s use of hierarchy in Book IX. (is) 6, Read the passage and answer the questions that follow: Wonder not, Sovran Mistress, if perhaps ‘Thou canst. who art sole Wonder. much less arm ‘Thy looks, the Heav'n of mildness, with disdain, Displeas'd that | approach thee thus. and gaze Insatiat, T thus single, nor have fear'd ‘Thy awful brow, more awful thus ret Fairest resemblence of thy Maker fair, Thee all things living gaze on, all things thine By gift. and thy Celestial Beautie adore With ravishment beheld, there best beheld ‘Where universally admir*d; but here In this enclosure wild, these Beasts among, Beholders rude, and shallow to discemne Half what in thee is fair, one man except, Who sees thee? ( and what is one?) who shouldst be Seen A Goddess among Gods, ador’d and serv'd By Angels numberless. thy d ly Traini (i) Who is the speaker of these lines and who is the ‘sovran Mistress"? (2) (ii) Give the context of these lines (8) (iii) Explain “fairest resemblence of thy Maker fair’ © 7. Identify the speaker and critically comment on the following lines: The swifiness of those Circles attribute, Though numberless, to his Omnipotence. That to corporeal substances could adde Speed almost Spiritual; mee thou thinkst not slow, Who since the Morning hour set out from Heav’n Where God resides, and ere mid-day arriv'd In Eden, distance inexpressible (1s) 8. Eve is more than a willing pawn in the hands of Satan as he tempts her. Do you agree? 20) 9. In Milton’s misogynistic portrayal Eve falls from Adam’s side and her motive in eating the apple represents a rebellion against patriarchal authority. Do you agree? 20) 10. The humanist version of Milton renders him attractively modern by aligning him with the Renaissance thirst for knowledge and rise of individualism. Analyse the statement with reference to Book IX. (20) 11. It would be a mistake to read the Separation Scene in a way to assign blame on any one person. Analyse. (20) READING LIST Arthur E, Barker, ed. Milton: Modern Essays in Criticism. New York, 1965. David Loewenstein. Landmarks of World Literature: Milton: Paradise Lost. Cambridge University Press, 1993 Alastair Fowler, ed. John Milton: Paradise Lost, 1968; rpt. New York, 1998. Dennis Danielson, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Milton. 1989: rpt. London, 1965. mndon, 1965 J.H. Hanford. A Milton handbook. New York, 1970. E.M.W. Tillyard. The English Epic and Its Background. London, 1954. A.E, Dyson and J. Lovelock. Milton: “Paradise Lost’: A Casebook. London, 1973, 4 Reading of ‘Paradise Lost’. Oxford. 1965, Thomas N. Corns. A Companion to Milton. Massachusetts, 2001 Douglas Bush. John Milton. L Helen Gardnet 20APPENDIX - 1 John Milton —By Peter Weston Selections from: The First Day: Hell, and Satan’s Journey 1. Inspiration: L. 1-26 ‘The first six lines of the poem outline its whole action: “disobedience . .. fruit... taste... death restore. regain’. The words ‘fruit’ and ‘taste’ are central to the imagery of Paradise Lost, and, together with “woe, recur repeatedly through the poem. Here, at the ends of the first lines, they receive their initial emphasis. Equally important is the idea of restoring and regaining what was lost by disobedience. The explanation of why and how this will happen is what will, according to Milton's intention. “justify the ways of God to men’ (1.26). (Feminists must accept the male-oriented language as part of the heritage of Protestant- jsm, though gender-relations later in the poem become one of its interesting issues.) The project of explaining the hidden meaning of history is undertaken by Milton through a claim to ‘inspiration’, which is in essence a claim to authority, But Milton’s ‘muse’, which provides the inspiration, is rather cryptic. There are four invocations of the muse in the poem, at the beginnings of Books I, Il, VIl and IX. In this first book the muse is clearly the Holy Spirit, although Milton elsewhere argues that there is no biblical precedent for invoking the Holy Spirit. This muse “dove-like sat’st brooding on the vast abyss/And madest it pregnant’ —an allusion to the ancient doctrine that God is both feminine (‘brooding’) and masculine (‘madest ... pregnant’). It was thus the Spirit which both created the universe and which inspired Moses, the first person to tell the story of Paradise Lost, to whom Milton felt himself successor. In Book VII, however, he suggests the muse might be called Urania, a non- biblical name, and in Book IX he refers to her almost as his unconscious: ‘celestial patroness, who deigns/Her nightly visitation unimplored/And dictates to me slumbering, or inspires/Easy my unpremeditated verse” (VIL. 1: 1X. 21-4), Here in Book | he states his intention that his words will “soar/Above the Aonian mount’. ‘which isa way of asserting the superiority of his inspiration to that previously provided by mere pagan muses in earlier epics, the Aonian mount, or Helicon, being their legendary sanctuary. It was common in the seven teenth century for classical myths to be considered as distorted versions, or echoes. of biblical episodes. For example, the first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses contains a story of an earth-wide flood which is in many similar to the story of Noah in Genesis, chapters 6-8, though Ovid’s hero, who survives with his wife on a boat, is called Deucalion. This belief made it possible for the Christian to respect classical myths, and to find in them ‘human’ truths, while at the same time recognizing their historical untruth. Thus Milton in Paradise Lost makes reference to both classical and biblical sources. By 1667, however, the year of the first publication of Paradise Lost, the idea of ‘inspiration’ iogether with its correlative ‘enthusiasm’, was coming to be considered dangerous. It was associated in establishment ‘minds with the turbulence of the recent Civil War period, when the notion of direct inspiration from God had seemed to justify radicalism and subversion, both religious and political. ‘The year 1667 also saw the publi- cation of The History of the Royal Society of London, by Thomas Sprat, in which he defines the first purpose of the Society as ‘the satisfaction of breathing a freer air, and of conversing in quiet, one with another. without being engag’d in the passions and madness of that dismal age’. together with the raising of young men sinvincibly arm’d against all the enchantments of enthusiasm {i.e. “religious radicalism’]’. Sprat also argues for the Society’s linguistic style. which is “a constant resolution to reject all amplifications. digressions. and swellings of style: to return back to the primitive purity and snortness, when men deliver’d so many things 21almost in an equal number of words’. Milton’s inspiration is not the passionate expression of private emotion: that romantic idea did not arrive on the literary scene for another century. In fact, Milton would have had some sympathy with Sprat’s rejection of ‘passions and madness’, for in Paradise Lost this is the clue to Milton’s justification of the ways of God to men. The inspired poem defines the nature of the Fall not just as ‘obedience’ in itself, nor even as the desire for forbidden knowledge and power in themselves, but as the domination of passion over reason. Since reason liberates and passion enslaves, and since, for Milton, ‘God and Nature bid the same’, disobedience to the bidding of God and Nature is not only unnatural, but also irrational and enslaving. Paradise Lost attempts to show the way to individual and collective liberation by a defence of reason, but it isnot the cold experimentalism of Charles It’s Royal Society that Milton advocates. The poem is, in fact, deeply against its age: as Milton writes in the invocation to Book VII, ‘I sing . tunchangedl .. though fallen on evil days’ (VII. 24-5). The poem rejects in its style, not only the ‘modern bondaye of rhyming’. but also the easy seductions of poetic passion and any simplified attempt to identify words and things as advocated by Sprat. The verse is in parts tough, but also subtle and exciting: above all it does not submit to the cosy pieties and political compromises of Restoration England. It celebrates the tational process of individual self-analysis and, where appropriate, of resistance.APPENDIX I MILTON’S RELIGIOUS VERSE BY L. A, CORMICAN Principal, St Pairick's College, the University of Ottawa Oreall the great figures in English literature, Milton is in several ways the most controversial. No writer, except Shakespeare, has been so continuously admired; no teacher, except perhaps Bunyan, has