John Milton (1608 – 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.
Selected Bibliography Poetry • Lycidas (1638) • Poems (1645) • Paradise Lost (1667) • Paradise Regained (1671) • Samson Agonistes (1671) Drama • Arcades (1632) • Comus (1634) Non-Fiction • Of Reformation Touching Church Discipline in England (1641) • The Reason of Church Government Urged Against Prelaty (1642) • The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643) • Areopagitica (1644) • Of Education (1644) • The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) • A Treatise of Civil Power in Ecclesiastical Causes (1659)
Development of Milton’s Mind and Art Introduction There were three stages in the development of Milton's poetic genius. In the first stage come all the early poems up to Lycidas. After this stage he wrote mostly prose except for most of his sonnets. It was at the final stage that some of his best works were produced. Some of his best poetry like Paradise Lost Paradise Regamed and Samson Agonistes are the product of this stage of Milton's development. Ode on the Nativity of Christ is one of the early poems of Milton which shows unmistakable signs of his poetical genius. It is in this ode that we are exposed to a mind that is alert, varied and rich in fancy and imagination. We are assured, after going through this poem, of Milton's future poetical attainments.
Perfection of Form The early Milton had an impression of Spenser on him. However, his keen love for beauty is at one with the Elizabethan poets. But Milton at the same time respected the classical conventions and did not rely entirely on inspiration to which the Elizabethans gave great importance. The strong intellectuality which is to be found in his earlier poetry is nevertheless "touched with a glow and beauty of the receding romantic color, emotion and vital intentions" (Shri Aurobindo). There is no doubt that the blending of greatness and beauty is hard to find in any other English writer.
Love for Beauty The lighter and more fanciful aspect of Milton's genius can be seen in his earlier poems. His love for beauty is best revealed in these poems. Poems like Allegro and Penseroso possess the charm of youth and there is a freshness about them that is uniquely Miltonic. Grierson has this to say of Milton's early poetry: "Of the wonderful richness and perfection of the art there can be no question. As I have said elsewhere, Keats' fine Odes are almost the only poems that give the same sense of sensuous and imaginative richness and perfection of form that is capable of evolution and changing but always as appropriate cadences."
The Use of Blank Verse The quality of word music in Milton's poetry is of a special kind. His Lycidas when read aloud can make the reader feel its blended harmony. There is not the least trait of monotony in it. Milton was master in the use of proper names and though Lycidas is composed in a meter different from blank verse the cadence and music of the epic and elegiac poems have a striking affinity to each other. Milton's use of the blank verse was equally masterful. The use of the "verse paragraph" in his Comus was regarded as a great contribution to the poetic art in English. This poem shows Milton's originality to a great extent. The Sonnets In the second stage of his development, Milton wrote mostly prose and a few sonnets. This handful of sonnets show a stateliness of manner and great dignity which is rarely equaled in English poetry. But all in all this was a period in which Milton had gone we might say, perhaps in a stage of "poetical hibernation." There was no marked development in his art. It was primarily a period of political pamphleteering and the mind of our poet seems to be fully occupied and excited by the heart of the controversy.
The Last Poems: Sublime, Incomparable and Complete in Majesty The final phase of Milton's poetic career shows the maturity of his poetic powers. His puritanical background matured him into a serious and meditative sort of person. Paradise Lost (1667) is remarkable for the fusion of the two important elements - the Hellenic and the Hebraic, the Renaissance and the Reformation. The great story of the fall of man is matched by an appropriate style rising to great heights of sublimity. The variety and contrasts of character, scenes and ideas were exploited by the poet to compose an epic which the world will not willingly let die. Paradise Regained (1671) shows the dominance of the Hebraic element. However, Milton's world is three-fold; the medieval, the Renaissance and the Puritan; and it is noteworthy how he has been able to harmonies them. Samson Agonistes (1671) on the other hand is a kind of classical tragedy depicting conflict in the soul of the hero. Critics have identified Samson with the poet and like him he has been pushed to the wall. The poet's faith in God, however, remains unshaken.
Conclusion Thus, we see that there is a marked progress in Milton's poetical genius. The later Milton is far superior to the earlier Milton. Yet all the poems reflect the personality of the poet and show his classical and puritanical bent of mind. His experiments in versification and his skillful use of figures of speech not only show his originality but also secure to him a niche in the mansion of English Poetry.
