Caroline Age Part 4

L'Allegro
A pastoral poem possibly composed shortly after Milton left Cambridge.

This 152-line poem is non-stanzaic and is written in tetrameter couplets
except for the first ten lines, which are alternating trimeters and
pentameters. It is a companion piece to the slightly longer “Il
Penseroso”.
“L’Allegro” means “the cheerful man,” and the poem describes, the
idyllic day of such a man in the countryside. It begins with the sun rising
and takes the man through the pleasures of the day until the
countryfolk’s bedtime. After that, the man goes to the city and enjoys his
evening in more sophisticated literary company.
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The poem begins with an invocation against “loathed Melancholy,” seen
as a state bordering on madness. In place of this monster, the cheerful
poet welcomes Euphrosyne, or Mirth, who, mythologically, was the
daughter of Venus and Bacchus. He invites Mirth, together with “the
Mountain Nymph, sweet Liberty,” to take him as one of her followers, to
live “in unreproved pleasures free.”
The remainder of the poem is more a pastoral fantasy of what such a
day spent in Mirth’s company would be like. He imagines the lark rising
at dawn, the hunt, and the cock crowing. As the sun rises, he observes
typical country work, people, and animals, especially (as befits a
pastoral) sheep and shepherds.
The day dissolves from a working day to a rustic holiday, focusing on the
merrymaking at suppertime. The folk tell one another legends and
country tales as the ale circulates. With sunset, they go to bed.
The cheerful man imagines himself now in “towred Cities” with “throngs
of Knights and Barons bold.” A tournament is being held, then a
wedding feast. Then the man goes to the theater to see the comedies of
Ben Jonson or the young Shakespeare. Finally, in his bliss, the poet calls
for soft music and poetry that would rouse even the god Orpheus. If
Mirth can give him all this, the poet vows to live always with her.
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Il Penseroso
The companion piece to “L’Allegro,” using the same non-stanzaic
tetrameter form; at 176 lines, it is 24 lines longer than its companion.
The title, meaning “the thinker” or “the contemplative man,” suggests its
opposition to its companion piece.
The speaker of this reflective ode dispels "vain deluding Joys" from his
mind in a ten-line prelude, before invoking "divinest Melancholy" to
inspire his future verses.
The poem’s opening rejects mirth as delusion and triviality. Instead, the
poet welcomes the goddess Melancholy, seeing her as daughter of the
deity Hestia, goddess of sacred and domestic fire.
He invites her to come to him, together with Peace and Quiet, and
especially with “the cherub Contemplation,” in a silence broken only by
the nightingale’s song. He would prefer to wander solitary in the
moonlight through woods or walk near the seashore. If the weather is
inclement, he would happily study through the night. His chosen reading
is either ancient volumes of hermetic wisdom, Greek tragedy, or epic
poetry. He mentions Chaucer, Tasso, and Spenser in particular. Unlike
the persona of “L’Allegro,” he is not interested in seeing the drama live:
Eventually he sees the morning come, and—unlike the morning of the
companion piece—it conforms to his mood: It is cloudy, with blustery
showers.
If the sun breaks through, he would prefer to walk in the forest, listening
to the murmuring of the streams, perhaps falling asleep on their banks.
On waking, he wishes to hear the mysterious music of the nature spirits
of the woodland. Finally, as he looks forward in his life, he would like to
retire to “the studious Cloysters pale” of a college or church. Eventually,
through such study of beauty, he would wish to become a prophetic
figure. If Melancholy can give all this to him, he will follow her.
“On Shakespeare,” composed in 1630, first appeared as one of the
many encomiums in the Second Folio (1632) of Shakespeare’s plays. It
was Milton’s first published poem in English. In the 16-line epigram
Milton contends that no man-made monument is a suitable tribute to
Shakespeare’s achievement. According to Milton, Shakespeare himself
created the most enduring monument to befit his genius.
Having returned from abroad in 1639, Milton turned his attention from
poetry to prose. In doing so, he entered the controversies surrounding
the abolition of the Church of England known collectively as The Bishop
Wars, the 1638 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms, which took place
in Scotland, England and Ireland.
Matters came to a head in 1637, when Charles I attempted to impose
uniform practices on the kirk (Scottish Church) and the Church of
England, changes opposed by the presbyters and English Puritans.
Milton joined the factions opposing the policies of William Laud,
Archbishop of Canterbury. Soon, an antiprelatical movement started.
In 1641–42 Milton composed five tracts on the reformation of church
government. Of Reformation, examines the historical changes in the
Church of England since its inception under King Henry VIII and criticizes
the continuing resemblances between the Church of England and the
Catholic Church, especially the hierarchy in ecclesiastical government.
In another tract, The Reason of Church Government, Milton appears to
endorse Scottish Presbyterianism as a replacement for the episcopal
hierarchy of the Church of England.
Animadversions, published July 1641, was written as a response to the
claims of Joseph Hall. The tract is filled with direct attacks against Hall's
person, and this is accomplished through satire and mockery.
Of Prelatical Episcopacy is a discussion of the nature of truth and how
truth can only be attained through scripture. The work is openly hostile to
any need for a medium between the Bible and the individual reader.
Apology for Smectymnuus was published in April 1642 and is his final
antiprelatical tract. The tract was written as a response to another
refutation by Hall against an earlier tract. The tract praises Parliament and