been so revered by so many generations. Yet since Addison's famous remark in 1712 that our language ‘sunk under him’, there have been many derogatory criticisms not merely of details but of whole aspects of his work. It is impossible to read Milton without fecling that we arc in the presence of a great mind; yet even critics who have praised him most highly have felt it was necessary to come devoutly and staunchly to his defence. ‘The reasons for this long-standing diversity of opinion form a useful introduction to his work. To both the general reader and the professional critic, Milton presents special difficulties which, if shey ‘cannot be overcome, must at least be recognized. In the first place, he has built lengthy works out of religious convictions which are widely discarded of despised today. Without a fair understanding of these convictions and a certain amount of (at least temporary) sympathy towards them, we are likely to misread him; in few poets in any language can we make less distinction between the doctrinal content and the literary art, or concentrate on the purely ‘aesthetic’ side of his poetry. In the second place, his greatness and the nature of his topics invite comparisons with Shakespeare and Dante. As Mr Eliot has pointed out, the basic tools of criticism are analysis and comparison. The critical judgements we arrive at will depend on what we compare with what, and there is no doubt that Milton suffers by comparison not only with Shakespeare and Dante, but also with Donne and Hopkins; he has little of the latter poets’ capacity for startling phrase and packed emotion, and neither Dante’s vivid intimacy nor Shake- speare’s profound psychological insight. Our effort must then be to see what special qualities he possesses and what special difficulties he faced. 23Thirdly, the very nature of his themes and the great purposes he had in mind remove his poctry to a much greater extent than that of any others, even the Biblical pocts, from the ordinary concerns and common experience of men. For his material he chose the fall of man,! the tempting of Christ by Satan, and the Lord’s vengeance on His enemies through Samson. The existence of angels, the fall of a whole race in Adam, the restoration of that race in Christ, the deliberate destruction of God’s enemies - these are ideas which, whether accepted or rejected, have little affinity with the mentality of the twentieth century, and are remote from the common experience even of the devout believer. Milton, then, presented himself with a par- ticularly difficult task, a task faced neither by the Hebrew poets (who concentrate on the experience of the Israelites); nor by the Greeks (who, even in dealing with the gods, are constantly concerned with the human situation); nor by Dante (who expresses his theological material in terms of a human pilgrim progressing towards Heaven through a scrics of vivid encounters with human beings); nor by Shakespeare (who, in presenting a profound study of human char- acter, abstains from personal moral judgements). Even the great bulk of medieval religious poetry (the anonymous hymns and lyrics, Piers Plowman and the medieval plays) docs not attempt to elaborate the story of the early parts of Creation; it keeps religious beliefs and moral principles constantly in touch with the world we know. We might perhaps conclude that Milton’s artistic judgement was at fault, that what he attempted was beyond the reach of human language, that he should, as he had first intended, have dealt with some more ‘human’ story such as the legend of Arthur. But that conclusion could reasonably be based only on great critical ability, on a precise estimate of his difficulties, and on a very wide and exact grasp of the theology which exerts so deep and so pervasive a pressure on his verse. Milton ‘was guilty of some hyperbole in describing his ‘adventrous Song’ as pursuing ‘things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime’; but the hyper- bole may stand as a reminder of the great difficulties he entered into with such deliberate choice and after so long and so careful a pre~ paration. Unless we see his difficulties, we cannot fairly estimate his success or his failure. The difficulties are further aggravated by Milton’s intense convic- tion that his poetry must teach. And the influence of the Old Testa~ 24ment is seen in his conception of teaching; he wishes not me instruct the mind but to purify and clevate the heart, and in this one word, ‘heart’ (P.L.,1.18),he is supposing in the reader some knowledge of the Books of Wisdom in the Old, and the Epistles of the New, Testament. His great object, he says, is to assert Eternal Providence And justify the ways of God to men. (L 25.) The whole of Paradise Lost must be understood in the light of the exordium (lines 1-26), and the cxordium in the light of the whole poem; we misunderstand the poem from the outsct if-we think of it as another seventeenth-century controversial tract. The criticism that Milton does not succeed in justifying God’s ways is based on a mis- conception of what Milton meant by God and what he meant by justification. It should be clear from the whole poem that, to Milton, God always remains the Great Mystery whose inscrutable ways can be comprehended only in the ‘light’ which is as yet inaccessible to men. And by justification Milton did not mean a merely logical demonstra tion which would prove an intellectual conclusion and bring God within the framework of the rational universe. He uses the word with the overtones it acquired from New Testament usage, where it im- plies 2 divine, not a human or logical, understanding, a supernal illumination from the Holy Spirit whom he invokes for special guidance in his difficult task.* Milton aspires to higher things than were possible through the Greck Muses or even through the inspira- tion of the Old Testament. If the ways of God can be justified, it must be through a purification of the heart rather than by the reason- ings of the intellect. The poem is, among other things, a prayer addressed to the Deity from all mankind, a prayer in which he perse- veres even though he concludes, from his Biblical sources and his personal experience, that many would reject the divine revelation; hence the later form of his prayer (VIL. 31) that his Muse, ‘heavenly- born Urania’ who ‘with Eternal Wisdom didst converse’, might ‘fit audience find though few’. (The whole passage, VII. 1-39, should be closely connected with the opening of Book I.) We should then understand Milton as aspiring through his poem to prepare the hearts 25of men for the coming of the Spirit whose great office is to lead men into the truth about God and themselves. The main question for the reader of Milton’s poetry is not, indeed, the nature of his theological doctrine or his value as a moral teacher, but the extent to which theology and morality are transmuted into poctry. But no estimate of his poctry can be arrived at in complete abstraction from the discussion of his doctrinal content; the way in which his words ‘work’ ~ the definable effect they have on our minds = depends so largely on the religious connotations and suggestions they have for an individual reader, Different interpretations of the words ‘Father’ and ‘sin do not necessarily result in different estimates of Donne's Hymn to God the Father because the experience within the poem docs not depend on the technical meaning we assign to them. But disagreement on ‘justify’, ‘Victor’, and ‘Mighticst’ (P.L., I. 26, 95, 99.) will deeply affect our understanding of Satan and our literary judge- ment of the poem. The two Paradises draw constantly on a doctrine no one point of which can be fully understood through the poems alone. Yet a certain amount of Milton can be enjoyed immediately with no reference to doctrine (c.g. Il. 1-105, XII. 624-49, or ~a good introduction to Milton — the passages in any good dictionary of quotations). Such passages (like Shakespeare’s ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen’) should encourage the reader to go further in the endeavour to understand the presuppositions and qualities of the writer's art. We can assist ourselves by noting a parallel between the opening of Paradise Lost and that of Antony and Cleopatra. However concerned both writers are with exposition, they are already, at the opening, supposing a great deal in the reader. To catch the many hints and overtones of Philo’s speech, we nced a knowledge of love, war, and politics; Shakespeare is drawing on forms of know!edge which have no necessary connexion