Milton’s concept of poetry
Poet: An Inspired Creator Like Aristotle, Milton held a very high notion of the poet's calling. The poet is divinely inspired and capable of persuading people to a life of dedication and virtue. Milton has given his views on poetry in one of his early poems entitled Lycidas. He writes: "The abilities of the poet are the inspired gift of God rarely bestowed". On the other hand, he expresses his anxiety regarding the vulgar productions of poets who write amorous verses for the sake of cheap popularity. Such poets are not true to the high and noble ideals of poetry.
Alas what boots it with incessant care To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade, And strictly mediate the thankless man.
Poetry as an entertainment and a means of delight to the readers was given a very low place in Milton's concept of poetry. For him the poet like the man in the pulpit offers seeds of virtue and guides the people in noble and righteous conduct. The aim of poetry is therefore quite high and idealistic. He writes - Teaching over the whole book of sanctity and virtue through all instances of example with such delight to those especially of soft and delicious temper who will not be so much as look upon Truth herself, unless they see her elegantly driest, that whereas the paths of honesty and good life appear now rugged and difficult though they be indeed easy and pleasant they would then appear to all men both easy and pleasant though they were rugged and difficult indeed.
Choice of Themes In order to leave to posterity an immortal and grand work of poetry he mediated a national epic on the legends of pre-historic England. He finally rejected this topic on account of the unreality of the legends of King Arthur and his republican views - that Kings should not be glorified. Moreover being a Puritan he wanted to glorify religion and to cultivate the seed of morality and public civility, and to use his words,
"to allay the perturbations of the mind, and set the affections; in right time to celebrate in glorious and lofty hymns the throne and equipage of God's almightiness, and what he suffers to be wrought with high providence in His church; to sing victorious agonies. of martyrs and saints, the deeds and triumphs of just and pious nations doing valiantly through faith against the enemies of Christ; to deplore the general relapses of kingdoms and states from justice and God's true worship."
Moreover the lofty theme of the Fall of Man, apart from reflecting his religious zeal, is intended to cover a great field and show his love of philosophy, literature, architecture and other arts - a matter not quite palatable to staunch Puritans.
"Paradise Lost" As Embodiment of his Concept of Poetry Milton had indicated the worthwhileness of his theme. In the first 26 lines of Paradise Lost he invokes the Divine... to help him to complete his great assignment:
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song. That with no middle flight intents to soar Above the Aonian mount, while in pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
His great theme is purely religious and moral:
I may assert Eternal Providence And justify the ways of God to men.
Again in Book IX, the poet dwells on the moral theme-Crime and Punishment, sin and suffering:
That brought with this world of woe Sin and her shadow death, and misery. Death's harbinger.
Moreover, Milton has no doubt as to the authenticity of the Bible and the sublimity of his theme. The heavenly muse which inspires Milton is akin to the Holy spirit which helps him in fulfilling his noble task:
Who deiques Her mighty visitations unimplor'd And dictates to me slumbering or inspire Easy my unpremeditated verse.
Secondly, the story of the Fall of Man is superior to the themes of other epic poets. Paradise Lost stands in a class by itself and its greatness is built on the unending struggle between good and evil. Moreover, it is not based on any fleeing event like the capture of a town or fortress. Bowra writes in this connection:
"Paradise Lost sets forth the noblest virtues and the darkest sins. On one side is the Son, on the other Satan. By displaying these extremes of conduct Milton may seriously claim that his persons are, by his standards, more heroic than Achilles or Aeneas. For him the question of right and wrong was more important than any other question; he recognized almost no kind of good except the good in conduct. Other poets had valued other more worldly goods such as power and success; though they had related these to some sort of divine scheme and justified them morally, their concept of the good was wider and much less strictly ethical than Milton's. For heroism is goodness, and he sets out to show what he means by this. It is this- Which justly gives Heroic name To persons or to Poem (IX.40-41) and which guides Milton in the construction of his epic."
Limitations of Milton's Concept Milton's concept of poetry suffers from several inadequacies and Limitations. • Firstly, he has no belief in the entertainment value of poetry. He is oblivious of the recreational side of poetry. He only thinks of poetry as a means to an end, the end being the improvement of the moral tone of individuals and society. His Puritanism stood in the way of appreciating the function of delight
and aesthetic joy which the earlier poets had stressed—to convert poetry into a channel of religious philosophy of moral edification is to inhibit the realms of poetry. • Secondly, Milton regards poetry as a reflection of the author's personality and character. Poetry, however, cannot be limited to subjective poetry. There is something like objective and dramatic poetry where the poet enters into the mind and personality of his characters. Keats calls it "negative capability" of the poet. Any way to estimate poetry to the poet's character is a serious limitation to Milton's view of poetry. Thirdly, according to Milton, the poet himself should be a true poem, that is he should possess the experience and practice of all that is praiseworthy. He should be a model of religion and morality. Moreover, Milton's poetry does not conform strictly to his theory. There is a gulf between his theory and practice. In spite of his highly ethical tone, Milton's sympathies are with Satan who becomes, in sense, the hero of Paradise Lost. Perhaps the epic should have gained in appeal if Milton had paid attention to aesthetics and depicting the beauty and color of the heavenly world, instead of emphasizing the moral intention of the story. The poetry of Paradise Lost would have certainly gained in appeal if Milton had been more of an artist and less of a politician and Puritan.