emphasizes that they are both reformers and the foundation of England.
Soon after these controversies, Milton became embroiled in another
conflict, one in his domestic life. Having married Mary Powell in 1642,
Milton was a few months afterward deserted by his wife.
During his domestic strife, Milton probably began to frame the arguments
of four prose tracts: The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643,
enlarged 2nd ed. 1644), The Judgment of Martin Bucer Concerning
Divorce (1644), Tetrachordon (1645), and Colasterion (1645).
For Milton, marriage depends on the compatibility of the partners, and to
maintain a marriage that is without mutual love and sympathy violates
one’s personal liberty. In such circumstances, the marriage has already
ceased. In his later divorce tracts, Milton buttresses his arguments with
citations of scholars, such as the 16th-century reformer Martin Bucer, and
with biblical passages that he marshals as proof texts.
Milton published Of Education (1644) in line with the ideal of the
Renaissance gentleman, Milton outlines a curriculum emphasizing the
Greek and Latin languages as the means to learn directly the wisdom of
Classical antiquity in literature, philosophy, and politics.
The most renowned tract by Milton is Areopagitica (1644), which opposes
governmental licensing of publications. Milton investigates historical
examples of censorship, which, he argues, invariably emanate from
repressive governments. The aim of Areopagitica, he explains, is to
promote knowledge, test experience, and strive for the truth without any
hindrances. Milton composed it after the manner of a Classical oration of
the same title by Isocrates, directed to the Areopagus, or Athenian council.
Milton published Of Education (1644) in line with the ideal of the
Renaissance gentleman, Milton outlines a curriculum emphasizing the
Greek and Latin languages as the means to learn directly the wisdom of
Classical antiquity in literature, philosophy, and politics.
The most renowned tract by Milton is Areopagitica (1644), which opposes
governmental licensing of publications. Milton investigates historical
examples of censorship, which, he argues, invariably emanate from
repressive governments. The aim of Areopagitica, he explains, is to
promote knowledge, test experience, and strive for the truth without any
hindrances. Milton composed it after the manner of a Classical oration of
the same title by Isocrates, directed to the Areopagus, or Athenian council.
The antimonarchical tracts were composed during 1649–55 after Milton
had become allied to those who sought to form an English republic, The
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649)—urges the abolition of tyrannical
kingship and the execution of tyrants.
Milton was appointed secretary for foreign tongues (also called Latin
secretary) for the Council of State, the executive body of the
Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. In this role as an apologist, Milton
received the Council of State’s assignment to refute Eikon Basilike (“Image
of the King”), which was published in 1649 within days of the king’s
beheading and which portrays the late king as pious, contemplative, caring
toward his subjects.
In his rebuttal, Eikonoklastes (1649; “Image-Breaker”), Milton shatters the
image of the king projected in Eikon Basilike. Accusing Charles of
hypocrisy, Milton cites Shakespeare’s portrayal of Richard, duke of
Gloucester, in Richard III.
Claudius Salmasius, a Frenchman composed a Latin tract intended for a
Continental audience that would indict the Englishmen who tried and
executed Charles I. Milton’s Defense of the English People Against
Salmasius (1651), a Latin tract, fastens on inconsistencies in Salmasius’s
argument.
In 1652 an anonymous author published another Latin polemic, The Cry of
the King’s Blood to Heaven Against the English Parricides. Milton’s
refutation in Latin, The Second Defense of the English People by John
Milton, Englishman, in Reply to an Infamous Book Entitled “Cry of the
King’s Blood” (1654), contains many autobiographical passages intended
to counteract the polemic’s vitriolic attacks on his personal life.
Milton also mounts an eloquent, and impassioned defense of English
patriotism and liberty while he extols the leaders of the Commonwealth.
Three extraordinary prose works highlight the depth of Milton’s erudition
and the scope of his interests. History of Britain (1670) an unfinished
prose work.
Artis Logicae (1672; “Art of Logic”) was composed in Latin, perhaps to gain
the attention also of a Continental audience. It is a textbook derived from
the logic of Petrus Ramus, a 16th-century French scholar.
De Doctrina Christiana (“On Christian Doctrine”) was probably composed
between 1655 and 1660, though Milton never completed it. The
comprehensive and systematic theology presented in this work reflects
Milton’s close engagement with Scripture.
Prose Works
“ I have the use but of my left hand”
His first wife, Mary Powell, left Milton shortly after their marriage in summer 1642. By
1645 they were reunited. Mary died in 1652. His second wife, Katherine Woodcock,
whom he married in 1656, died in 1658. Milton’s third wife, Elizabeth Minshull,
whom he married in 1663, survived him. In addition Milton faced the deaths of his
infant son, John, and of an infant daughter in 1658. In the same period Milton’s
relationship with his daughters by Mary—Anne, Mary, and Deborah was troublesome,
especially as they did not have their father’s aptitude for learning.
Further adversity resulted from his failing eyesight and total blindness by 1652.
These adversities, along with his involvement in politics, may have delayed the
composition of the major poetry, and Paradise Lost, Samson Agonistes, and Paradise
Regained surely bear the imprint of Milton’s personal experience and public service.

Caroline Age Part 4

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L'Allegro

A pastoral poem possibly composed shortly after Milton left Cambridge.

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