with poetry. In somewhat the same way, to perceive Milton’s meaning in the generalized ‘Man’, the implication of ‘first’ and of ‘fruit’ supposes our ability to bring what we know of Christianity to bear on the opening sentence. Of Man’s First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast Brought Death into the World, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man 26Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top OF Oreb or of Sinai, didst inspire ‘That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed, In the Beginning how the Heav’ns and Earth Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion Hill Delight thee more, and Siloa’s Brook that flow’d Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th’ Aonian Mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yct in Prose or Rhime. And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all Temples th’ upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for Thou know’st; Thou from the first ‘Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss And mad’st it pregnant: What in me is dark Ilumine, what is low raise and support; That to the highth of this great Argument I may assert Eternal Providence, And justitic the wayes of God to men, ‘Man’, the second word of the poem, introduces us to one of the = the unity of the human race whose sinfulness, woe, and hope of restoration are summed up in Adam. The first disobe- dience is thus not only the first in time; it is in a general manner (whose mysteriousness Milton does not claim to be able to clarify) the source of all other disobedience. All he can say about the disobedience for the moment is condensed in the word ‘fruit’, which is both the edible fruit itself and fruit in the biblical sense (ic. the results which grow as naturally from decisions as fruit from a trec). In Milton’s idiom (since he frequently uses a participle with a noun force), the ‘Forbidden Tree’ is equivalent to ‘the divine command which forbade myan to eat of the tree’, the transgression of which had such vast results. He thus connects the ‘Disobedience’ with the whole plan of Divine Providence, and indicates that it was not the temporary trespass of an arbitrary command but a violation of that divine order which the Spirit drew from the ‘vast Abyss’. The second half of the sentence sug- gests how, in spite of men’s sins, divine inspiration followed the main themes aTchosen race from Egypt to Jerusalem, from ancient to apostolic times. The key terms thus reinforce and clarify one another in a manner very similar to the theological shorthand so often employed by Dante. Milton draws on a different kind of knowledge from Shakespeare; but in either case, if the knowledge is not there, the verse will not ‘work’ properly. Even the least experienced reader can easily see the marked differ ence between the jerky, flat language of the ‘arguments’ and the evocative language of the poem. An analysis of the differences be- tween the two would clicit many points on Milton’s verse style, but particularly the accumulative quality by which, though no one phrase is immediately felt as striking, the large scope of the pocm, and the multiple inter-rclation of its parts, gradually become evident. While this method carries with ita sometimes disconcerting shifting of focus and a lack of sensuous contact with reality, it is still fit for Milton's purpose, if we see how the verse is constantly reaching out in different directions ~ to Heaven, Hell, and carth; to sin, redemption, and Providence ~ and is thereby assimilating the human to the divine mind which sees all time and space at once. Some readers feel an hypnotic or incantatory quality in such sentences as this, and ob- viously it has not the brisk, curt quality of Philo’s specch; but the endeavour to respond fully to the implications of the terms and see the ways in which they clarify each other should sharpen rather than dull the mind. The second sentence (which concludes the introductory section) draws a parallel between the divine and the human work of creation, between producing the world and creating great poetry, a parallel which is intended to suggest the poct’s scope and his (and the reader's) need for divine help. The idea of an analogy between art and divine creation was not, of course, original to Milton, but he gives it a par ticular relevance by speaking of the creative power as Spirit snd Dove, that is, as combining in himself divine power, wisdom, and gentle ness; it is because God has these qualities that Milton confidently addresses to him a prayer for help in his ‘adventrous Song’. God is thought of not merely as a gentle dove, but as having wings wide enough to brood over the ‘vast Abyss’, and as having wisdom and power enough to draw order out of chaos; this God, gentle, wise, and powerful, is now besought to establish intellectual and moral 28order in the poet by cleansing, strengthening, and clevating his heart, by enlightening and making pregnant his mind. All the items in the exordium have an exact relevance to what Milton is doing at the moment and hopes to do in the poem as a whole, This degree of poetic condensation is not indeed maintained throughout the work; yet the opening gives some suggestions of the literary excellence we are to look for in the poem, particularly the power to keep central themes steadily, if loosely, in control of a multiplicity of details, the power to achieve a great sweep of meaning in a single sentence, and the occasional power to fuse apparent contradictories without in- congruity. The passage on the Dove recalls the Metaphysicals; the Dove is both gentle and mighty; while remaining motionless (‘sat'st brooding’), it became the source of all ercation and movement by turning the ‘vast’ (ic. ‘waste’ or ‘lifeless’) abyss into the womb of the whole universe. Every detail carries the parallel between creation and poctic inspiration a step further. At the same time, Milton is not concerned with any mere theory of aesthetics; he appeals to the Dove-like Spirit because, to achieve his moral aspiration in poetry, he must have some share in the peace and width of the divine mind, in the divine wisdom and strength. The notion of the ‘pregnant Abyss’, with its suggestion of the analogy between the darkness of the abyss and that of the womb, and the contrast between the formless desert of the one and the organized life of the other, is a good example of Milton's occasional power to fuse disparate ideas without incongruity while fitting the language to the illustration of his main themes. If he turned from the Metaphysical style which he attempted in The Passion (1630), he did not discard all that could be learnt from the Metaphysicals, That he moulded rather than copied the Metaphysical style is evident from the fact that the ‘pregnant Abyss’ has none of the startling effect which we find (and rightly enjoy) in Donne’s ‘Busie old foole, unruly Sune’, or in Hopkins’s ‘May-mess’. Milton is not arousing us out of our ordinari- ness to sce the human world through the cyes of a startlingly original mind, but is endeavouring to lift us to the peace of the divine vision. In such ways as these, Milton adapts his language to his moral pur- pose and his theological doctrine. There is a minor point in Milton’s treatment of religion which gives a disproportionate amount of trouble to many readers. Alll the 29important forms of religion and culture in seventcenth-century Eng- land were derived from the Continent, but were profoundly modi- fied by the English mind. Thus Milton’s mysticism is not merely Christian but English and Miltonic; it is coloured by the strongly controversial spirit of the times and by the exploratory and argu- mentative bent of Milton’s mind. Paradise Lost was probably written while he was exploring Christian doctrine to decide what he should believe. The pocm is not, consequently, based on a finally settled creed such as we find in Dante or Bunyan, and incidental blows are directed in it against such things as medieval beliefs about angels (V. 435), the Roman doctrine of indulgences (III. 478-93), and the Anglican hicrarchy (XII. 515-24). Controversial asides and doctrinal discrepancies within the pocm need not be given scrious considera- tion by the critic, and can be completly overlooked by the gencral reader.t Once we are aware that we may find controversial asides and doctrinal discrepancies, we can afford to treat them with the passing interest they deserve, and concentrate on the main purpose, which is not to expound a theological thesis but to reinforce a