Milton's Grand Style
Paradise Lost was for Milton the fulfillment of a long cherished ambition. He had resolved that his ‘adventurous song’ intended to ‘soar with no middle flight’. Accordingly, after many deliberations he chose the epic form and a theme equally sublime. Milton himself tells us in Book IX that he could rise to the demands of his ‘sad task’ only. ‘If answerable style I can obtain Of my careful celestial patroness.’
This ‘answerable style’ demanded a verse which admitted of dignity and flexibility and an ability to rise to the sublime heights. And no responsive readers of ‘Paradise Lost’ can fail to notice that Milton indeed did obtain Such a style.
Invocation The very opening of the poem, the invocation reveals the grandeur of Milton’s style. It begins with a ‘syntactical leap’ by which we are kept suspended for thirty-six words without a verb. And even when we arrive at the word ‘sing’, we are once more deflected into a maze of subordinate clauses and phrases. Even at the full stop after ‘rhyme’ (line sixteenth) there is hardly any respite and the whole invocation really forms a single continuous statement. In fact, it can be looked upon as a ‘capsule summary’ not only of the theme and action of the whole poem but also of the most salient features of Milton’s grand style. This style is human for its unusual syntax, its exalted language and diction, rich allusions, remarkable epic-similes, formidable erudition and skillful handling of blank-verse.
Erudite Style, Full of Allusion The language of 'Paradise Lost' is that of a scholar writing for scholars. A beautiful illustration of the poet's fondness for allusions is provided by his description of Satan’s forces, which dwarfed the mightiest armies known to history or legend:
• The heroic race that fought at Thebes and Troy mentioned by Homer. • The warriors of Charlemagne mentioned in the Italian epics. Language and sentence construction Milton’s style has been called ‘grand style’ because it has always an unmistakable stamp of majesty in it. Besides the references and vocabulary, Milton also tends to use Latinate constructions. Latin verbs often come at the end of the sentence or a direct object may precede the subject. In Paradise Lost, Milton seems purposely to strive for atypical English syntactical patterns. He almost never writes in simple sentences. He uses a lot of Latin words. He borrows words from Latin and employs them in his language in a befitting manner. He creates a language and diction which quite appropriate to his theme. The Miltonic diction follows the ancient models. It is sometimes said that the language of ‘Paradise Lost’ is ‘no language’. But in the art of literature one often comes across several instances where the literary language is no spoken language. It is an artificial language but it is not the artifice of bombast. He works magic with the language, distorts it in the way he likes, uses foreign idiom in an excellent manner and handles the language like a linguistic wizard. Vocabulary The diction of Milton’s epic is a thing composed of many elements – all tending to result in a rich and varied medium. Milton’s vocabulary contains a large proportion of Latinized words such as ‘untamed reluctance’, ‘horrid here’, ‘prodigious’, ‘officious’ etc. Often Milton uses words in their Latin sense or sometimes in senses which have become obsolete. Extended Similes and Metaphors Another aspect of Milton's style is the extended simile. The use of epic similes goes back to Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey, but Milton uses more similes and with more detail. Milton’s similes run a gamut from those that seem forced to those that are perfect. In search of really remarkable comparisons he borrows from myth, legend, History, Science and travel and of course from contemporary events. Milton achieves a purpose with his highly involved language and similes. The ability to do this seems almost unique to Milton, a man of immense learning and great poetic ability. Repeated Images Besides extended similes, Milton also traces a number of images throughout the poem. One of the most apparent is the image of the maze or labyrinth. Each image opens up new possibilities for understanding Milton's ideas. Milton’s Peculiarities Milton prefers the Italian forms of words to forms of a French character such as ‘sovereignty’. Among other qualities of Milton’s style are his peculiar use of the Latin idiomatic participle construction, the use of Nominative Absolute; the use of past participle, the use of transitive verbs intransitively etc. Among other peculiarities of Milton’s diction is the use of adjectives as nouns, as ‘our stronger’ in the sense of ‘he who is stronger than us; a love for conciseness that compels Milton to compress the maximum meaning into few words in a characteristic passion with Milton. Milton is also famous for ‘Inversions’.