mystical mood and habit of mind. The pocm is a survey of the whole scheme of Providence by which he hopes to attune the human to the Divine Mind, and thus purify the human heart and elevate it to God. Milton wishes to present the Fall of Adam as a key incident that would cad men toa divine understanding of the larger story of the Creation and of the Fall and restoration of man. Theological doctrine he does suppose but, as in the poctry of the Old Testament (from which Milton drew so much inspiration), the emphasis falls not on specula~ tive doctrine but on the practical task of inducing the right attitudes in both writer and reader. Unless we read the invocations (at the beginning of Books I, Ill and VIl) as Milton meant them ~ as prayers we mis-read them. Every poet must produce the moods and atti- tudes by which his work is understood and enjoyed; the bulk of serious adverse criticism of Milton argues that he lacks this very im- portant clement of poctic ability. We should remember, however, thar such failure may be due to the reading public as much as to the writer (the slow recognition of Wordsworth or Eliot is a case in point). Milton’s failure has been due largely to two things: his deliberate choice of topics which preclude recurrence to common experience, and the unwillingness of the modern mind to have any 30precise demands made on its credence or its morals (and neither Wordsworth nor Eliot makes such demands). It is rather vain to hope (as Douglas Bush hopes in various places in ‘Paradise Lost’ in Our Day) that the reading of Milton will help to restore high moral standards; for unless we are already willing to accept Milton's moral mysticism, cither permanently or temporarily, we are unlikely to understand him. Poetry written in an age very different or distant from our own. requires us to do what we can to recapture the mind and mood of those to whom it was addressed. Here again the comparison with Shakespeare can be very mis- leading, For beside his own unique excellence in disentangling human situations from merely local conditions, and thereby giving them a tmiversal appeal, Shakespeare has one advantage which Milton deliberately discarded, the advantage of confining himself to the temporal as contrasted with the eternal point of view. What Shake- speare aimed at in his audience is what any audience has in common with ourselves. But when we think of Milton’s audience, with its definite religious convictions, its intense moral fervour, its willing ness to apply religious principles to every phase of the national and individual life, we find a world which is mentally much farther from our own than Shakespeare's or even Homer's. From this point of view, the understanding of Milton is discouragingly difficult; bur from another it is relatively easy, and consists in taking his prayers and mysticism with complete seriousness. It may be suggested that the best ‘preface’ to Milton is not a piece of scholarship or literary criticism, but the intense reading of the Psalins, which Milton could take for granted in his ‘fit audience’. Hebrew poetry can, more eficctively than scholarship ot criticism, habieuate the reader's mind to Milton’s mood and purpose. To endeavour to read him without any close acquaintance with the Bible is to evadethe kind of pepara- tion which he assumed. Ginko It will follow from the above that neither structure nor style in Milton can be discussed apart from his central preoccupation with a mystical vision. It is almost entirely irrelevant to adduce Greek or Latin epics, or Aristotelean principles, in order to examine the struc- ture of either Paradise Lost or Paradise Regained, though Greck tragedy 31supplics some useful hints for Samson Agonistes, Since what he created is so specially Miltonic in both poetic excellence and religious purpose, parallels with other writers can mislead as well as guide. We may, however, find a useful approach through Hebrew and Shakespearian poetry, where the structure consists not so much of the concatenation of events or the logical development of an idea, but rather in the gradual exploration or ‘explication’ of an opening theme, such as ‘the triple pillar of the world transformed into a strumpet’s fool’ (Antony and Cleopatra), or ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ (Ps. 23). The arrangement of the incidents in Milton is determined, not by the desire to tell a good story (as in the Iliad) or by the narrative exposition of a theological system (as in The Divine Comedy), but by the gradual reinforcing and intertwining of four central themes ~ the universality of Divine Providence, the reality of evil, the hope of redemption from evil, and the unity of the human race.* It is the repetition and mutual clarification of these four themes, far more than any manipulation of the incidents, that gives the poem whatever structural unity it possesses. They are kept alive sometimes by explicit statement, but more often by reference and allusion. They are not dealt with separately in different parts of the poem because Milton is constantly aware of their close inter-connexion; his language is turned to the task of keeping them pervasively present and at times (c.g. IIL 1-21, IV. 32-112) intensely felt, There is, for example, a nice adjustment of emphasis in Book I. The obvious emphasis falls on the vigour, independence, and resoluteness of Satan; but there is a subtler emphasis on the dedication of these powers to evil. Both emphases are expressed in a way which helps us to sce the range of Satan's pride (the source of the first violation of divine order) and to see in Satan and his plans a parody (completely humourless but effective) of God and Divine Providence. If we avoid the mistake of understanding Milton’s God through Satan's mind (as we should wish to avoid understanding King Claudius merely through Hamlet's mind), we can see Milton’s purpose in Satan’s reference to the ‘Realms of Light’ (line 96); the darkness of Hell is not merely exclusion from glory and happiness, but the darkness of uncertainty and error in which Satan must plot to defeat the designs of God. The reference to light comes * It is probable that no poct would accept anyone else’s summary of his themes; the four given above are offered merely as handy terms of reference. 32not merely from the desire to present a portrait of Satan, but from the desire to keep the whole scheme of the poem in mind, Milton offers the exclusion from light as his own comment on the ultimate fatility of Satan’s plan: If then his Providence Out of our evil seek to bring forth good, Our labour must be to pervert that end, And out of good still to find means of evil; ‘Which oft times may succeed, so as perhaps Shall grieve him, if [fail not, and disturb His inmost counsels from their destined aim. (162-8) In many other places do we find a similar inter-weaving of the main themes by which Milton explores the antecedents and the conse- quences of ‘Man's first disobedience’. To knit so many large issues (cach of them a complexity in itself) into one large pattern, to make them clarify and reinforce cach other in so long a poetic work, is a major achievement in poctic structure. ‘The events are thus means to an end, not the main interest; simi~ larly, the various shifts of attention (from the cxordium to Hell, to Heaven, to Eden) are not the dramatist’s or novelist’s devices for Keeping the various partsof the story abreast of cach other, but rather a circular tour through the whole scheme of Divine Providence. Thus by the beginning of Book I, the Fall of Man (described in detail in Book IX) is yet a further event for Satan and Adam, but is spoken of (III. 86-131) as already present in God’s manner of cogni- tion and as already incorporated into the divine plan. The ‘discussion’ which follows on the method of redemption is not a heavenly coun cil of deliberation, but Milton’s way of affirming the ancient Christian teaching that God fulfils His design by the co-operation of free agents® The problem of reconciling divine forcknowledge with human frecdom is not a poctic but a religious one; Milton assumed (and expected his audience to assume) that it was one of the divine mysteries, discussible but not soluble, Similarly, the end of the poem is not (as it is with the multiple deaths of an Elizabethan tragedy) the end of the story; it docs not conclude Milton’s survey, but is rather the beginning of that long life of woe, the delivery from which is an integral part of the main poetic theme. The Redemption has already 33been presented in considerable detail in Books If, X, XJ, and the carly part of Book XI. Such telescoping of events is not, of course, peculiar to Milton; but it is used by him for a special purpose ~ to present the successive working out of what is eternally present in the Divine Mind, Itis probable that Milton derived hints for such a treat ment not only from the similar conspectus in Augustine's City of God, but also from Hebrew grammar which docs not possess the Occidental distinctions of past, present, and future, and frequently speaks of future events in the Hebrew ‘imperfect’ to which the closest English equivalent is the past. For much the same reasons, itis rather superfluous to discuss where the crisis or climax of Paradise Lost occurs. The pocm is much too concentrated in many places, and much too long, for any one incident to carry an emphasis which is readily perceived as greater than that of others, Besides, the story is not a series of incidents but a Gircular contemplation of God's ways, and contemplation, does not lend itself to crisis or climax. The poem contains a series of emphases (alternated with descriptive and reflective material); to decide which of these is the greatest is a highly personal or subjective question. Milton’s whole cast of mind (at least by the time he wrote the last three works) rather closely resembles Wordsworth’s; both present incidents, but incidents “recollected in tranquillity’, not portrayed in dramatic evolution, It is not only the close of the stories, but the poems asa whole that we are to read in ‘cal of mind, all passion spent” (Samson, 1758). The reader is expected to survey the actions of Satan, Adam, and Eve from the calm beatitude of Heaven, that is, with as close an approximation to God’s own view as human nature, dlevated by grace, permits. Miltonic structure must then be discussed, not in terms of ‘plot’ of arrangement of incidents, but through the careful reading of key passages which recall and reinforce the divine point of view. This will imply (among other things) the effort to understand such key words as ‘Providence’ (I. 25), ‘Reason’ (III. 108), and ‘incensed Deity’ (III. 187) as they were understood by the Puritan mind. If the structure depends on individual passages, the latter also depend on the structure, and depend in a way which has been little discussed, Milton's style, like Shakespeare's, has various levels of meaning, the understanding of which comes, not so much from further literary 34 #2...training as from deepening and widening our experience. To in- crease our grasp of Hamlet's soliloguies or of the political situation in “Antony and Cleopatra is a matter of becoming not more scholarly but ‘nore adult. In much the same way, no increase in critical ability or “cholarship will by itself take us very far into Milton’s meaning; hile ie may clarify individual points, it will lave the total effect or appeal of the poems very much where it stood before. But the re- ee ing of Milton presents another and special difficulty, the difficulty Sf deepening religious beliefs and stabilizing religious moods. Withowe this deepening and stabilizing, scholarship fastens more and viene on details, and critical ability may tur earlier pleasure into Inner distaste. Milton’s complexity rather resembles that of the great passages in the Psalms or the New Testaments he cannot be read rrerely a literature since he is not re-living or re-enacting personal religious experiences in the manner of Herbert or Hopkins, but is snculeating a particular attitude towards God. The parallel between Riiton and the Bible is true to this extent that itis only by an intensi- Fratton of the religious spirit, as well as by expanding experiens®, iat we ean come to grasp the complexity of the great Psalm 22, the Lord’s Prayer, or Paradise Lost; can come to see explicitly what was before only implicit to our less developed religious sensibility. It is probably only a man who has passed through what John of the Cross the dark night of the soul’, or some analogous experience like that of Milton aftr the Restoration of the Stuarts ro the throne, who could seize the full meaning of: G Man therefore shall find grace; ‘The other {Satan}, none. In mercy and justice both, ‘Through Heaven and Earth, so shall my glory excels But mercy, first and last, shall brightest shine. qu. 131) If the reader considers the distinction made here between Satan and ‘Adam to be the result of mere arbitrariness on God's party if he does not find in the phrase, ‘mercy first and last’, a summary of Divine Providence and of the whole pocm, itis because he is unaware of the commonplaces of theology in Milton’s time and probably because he has hed little religious experience. Without that experience, the last three poems will have as superficial a meaning as Remeo and Juliet to the youngster who has never been in love. 35 eee‘There is a good reason why Milton’s peculiar complexity has been little discussed. In so far as religious growth occurs, it is a growth which almost defies formulation in words unless they be the words of the rare hymnographer like the author of the Stabat Mater, or the rare Dante or Milton, who possess the power of carrying the con- templation of Divine Providence a step further ~ a power which no critic of Milton has possessed, which cannot perhaps be expressed in criticism at all, and which has never yet been expressed but in great creative writing. The conclusion can hardly be drawn that it is only the convinced Christian who can perceive the complexity of Milton, any more than it is only the Thomist who can perceive the complexity of Dante. The atheist or agnostic who is willing to re-create in himself some- thing at least of the religious mentality Milton supposed, who is humble enough to keep his own pre-jtidgements out of the way, can do for Milton what he must, on a smaller scale, do for Donne or Hopkins. It is because Milton's verse so constantly demands our ac- ceptance of his religious mood, because he is habitually so far from common experience, because he affords us so little opportunity to look at things from the merely human point of view (as he does in the felicitous description of Mulciber’s fall, 1. 738-46), because he so scl- dom allows us to enjoy beauty ina merely human manner (as he does in the description of Paradise, IV. 213-87), that we tend to refuse to Milton the ‘willing suspension of disbelief” - the condition on which alone most people today can enjoy religious poetry. Even in such passages as those just cited, Milton is still mindful of his general scheme to which he quickly returns the reader's attention. When he adds a line of comment like ‘Thus they relate erring’ (I. 746), he is not tacking an extrancous ornament on to his main theme or apologizing for indulgence in luxurious poctry inappropriate to a Puritan, Having afforded a resting-place for the reader, he is contrasting the merely human or the pagan with the Christian conception of the universe is reinforcing the central interest. These resting-places (corresponding roughly in poetic function to the deliberately quicter passages in Shakespeare, e.g. the welcome to Duncan in Macbeth, 1. vi) become rarer towards the end of the poem; a larger number of them, organic- ally built into the structure, would have made it a better poem, or at least one better accommodated to the limitations of the ordinary 36reader. If Johnson voices a common impression in fecling that ‘none ever wished the poem longer’, itis because no other pocm imposes so constant a strain, except perhaps King Lear, which is Shakespearc’s greatest endeavour to lift the popular audience above its habitual self, The perusal of Paradise Lost, says Johnson, ‘is a duty rather than a pleasure. We read Milton for instruction, retire harassed and over- buédened, and look elsewhere for recreation’. But before deciding whether this is a judgement on the weakness of the poem or on the limitations of the reader, we should remember that intense religious feeling (as in Psalm 91 or in the poetry of John of the Cross) is little concerned about the reader's convenience; and (since the poem is a prayer) we should recognize the common weakness of men who sel- dom desire their prayers to be longer or consider prayer as a form of recreation, Johnson was nearer the mark when he quoted a Milton encomiast as saying that ‘in reading Paradise Lost we read a book of universal knowledge’. For the poem is not, as Johnson hints, an encyclopaedia of natural history, ancient fable, and modern science; it is the last of the medieval attempts to write the history of Everyman, to