Unusual structure of sentences Milton's common practice is to place a noun between its two qualifying adjectives, though the English grammar requires both to be placed before the noun. In spite of the violation of the accepted rules of grammar, one cannot deny that 'Paradise Lost' is a poem for scholarly readers. The violation of grammar is not so much criticized as the beauty of his style is appreciated.
Pope has pointed out ‘Paradise Lost’ has not one but various styles, an ‘Infernal style’, a ‘celestial style’ and ‘style of Paradise’ before and after the fall. It was Milton’s great achievement that he attained this sublimity without sacrificing the intensity of an impassioned personal commitment. Milton intended to write in "a grand style." That style took the form of numerous references and allusions, complex vocabulary, complicated grammatical constructions, and extended similes and images. In consciously doing these things, Milton devised a means of giving the written epic the baric grandeur of the original recited epic. In so doing, he created an artificial style that very few writers could hope to emulate though many tried. Milton's style is certainly his own. Elements of it can be criticized, but in terms of his accomplishment in Paradise Lost, it is difficult to see how such a work could be better written in some other style. Milton defined the style of the English epic and, in a real sense, with that style, ended the genre. After Milton and Paradise Lost, the English epic ends.
Characteristics of Milton’s poetry MERITS
Literary Position Shakespeare and Milton are two poets of England who are head and shoulders above the rest of the age to which they belong to the age of Elizabeth or the age of the first Romantic Movement in English literature. Shakespeare was the dramatist and the poet of universal humanity; and Milton, was the epic poet and the poet of Puritan England. Milton however suffers a great deal from needless comparison with Shakespeare. People usually praise Shakespeare and so they hope to find in the latter's poetry the same gaiety and variety, the same breadth of view and depth of insight that they get from Shakespeare. Though nobody can call in question the greatness of Milton, yet it is not possible for him to satisfy the very highest demand made upon him. Milton's Scholarship Possessed of a daring and sublime imagination, he is one of the most learned poets of England. He studied all the literary masterpieces of ancient Greece and Rome. He was equally acquainted with the contemporary literatures of Italy, England, and Spain. He appropriated the thoughts of his predecessors more than any other poet. His poems are exquisitely rich in beautiful classical allusions. He illustrated and decorated his ideas by borrowing from the Bible to an extent which it is difficult to measure.
Milton's Sublimity Sublimity is the only word that can truly characterize Milton's poetry. Even in his early poems, such as the Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity, there is an unmistakable touch of the sublime. The constitutional sublimity of Paradise Lost is the greatest feature of the poem. Here Immensity communes with Infinity. It overwhelms us by the vastness of its conception. It transcends our imagination and experience. The subject-matter of this superhuman drama is the fate of Man. The time is Eternity; the space is Infinity, and the actors are God, the Angels and the primitive man. Milton's poetry has the roaring of the ocean in it. Other poets have given us more beauty, more philosophy and more romance, but none has given us such sublime things as Milton.
Milton's Imagination The next aspect of Milton's poetry is revealed in the quality of his imagination. It ranges freely over heaven and earth; it makes the invisible concrete and visible.
Milton's Love of Beauty Milton was possessed of a keen sense of beauty. He loved beauty in all its forms. He was deeply sensitive to the beauties of external nature; the two poems L'Allegro, II Penseroso testifies to his love of nature. He was a lover of art and music. "Nowhere is Milton's love of beauty better displayed than in the early poems, L’Allegro, II Penseroso, Comus and Lycidas. They have all the freshness and charm of youth, and exhibit the lighter and more fanciful side of Milton's genius."
Milton's Classicism Closely wrought in Puritanism, there is in Milton's nature a strong bent for classicism, which is pagan and sensuous. He was a keen student of the ancient classics, and drank deep at the springs of the classical learning. He wrote Latin prose as freely as he wrote English. He chose classical forms of poetry to express himself-epic (Paradise Lost), the Greek tragedy (Samson Agonistes) the pastoral elegy (Lycidas) and the ode (Ode on the Nativity of Christ). His style was built, conscious or unconsciously on the classical models.
Milton's Seriousness Milton from his very boyhood was a man of a very serious bent of mind. He always thought his life to be a dedicated one. He lived with the consciousness of being ever in the awful presence of God. Every thought and every act of his life was influenced by such consciousness. To him life was real and earnest, and not "a dream by an idiot." It is for this reason that Milton's poetry has always a touch of seriousness in it.