survey the whole course of events from the Creation to man’s final ascent into Heaven, and to relate this course to the universal plan of Divine Providence. It is the highest achievement of the Protestant mind looking at the whole created cosmos through faith purified and clevated till it coincides with the mind of God. Milton was incurring serious dangers when he made God a spokesman in the poem (though it is worth noting that God is a spokesman rather than a participant in the action); but if we argue (as Sir Herbert Grierson does in Criticion and Creatior)) that it would have been better to omit God, then we are arguing that the poem should have been radically different. a It is with a knowledge of Milton’s scope and purpose that we can best discuss the vexed question of his style. Milton himself touches off the controversy (in his prefatory note on The Verse) by rejecting thyme as the ‘invention of a barbarous age’; and something of Milton’s belligerent spirit of insensitive generalization has entered into the later discussion. Since it is impossible, except in a large book, 37to examine even the main critical positions on the style, what follows is merely 2 supplementary guide to the discussions listed in the bibliography in the Appendix.? (@) We do not find in Milton either the constant sensuous contact with physical reality, or the frequent alternation of swift intensity with calm slowness, or the profound insight into character and motive which keep most people's interest in Shakespeare alives and only rarely do we find the short, pregnant phrase which strikes us imme- diately because of its concrete, aphoristic, or poignant quality. Shakespeare and Pope excel in a kind of condensed poetic vitality, in packing so much meaning into a short passage that the poetic life survives when the phrase is separated from the total work of art to ‘which in Shakespeare and Pope it is usually subordinated. Shake- speare, however, has also a number of phrases (cg. ‘Nothing will seine of nothing’ in Lear) which gather a great deal of meaning from the context, but are rather flat, lacking in rich suggestiveness or connotative power, when taken by themselves. Much of Milton is like the second kind of Shakespearian language. As is suggested below, Milton was too concerned with an ideal audience, too carcless of the reader's ease, approval, or delight. By a a nbination of indifference to the public and a certain hardening of his mind, he fails to condense his effects, to localize his main interests in short passages. As a result, the analysis of short passages of Milton, unless accompanied by an extensive and rather unwicldy body of exegesis and cross-references, tends to throw the emphasis on what is wrong with the verse - the grandiloquence, the cumbrous involution of phrases, the lack of focus, the remoteness from concrete experience. When we add to this chat Milton, in spite of his love of music and in spite of the fact that he dictated the poems orally, had very little fecling for the cadences and emphases of the speaking voice, we find the source of most of the disapproval with which his verse has met. Milton’s verse moves with relatively litele variety of speed or cm- phasis. The main point of interest, instead of being precisely localized br standing in sharp relief from the rest, is often lost in the successive surge of clauses. In spite of his close attention to the Psalms and to the Latin periodic sentence, Milton learnt neither pointedness from the cone nor strong emphasis from the other. The shifting of focus which enables him to achieve a wide survey in the better sentences Icads 38 Moo i ahim into diffusiveness and pointless piling up of effects in the worse. Occasionally, he smothers the main idea by prolonging the sentence t00 far; by the time we come to line 208 or 355 in Paradise Lost, Book I, the point of the comparison has been lost in rather wanton Iuxuri- ance, What is true of individual sentences is.truc of whole passages; it is not, however, so true of the poem as a whole; partly through, and partly in spite of, the accumulative style, the main themes of Providence, evil, redemption, and human unity are kept fairly steadily before our eyes. His own kind of preoccupation with God makes the essential themes sufficiently salient, but leads him into a neglect of the human means by which greater appeal and force could be given to them. (b) While Milton had the well-instructed Christian in mind as his reader, the three great poems are not addressed to any particular public in the same sense as, say, Shakespeare's plays. He thought of himself as writing ‘general’ or ‘catholic’ works in the manner of the epistles of James and Peter in the New Testament (as contrasted with the ‘local’ epistles of Paul). It is from this, as well as from the special qualities of his character and genius, that the characteristics of his style derive. For example, he frees himself at once from any need to cater to low taste, to prejudices religious or literary in his readers, and, quite content to alienate the audience which is not ‘ft’, can treat his topic exactly in the manner which seems right to him. He thus achieves full scope for the use of Biblical references (and for a more technical use of them than Shakespeare employed) and for the long- sustained sentence in which he is often at his best. But the fact that he is engaging in so solitary a poctic effort and has no definite group of human beings in mind, encourages him also to indulge his own foibles (as when his love of argument reduces God to a seventeenth- century controversialist ~ III. 106-28; his views on women make Eve ridiculous and the verse naive and tumid - VIII. 39-58; or his desire to remain dignified urges him into a pompous parody of his own style — VIII. 4-38). Of the many penalties Milton paid for his poetic freedom, attention may be directed to one in particular. While he learnt much from eatlier writers, he reversed the Renaissance tradition in England. Marlowe, Shakespeare, and Jonson had achieved new effects in drama largely by blending with classical seriousness and profundity the 39vigour, raciness, and carthiness of the folk mentality. Milton had shown an admiration for the blend in The Nativity Hymn (1629) and in Comus (1634); but by the time of writing the later poems, his ideas of seriousness, restraint, and religious decorum had narrowed and hardened. His Puritan solemnity eschewed the homely, familiar manner of speaking about divine things which is found in the Psalms and in the medieval plays. Milton marks the point at which reserve and respectability were becoming marked qualities of English life and religion. The arguments of Tillyard, Bush, and many others that the Poet must be allowed to ‘wear his singing robes’ are not very convin- cing, since the Hebrew and medieval poets write of God with much ess attention to literary decorum and in a much more conversational idiom than Milton. In other words, Milton’s implied theory of epic is not related to the concrete experience of men in the way in which the theory of epic in Hoiner or of tragedy in Shakespeare grows out of the way in which men actually feel and speak. Even the best equipped and most sym- pathetic reader is unable, except at rare moments, to feel himself in- volved in the story, to be deeply moved, or to find an echo of his own experiences. It is this removal from common experience which makes it so difficult for Milton to do what comes teadily to Shakespeare - to create and maintain the mood in which the poctry is enjoyed. Unless we bring the mood to the poem (say, through previous partial read- ings of it), our impression is like that of an Englishman watching an Oriental ritual ~ admiring the splendour and the formal patterns of movement, but remaining an external spectator. In Paradise Regained, even more than in Paradise Lost, Milton's preoccupation with the divine point of view keeps the situations and the speakers at too great a distance from ourselves. And in Sanson Agonistes it becomes quite apparent that the non-dramatic quality of the knguage results not only from the calmness of Milton’s contemplation, but also from a rigidity of mind which does not accommodate itself sufficiently to the shifting moods of the story. We note, for example, how tenuous is the relation between the speaker and the immediate situation in Dalila’s self-defence, and how easily the speech (841~70) could be turned into a messenger’s impersonal account of her betrayal. In such respects Samson is inferior to the much earlier Comus. Milton’s in- dependence