Milton's Spiritual Import The distinctive feature of Milton's poetry is its spiritual quality. His intense godliness found its expression through his poetry. Like the needle of the mariner's compass which always points to the North Pole, Milton's thoughts and actions always pointed to God. He always felt that he was living under the eye of his loving Taskmaster. All his writings have a deep religious undertone. To spend an hour with Milton is to feel the living presence of God. Paradise Lost was written to justify the ways of God to man.
Blend of Ancient and Modern Art Like Milton the man, Milton the poet also is a meeting point of contradictory elements. He was a Puritan, but had the polish and chivalry of a Cavalier. He was a great hater of tyranny, but had all the ornamental qualities of a Royalist. His opinions were democratic, but his tastes were those of an aristocrat. Similarly, in his poetry, we find the simplicity and romantic richness of modern art. His Adam, Eve and Satan are simple and majestic epic characters, but the dress, style and illustrations have the splendor, complexity and subtlety of modern art. Milton's Picturesqueness Milton has an extraordinary power of drawing wonderful and vivid pen pictures. His descriptions of scenes and events are so impressive that it is difficult to forget them. He seldom goes into details; but with a few strokes of his mighty and magic pen draws a vast impressionistic picture. The grand style of Milton Milton's style has been called the 'grand style' because it has always an unmistakable stamp of majesty in it. It has not 'the voice of the sea' as Wordsworth says, but it has an elevating effect on the reader. The subject of Milton's poetry is always lofty; even when he speaks of common things; he elevates them to lofty heights. Coleridge defines poetic style as 'the best words in the best order.' Milton's style, more than that of any other poet, fully justifies this definition. Matthew Arnold says:
"In the sure and flawless perfection of his rhythm and diction, he is as admirable as Virgil or Dante, and in this respect he is unique amongst us. None else in English literature possesses the like distinction."
DEMERITS
Want of Human Interest The most glaring defect which strikes even a careless reader of Milton's poetry is its want of human interest. We do not find in his poetry any sweet and homely picture of this ordinary work-a-day world where we live and move, love and hate, quarrel and struggle. The greatness of an art lies in its nearness to human life; but in this respect, Milton's poetry is hopelessly deficient.
Want of Humor This is another conspicuous defect of Milton's poetry. The intense seriousness of his mind did not allow him to indulge in humor of any kind. Moreover, in breadth of views, in sympathy for man which are essential conditions of true humor, Milton was sadly deficient.
Want of the Element of Love Another serious defect of Milton's poetry is the absence from it of the element of love. His Puritanism is largely at the root of it. Though there has been scarcely any son of Adam who has not been at some time or the other tempted by a daughter of Eve, their parents in Milton's poem do not indulge in love-making.
Involved Diction and Complex Construction Milton's love of digressions, ellipses, inversions, Latinism, involutions, etc., make his sentences often gnarled in structure and their meaning often obscure. His long drawn similes, profusion of allusion, proneness to unnecessary elaboration sometimes torture his readers and make the reading of his poetry a laborious intellectual exercise.
The Autobiographical Element in Milton’s poetry
Introduction Milton is, broadly speaking, a classical poet. He puts too much of himself into his literary works. In his prose works Milton obviously gives his own thoughts and feelings, and thereby reveals himself. But even in his poetic work we see both directly and indirectly his monumental personality revealed in all its facets-glittering as well as none-too-beautiful. Even into his only play; Samson Agonists, he manages to put something of himself. Thereby he strikes a note of contrast with Shakespeare-to track down whose -elusive-personality in his plays has been the despair even of the most industrious critic. Shakespeare is like Ariel of The Tempest who is here, there, and everywhere-ever laughing at the toils of the erudite critics who perspire to shut up his puckish spirit in their critical bottles. But the reconstruction of Milton's personality from his poetry presents very few difficulties, as it is chock-full of the autobiographic element. Coleridge contrasts Shakespeare and Milton in these words: "Shakespeare's poetry is characterless; that is, it does not reflect .the individual Shakespeare, but John Milton himself is in every line of the Paradise Lost. In the Paradise Lost-deed in every one of his poems--it is Milton himself whom you see: his Satan, his Adam, his Raphael, almost his Eve-are all John Milton; and it is a sense of this intense egotism that gives me the greatest pleasure in reading Milton's works."
The autobiographic element in Milton's poetry does not mean much of the revelation of his outer life; it rather abides in his expression of his intellectual and spiritual character. Let us now examine the important poetic works of Milton with regard to their autobiographic importance.
The Sonnets The sonnet is only one of the more disciplined forms of the lyric and, like the lyric, therefore, is normally employed by a poet as a vehicle for the conveyance of his own personal emotions. Milton is quite personal in his sonnets which throw light on the various facets of his personality. Thus, for instance, the sonnet "How soon hath time, the subtle thief of youth" written by him on his twenty-third birthday expresses a melancholy feeling that his genius has not ripened with years: My hasting days fly on with full career, But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. "When I consider how my light is spent" is Milton's best-known sonnet. Therein he tells us how his sadness at his early blindness "ere half my days") and the prospect of his not being able to do his duty towards his "Maker" on account of his blindness, is dispelled by the spirit of Patience who points out: “God doth not need His own gifts. Who best Bear His mild yoke, they serve him best. His Is state kingly : thousands at His bidding speed And post o'er land and ocean without rest: They also serve who only stand and wait. "
"L'Allegro" and "II Penseroso" Milton's earliest important poems L"'Allegro and IIPenseroso are not autobiographical in the narrow sense of the term in so far as they fail to convey to the reader information about any important event in the life of the poet. Even then they reveal the composite nature of Milton's intellectual set-up. His love of nature, his disposition to be melancholy, his interest in classical mythology, his intellectual pursuits-all of them comes in for expression in these companion poems.
“Comus” Comus is a masque--genre which generally precludes; the expression of any personal feelings. But Comus has a very strong personal flavor. The moral conveyed by it is that steadfast virtue manages quite easily to vanquish the evil designs of clever and hypocritical vice. This moral is conveyed through the career of Alice—a personification of virtue-and her attempted seduction by the lustful magician Comus after she has been led astray in a wood. Of course, Comus does not succeed and Alice remains unscathed. Alice can easily be supposed to be Milton himself, haws also tempted as a young man by the brilliant exterior of vice. Legouis observes in this connation: "His heroine is himself; Comus tempts as he has been tempted; she resists as he did; he speaks every word in the poem; Comus merely expresses the appeal to the senses which young Milton has felt. The moral of the masque is Milton's moral—high, disdainful, and solitary. The final impression is one of virtue remote from mankind and above it, sure and haughty virtue, ignoring the multitude. For the Milton of Comus, as for the Calvinists, the number of the elect is few."
"Lycidas" Milton's next important poem is the pastoral elegy Lycidas written at the death of his friend Edward King. The poem is as autobiographical as similar poems by Shelley and Matthew Arnold— Adonais and Thyrsis respectively. The immediate purpose of an elegy is to celebrate the good qualities of the deceased and to express the depth of sorrow at the sad departure of a noble spirit and, very often, a good companion. Milton does it quite effectively: But O the heavy change, now thou art gone, Now thou art gone, and never must return! Thee Shepherd, thee, the woods, and desert caves, with wild thyme and the gadding vine overgrown, And all their echoes mourn. Quiet obviously Milton does think of his departed friend. However, there is more of Milton than of his friend in this poem. Legouis avers in this context: "It is not King but Milton who should be sought in them [the fines of the poem]. The death of his friend who was so young, and whose future promised so much, led Milton to reflect on his own life." There is an obvious conflict in the poet's mind-whether to give his days and nights to poetry or to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh: Alas! what boots it with iricessant care, To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade, And strictly mediate the thankless Muse? Were it not better done as others use, To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles of Neaerd's hair? However, Milton's choice is made, for he has for his aim not worldly fame, but he must "in heaven expect his meed." Incidentally, Milton—a Puritan as he is—takes an opportunity to lash the Pope and the corrupt clergy through the words of St. Peter--"The Pilot of the Gallilean lake:" Such satiric flings are essentially alien to the spirit of an elegy.
"Paradise Lost" Paradise Lost reveals, in Legouis' words, a Milton "whose personality is intense and self-centered." His puritanism, his misogyny, his austere nature, and his anti-royalism peep through this great poem. Milton was married twice, but was not very happy. In Adam's outburst against the first woman we can hear the voice of Milton: Oh! why did God, Creator wise, that peopled highest Heaven With Spirits masculine, create at last This novelty on Earth, this fair defect Of Nature Man has to suffer innumerable Disturbances on Earth through female snares And straight conjunction with this sex.