and artistic solitariness involved him in the loss or decay 40of powers which a surer critical instinct and a greater need for popular appeal might have led him to cultivate. (c) There are three methods of language (three fusing qualities of the one style) which sustain Milton in the great task he sct himsclf; alternate use of condensation and expansion, structural devices recalling the divine point of view, and a high degree of allusiveness. The three are found in the first eighty lines of Paradise Lost. The open= ing sentence (one of the most condensed in English) contains refer~ ences to Greek mythology, some dozens of allusions to particular passages in the Old and New Testaments, and is intended to attune the reader’s mind to the aspect under which all subsequent considera- tions are presented, It is not a mere opening flourish of trumpets, as Professor C. S. Lewis seems to consider it, but is the first statement of the mood and purpose which Milton wishes to pervade the whole poem. It has a markedly different rhythm from the following section (27-80), which fixes attention on Satan immediately after his fall. The first exchange between Satan and Beclzebub (81-191) is built around clear and varied but subtly appropriate repetitions of the opening theme; he then expands his vision till it includes the whole fallen army, the meaning of Hell, and the dedication of the devils to evil. After the more detailed description of Book Il, he returns to another condensed passage on the central theme in the great address to ‘Holy Light’ (IIL. 1-21). Such is Milton's general method: to em= brace everything in the opening, concentrate on a particular point, expand it, recall the opening, transfer the scene of the action, and expand again. (4) The last three poems represent a kind of triumph of language which has no parallel elsewhere in English. Milton lived and worked in three worlds which were in conflict along various fronts: the medieval, the Renaissance, and the Puritan. It was Milton’s great achievement to draw on all three, to harmonize the wide range of medieval beliefs with the intense seriousness and sense of responsibil- ity of the Puritan mind and with the Renaissance discussions of the good life and the ideal state. If his psychological insight was weak, he at least shows some of the forces which were at work when modem England was coming into being. His verse is onc of the great vehicles by which we come to know the cultural, religious, and political vitality of his times. Ifit has serious and disconcerting limitations, if it 41presents no vivid portrait of human beings, it does give a special insight into a religious doctrine and mentality without which we cannot understand what England then was or later became. NOTES 1. Itis worth noting, 2s one of the points of doctrine necessary to under stand Milton, that the whole human race suffers from the Fall of one, while the angels fall individually ~ they are merely led by Satan who cannot involve others in his sin except by their free consent. This is one of the subtler points which complicates Milton's theology but which helps to shape his verse. It enables him, for example, to reinforce one of his main themes, the unity of the human race (united in one way by its fall in Adam and in another by its elevation in Christ), and to establish a strong contrast between human and angelic guilt, between the bitterness and recrimination in which Adam indulges, and the calmer, more intellectual fixation on evil which he makes so forceful in the devils (.g. I. 105-9). Milton succeeds unobtrusively in making us feel that fixation, and thus reinforces another theme ~ the reality of evil 2, Paradise Lost contains many echoes of St Paul's doctrine, of the Spi which Paul himself sums up in I Cor. ii. 6-16. It was a commonplace of Biblical theology that the Spirit was richer in gifts to the Christians of the New Testament than to the Israclites of the Old. 3. Cf. Samson, 322-5. 4. Milton's pncumatology hardly deserves all the space Professor C. S. Lewis gives it in chapter xv of A Preface to ‘Paradise Lost”. His impressive array of theological authorities docs not begin to answer the questions: How good is the poetry of Book vi? Is the humour successful? Is the invention of angelic artillery great epic or is it ludicrous? $. The point would present little difficulty to Milton’s contemporary reader; he would recall, for example, the passage in John's Gospel (vi. $-6) where Jesus asks Philip, “Whence are we to buy bread?" ... ‘and this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do’. 6. See, however, E. M. W. Tillyard’s lengthy discussion of the question in “The Crisis of Paradise Lost’ in Stu Milton, 7. Sce particularly J. H. Hanford’s A Milton Handbook, Chapter vt, and F. R. Leavis's ewo essays, ‘Milton's Verse’ in Revaluation and ‘Mr Eliot and Milton’ in The Common Pursuit. 42Chronology Note: Dates refer to first publication of works, except in the case of plays, where the given date is that of first performance. DATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS asrouicaU/curTumat EVENTS 1600. England's Helicon Shakespeare b. of future Charles I (anthology) Twelfth Night 4. of Hooker Fortune theatre built 1601 Campion Shakespeare Rebellion, execution of A Booke of Ayres Hamlet Essex Hou jes Parliament (-1603) Works... Newly “Cynthia's Revels Augmented 1602 A Poetical Rhapsody Shakespeare (anthology) Troilus and Cressida Campion Observations inn the Art of English Pocsie 1603 Drayton Jonson d. of Elizabeth | The Barons’ Wars Sejanus Accession of James 1 Florio (trans.) Plague Essays of... Montaigne James Basilicon Dorona pete a DATE WORKS OF POETRY oven wonKs NisTORICAL/CULTUKAL EVENTS 1604 Marston Parliament (~1610) The Malcontent Peace with Spain Shakespeare eae ‘Measure for Measure ie a Othello Revised Book of Common Prayer 1605 Drayton Shakespeare b. of Thomas Browne Poems King Lear Gunpowder Plot Daniel Jonson Certain Small Poems ‘Masque of Blackness Bacon Advancement of Leaning 1606 Drayton Jonson b. of Waller Eclogues Volpone b. of Davenant 4. of Lyly Shakespeare aa Red Bull theatre built b. of Comcille Middleton A Mad World My Masters 1607 Shakespeare ‘Antony and Cleopatra Beaumont Knight of the Buming Pestle 1608 Shakespeare b. of Milton Coriolanus Dekker/Middleton Roaring Girl Jonson ‘Masque of Beauty 44 ______—_y¥H asDATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS MISTORICAL/ CULTURAL EVENTS 1609 Shakespeare Sonnets Spenser Facrie Queene (folio) Daniel Civil Wars (2) Beaumonv/Fletcher Philaster b. of Suckling Galileo's telescope 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vietorie, and Triumph Jonson The Alchemist Shakespeare Winter's Tale Chapman nge of Bussy Beaumont/Fletcher The Maid’s Tragedy Galileo Siderius Nuncius Assassination of Henri IV of France i611 Spenser Works (folio) Chapman (trans.) iad Authorized version of the Bible Shakespeare The Tempest Middleton Chaste Maid in Cheapside 1612 Drayton Poly-Olbion b. of Butler b. of Crashaw d. of Prince Henry 1613 Wither Abuses Stript and Whipt Drummond Teares on the Death of Mocliades Campion Tw Bookes of Ayres W. Browne Britannia's Pastorals (1) b. of Cleveland m. of Elizabeth (dau. of James) to Ferdinand (Elector Palatine)OTHER WORKS HISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS 1614 Chapman (trans.) Webster Addled Parliament Odyssey Duchess of Malfi Jonson Bartholomew Fair Raleigh History of the World 1615 Wither Jonson b. of Denham The Shepherd's Hunting ‘Golden Age Restor’d b. of Baxter Donne takes Holy Orders 1616 W. Browne Britannia’s Pastorals (2) Works (folio) James | Works . of Shakespeare of Francis Beaumont of Cervantes of Hakluyt aoa 1617 Campion Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres Bacon Lord Keeper Raleigh to Guyana d. of Isaac Oliver 1618 b. of Lovelace b. of Cowl Start of Thirty Years War Bacon Lord Chancellor Execution of Raleigh 1619 Drayton Poems (rev.) Middleton Inner Temple Masque 4, of Daniel d, of Hilliard 1620 Bacon Novum Organum d. of Campion b. of Evelyn 1621 Quarles Hadassa Burton Anatomy of Melancholy Middleton. Women Beware Women @) b. of Marvell Donne Dean of St Paul's Impeachment of Bacon Parliament 46—_—— pate WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS HISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS —_—— 1622, Drayton Middleton/Rowley b. of Vaughan (2) Poly-Olhion (2) The Changeling ». of Molitre Wither Fair Virtwe 1623 Daniel Shakespeare first folio d. of G. Fletcher Whole Works b. of Pascal Amboyna ‘massacre’ 1624 Quarles Middleton Parliament Sion's Elegies A Game at Chess War with Spain —— 1625 4. of James 1 Accession of Charles | m. of Charles | and Henrietta Maria Parliament Plague 1626 Donne 4. of Bacon Five Sermons 4. of Dowland Parliament War with France 1627 d. of Middleton 1628 Harvey b. of Bunyan De Motu Cordis Pari: Assassination of Buckingham 1629 Dissolution of Parliament (-1640) 1630 Quarles b. of Cotton Divine Poems b. of future Charles I Treaty of Madrid 47a DATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WoRKS HISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS 1631. Wither Ford d. of Donne Psalms of David Tis Pity She's a Whore b. of Dryden @) d. of Drayton The Broken Heart (2) Famine 1632. Quarles Massinger b. of Locke Divine Fancies The City Madam b. of Spinoza A New Way to Pay Old b. of Wren Debts @) 4. of Gustavus Van Dyke to England Donne * Rembrandt: Lesson in Death's Duel ie 1633 Donne d. of G. Herbert Pocms b. of Pepys : Laud Archbishop of Herber ae Eine P. Fletcher The Purple Island Cowley Poetical Blossoms 1634 Habington Milton 4. of Chapman Castara Comus 4. of Marston d. of Webster (2) pm b. of Etherege (2) Ship Money Rembrandt: Old Woman 1635. Quarles Shirley Emblems The Traitor 1636 Corneille Plague Le Cid 1637 Milton Descartes 4. of Jonson Lycidas Discourse on Method —__b. of Traherne (?) Rex v. HampdenDATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS HISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS 1638 Randolph. Suckling Poems Alaura 1639 Corneille b. of Racine ‘Cinna d. of Carew First Bishops’ War 1640 Carew Jonson 4, of Massinger Poems Works (2 vol. folio) _d. of Burton d. of Ford () Harvey Comeille The Synagogue Palyencte bof Wycherienie) Second Bishops’ War Short Parliament Long Parliament (1653) Impeachment of Laud 1641 Wither Milton d. of Dekker (?) Hallelujah Of Reformation d. of Suckling (2) Da Reason of Church d. of Van Dyke eee Government Plague Cooper's Hill (1) Grand Remonstrance Execution of Strafford 1642 T. Browne d. of Galileo Religio Medici b. of Newton Civil War Hobbes First Battle of Edgehill De Cive Rembrandt: The Night Watch 1643 Denham Milton 4. of W. Browne Cooper's Hill (2) Of Divorce d. of Pym Arcopagitica d. of Falkland Of Education First Batele of Newbury Solemn League and Covenant 1644 Descartes 4. of Quarles Principles of Philosophy Second Battle of Newbury Battle of Marston Moor 49=e nn DATE WORKS OF POETRY 1645 Milton Miscellaneous Poems Waller Poems OTHER WORKS WISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS ee ee New Model Army Self-Denying Ordinance Battle of Naseby Execution of Laud 1646 Suckling Fragmentum Aurea Crashaw Steps to the Temple Vaughan Poems Shirley Poems T. Browne Pseudodoxia Clarendon History of the Rebellion begun (pub. 1702-4). b. of Leibniz End of First Civil War 1647 Cowley The Mi Stanley Poems Cleveland Several Select Poems Beaumonv/Fletcher First folio b. of Rochester Heads of Proposals Declaration of the Army 1648 Herrick Second Civil War Hesperides Battle of Preston Pride's Purge 1649 Lovelace Winstanley 4. of Drummond Lucasta: Epodes True Leveller's Standard — d. of Crashaw Execution of Charles | Se Commonwealth land's New Chains Common Gauden (?) Eikon Basilike Milton Eikonoklastes Abolition of the monarchy and House of Lords Cromwell in Ireland eS EE ———— 1650 Vaughan Silex: Scintillans (1) d. of P. Fletcher d. of Descartes Battle of Dunbar 50DATE WOHKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS MISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS ag me — 651 Dawenant Hobbes Battle of Worcester Gemlibert (1-3) Leviathan Cleveland Milton Poem, Defensio pro Populo Vaughan Anglicano Ole iscanus 1652. Crashaw b. of Orway Garmen Deo Nestro 4. of Inigo Jones “Pacitication’ of Ireland Dutch War 1653) 1633 Walton b. of Oldham Compleat Angler Rump dissolved Barebone’s Parliament Cromwell Lord Protector 1654 Milton First Protectorate Defensio Secunda Parliament (1055) 1655 Denham Hobbes War with Spain Cooper's Hill (rev.) De Corpore Politico Vaughan Silex Scintillan s (2) 1656 Cowley Harringeon Second Protectorate Poems Oceana Parliament ‘Davengbir Vermeer: Woman and Siege of Rhodes sue 1657 King 4. of Harvey Poems Humble Petition and ‘Advice Cromwell refuses crown SIss pate WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS MSTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS 1658 T. Browne 4. of Cleveland Un Burial 4. of Lovelace (2) Garden of Cyrus d. of Cromwell Richard Cromwel Lord Protector 1659 Lovelace Marvell MP (-1(78) Lucasta: Posthume Poems Suckling Last Remains Resignation of B. Cromwell Recall of Rumy b. of Purcell James (II) m. Anne Hyde 1660 Dryden Astraca Redux Milton The Ready and Easy Way Pepys Diary (1669) b. of Defoe (? d. of Velasquee Charles IH lands in England anc accedes to throne Royal Sociey founded Pension Paliament 1662 Rump poems Moligre Charles tm L'Ecole des aris Catherire of Braganza L'Ecole des femmes dof Pasal 1663, Butler Hudibras (1) le64 Butler Ethereg b. of trior Hudibras (2) The Comical Revenge _b. of Vanbrugh Waller Poems Inns Wa with Holland 52 (1607) Great PlagueDATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS HISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS, 1666 Molitre Le Misanthrope Bunyan Grace Abounding Great Fire of London 1667 Milton Paradise Lost Katherine Philips Poems: Dryden Ammus Mirabilis Racine Andromaque Moligre Tartuffe Dryden The Indian Emperor d. of Wither d. of Cowley b. of Swift 1668 Cowley Davideis Denham Poems and Translations Dryden Of Dramatic Poesy Moliére L'Avare La Fontaine Dryden Laureate 4. of Davenant Fables 1669 Racine a. of King Britannicus d. of Denham ey . of Rembrandt oa @. of Henrietta Maria Pensées 1670 Racine b. of Congreve Bérénice 1671 Milton Moliére 4. of Anne Hyde Paradise Regained Samson Agonistes Le Bourgeois Gemtl- homme 1672 Dryden Marriage @ la Mode Conguest of Gramada b. of Addison b. of Steele 53Te ee ee ea, DATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS. HISTORICAL/CUL TURAL EVENTS a 1673 4. of Moligre . Test Act James (Il) m. Mary of MeMeMe dees 1674 d. of Milton 4. of Herrick 4. of Traheme d. of Clarendon 1675 Wycherley The Country Wife — 1676 Etherege The Man of Mode Dryden Aureng-Zebe herley Plain Dealer 1677 Dryden All for Love Bet The Rover Racine Phidre Spinoza Ethics 4. of Cowley b. of Farquhar (2) d. of Spinoza Mary (dau. of James) m. William of Orange 1678 Vaughan Thalia rediviva Butler Hudibras (3) Bunyan Pilgrim’s Progress (1) Rymer The Tragedies of the Last Age d. of Marvell Second Test Act Titus Oates and the Popish Plot 1679 Spenser Hobbes d. of Hobbes Works (Second folio) Behemoth Exclusion Bill 54DATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WoRKS HISTORICAL CULTURAL EVENTS 1680 Rochester Bunyan. d. of Butler Poems Mr. Badman 4. of Rochester Filmer Patriarcha Otway The Orphan 1681, Marvell Otway Exclusion Bill Miscellaneous Poems Venice Preserved remtroduced Oldham Satires upow the Jesuits Dryden The Spanish Friar Dryden Absalom and Achitophel rin ta a an 1682 Dryden The Medal The Holy War Religio Laiei dof T, Browne Behn The City Heivess 1683. Oldham of Oldiam, Poems and Transtaiions aLof Walton dof Muttesbury Rye House Plot 1084 Norris Bunyan Pocms and Discoveries Pilgrim's Prog 1685. Waller Rochester d. of Otway Divine Poems Valentinian b. of Gay d. of Charles Accessiv su Monmouth Rebellion Bloody Assize Edict of Nantes revoked 1686 Anne Killigrew Pocms ome Fd tet ae ae =——— DATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS HMISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS 1687 Dryden Newton 4d. of Cotton The Hind and the Panther Principia 4. of Waller First Declaration of Cleveland Indulgence Works 1688 - b. of Pope 4. of Bunyan Second Declaration of Indulgence William lands at Torbay Flight of James Il 1689 Cotton b. of Richardson Poems on Several 4. of Behn Oveasion William and Mary Poems on Affairs of Stare monarchs Declaration of Right Convention Parliament War with France James If lands in Ireland Purcell: Dido and Aeneas 1690 Locke Battle of the Boyne Government cerning Human Understanding 1691 Racine d. of Baxter Athalie 1692 Jonson Glencoe massacre Works (Second folio) _—_d._ of Etherege 1693 Congreve The Old Bachelor 1694 Congreve 4. of Mary The Double Dealer b. of Voltaire Bank of England foundedCHRONOLOGY 213 DATE WORKS OF POETRY OTHER WORKS HISTORICAL/CULTURAL EVENTS 1695 Congreve 4, of Vaughan Love for Love d. of Purcell 1696 Suckling Vanbrugh Jacobite rising Works The Relapse 1697 Vanbrugh b. of Hogarth Provoked Wife Collier Short View of the English Stage 1698 1699 dof Racine 57