Milton lashes the corrupt Cavaliers of his age by representing them as "sons of Belial" who indulge in drunken riots in the streets after they are 'flown with insolence and wine." Further, he takes opportunities here and there to express his anti-royalist feeling. He was a supporter of the Commonwealth and a champion of personal liberties which were often denied or suppressed by the king. In the rebellion of Satan against the Almighty we can see a resemblance, however remote, with Milton's rebellion against Charles II who had assumed the throne of England in 1660. His republican feelings led Milton to a kind of sympathy with the Arch Rebel-Milton was according to William Blake, "of the Devil's party without knowing it." It is debatable, no doubt, if Blake knew more about Milton than Milton about himself. However, though between Satan and Milton there. May not be a bond of sympathy, yet there is between them a parallelism of situation. Satan is an embodiment of vice in all its ramifications. Milton knows it and gives it not only an adequate but an element expression. Disobedience towards God is a sin, but disobedience towards a corrupt ruler despiteful of the liberties and welfare of his subjects is a different matter. However, here and there in Paradise Lost Milton comes dangerously close to Satan. A critic observes: "It is in the passages where Satan speaks of the joy of independence, and of the hatred which he bears to the tyranny of Heaven's Ruler, that he reaches the most commanding heights of noble eloquence. The reason for this is obvious, for Milton was the great champion of popular ‘liberty in his own day and gave. Up the best years of his life, as well as his eyesight, to the cause of England's fight against oppression. Hence Milton cannot help imparting to Satan some of his own sentiments and putting him in the position of the champion of liberty against autocratic rule."
"Paradise Regained" Paradise Regained was a sequel to Paradise Lost. Milton revealed himself in this work as a strict Puritan. In the very beginning of the poem we learn how even as a child Milton studied the Bible: ...above my years, The Law of God I read, and found it sweet, Made it my whole delight, and in it grew To such perfection.
"Samson Agonistes" Samson Agonistes is a tragedy after the Greek classical examples. Samson is the Biblical character who figures in the Judges. His blindness and captivity in the hands of the Philistines bear an obvious resemblance to Milton's own blindness and suppression in the age of Charles II. In the end Samson brings death to himself and destruction to his captors by pulling down the pillars supporting their palace. In Samson's agonized cry we can hear the complaint of Milton himself: But, chief of all, Of loss of sight ofthee I must complain! Blind among enemies'. O worse than chains, Dungeon, or beggary, or decrepit age! …………………………………………….. O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon, Irrecoverably dark, total eclipse Without all hope of day. In Samson's indictment of his false wife, Dalila, we hear the misogynistic Milton:, Out, out, hyaena! These are thy -wonted arts, And arts of every woman false like thee-- To break all faith, all vows, deceive, betray. Milton's unswerving faith in God is echoed in Samson s words: Just are the ways of God, And justifiable to men, Unless there be who think not God at all.
The influence of the Reformation and the Renaissance on Milton
Introduction Milton's work reflects the influence of both the reformation and the Renaissance^ The Renaissance and the Reformation had their impact of England in the sixteenth century. Generally speaking, they exerted pulls in mutually opposite directions. Most of the Elizabethans came under the classical and humanistic influence of the Renaissance but did not admit the influence of the Reformation on their literary work. Spenser among them, however, tried obviously to reconcile the 'two enthusiasms. On the one hand, he celebrated the Church of England and condemned the Popish hypocrites in the persons of Duessa and the Wily Archimago, and showed his excessive concern for virtue and the spirit; and on the other, manifested much enthusiasm for beauty (generally of the human figure), a kind of Platonic idealism, reverence for the classical models of Grecian and Roman antiquity and some other characteristics associated with the Renaissance. In spite of his efforts, Spenser could go no farther than affecting a rather superficial synthesis of the Renaissance and the Reformation tendencies. It was left for Milton..."the poetical son of Spenser", as Dryden called him...to homogenize these two into a perfect whole. When he started writing, the initial exuberance ushered in by the Renaissance and the Reformation was already on its way out. His poetry is the first and the last example of the happy and effortless harmonization of the two mutually antagonistic enthusiasms which stirred the England of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Milton Blends the Two Very roughly speaking, the spirit of the Reformation provides the content and spirit of Milton poetry, and the spirit 6f the Renaissance classicism its molded pattern. Milton did in the seventeenth century what the poets of the French Pleiades had done in the sixteenth. "No poet", says Grierson in The First Half- of the Seventeenth Century, "realized so completely the Renaissance ideal of poetry cast in classical molds-carried out so entirely and majestically the programmer of the Pleiade. Milton, “and Milton only, succeeded in producing living and beautiful poems in correct classical forms. And into these classical forms he poured the in tensest spirit of the Protestant movement." In fact Milton's puritanism (a product of the Reformation) and his Hellenism (a product of the Renaissance) were more closely harmonized in his genius than the formula division of theme and form would suggest. Just as Addison professed "to enliven morality with wit and to temper wit with morality". Milton seems to have enlivened puritanism with Hellenism and tempered his Hellenism with puritanism. Milton was neither a godless pagan nor a Puritan formalist nor was he both simultaneously. He imbibed the true spirit of both tendencies and wrote under the unified impact of both.
The Reformation Elements In Milton's poetry the Reformation element is found as his soft and steady puritanism. Puritans were those who "protested" against even the Protestants who in their turn had protested against the Pope and the Popish religion. The Reformation signifies the great religious revolution of the sixteenth century which gave rise to the various Protestant or Evangelical organizations of Christendom. The movement was European in extent and was widely successful in the reign of Henry VIII, and later Elizabeth I. But some splinter sects rose against the Protestant Church of England which they thought was not yet fully reformed, and who urged to take Christianity back to the religion of Jesus Christ. These Puritans devotedly and rather superstitiously revered the Bible, condemned the Protestant bishop (episcopacy) and every institutionalized religion, emphasized every man's inner light, hated all arts such as painting, sculpture and music and even ‘drama, all show and luxury, shied at the least appearance of evil, favored highly formalized and rigorous conduct, and, in general, turned against all literature and aesthetic pursuits. Now, Milton was born in a Puritan family. His schooling and surroundings, his social and political affiliations, and a number of other factors combined to instill in him a love of Puritan ideology and way of life. However, he was a man of too strong an individuality to accept any formal "ism" in its totality. He was a deeply religious man, and even at the age of twenty-three he could write:
All is, if I have grace to use it so; As ever in my great Task Master's eye.
Milton's puritanism has not much to do with the macabresque and stoic creed of ordinary puritans. The Renaissance elements of his intellectual set-up effectively controvert these tendencies and any fanatic adherence to a rigorous code of conduct and ultimate values. His version of puritanism was tinged by his love of the classics, the love of nature, the love of beauty, and Renaissance humanism insisting on the world of man, and love of "the human face divine." Moreover, unlike most Puritans, Milton emphasizes the spirit rather than the conduct. And this emphasis brings him into affinity with the Cambridge Platonists who were themselves mostly Puritans. Milton believed that "the Spirit which is given to us is a more certain guide than Scripture.'' In his pamphlet Of True Religion he states that along with external Scripture there is an internal Scripture, "the Holy Spirit wrote in the Hearts of believers". Milton departed from the puritanical creed even in some important doctrinal points. For instance, he did not subscribe to the doctrine of predestination and refused the Son an equal status with the Father. In more general terms, he tried to reconstruct the puritanical creed on the basis of the humanistic ideology of the Renaissance.
The Renaissance Elements The Renaissance in England gave rise to a large number of tendencies. It brought in its wake love and appreciation of the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, a keen love of beauty and art, and a new stress on human life and pursuits. Milton is obviously affected by all these ramifications of the spirit of the Renaissance. As early as in 1637 he wrote to his friend Dorati: "Whatever the deity may have bestowed upon me in other respects, he has certainly inspired me, if any ever were inspired, with a passion for the good and the beautiful. Nor did Ceres, according to the fable, ever seek her daughter Proserpine with such unceasing solicitude as I have sought this idea of the beautiful in all the forms and appearance of things, for many are the shapes of things divine. Day and night 1 am won’t to continue my search." Unlike some others, Milton does not stand for atheistic Epicureanism or hard-hearted materialism which attracted many (for example, the University Wits). Nor was he a votary of paganism, even though he showed vast knowledge of pagan mythology which came into limelight with the Renaissance. Again, though he respected the dignity of human beings yet he stood for their acquiescence in the will of God. In short, the Renaissance spirit in Milton was influenced and modified by his ingrained puritanism. The Renaissance elements show themselves in Milton in two waves: • They provide, as we have already-said, the classical framework for most of his major poetical works. • They leaven, humanize, Hellenize, refine, and somewhat secularize his puritanism and mitigate its severity. Almost all of Milton's poetic works are embodiments of the Renaissance and the Reformation elements. Let us see how.
"On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" The ode On the Morning 'of Christ's Nativity "which Milton wrote in 1629 was his first masterpiece. Therein he celebrates the arrival of Jesus Christ and the dismay of pagan deities at his birth. The poem shows that, as
Legouis puts it, "Milton was already dedicating his highest art to the service of his religion." The theme and the tone are both deeply religious. However, the impact of the Renaissance is also visible in:- • the classical form of the poem; and • Milton's profound and vast knowledge of pagan mythology (even if with his open disapproval of it).
"L'AHegro" and "II Penseroso" Milton's next important poems L'Allegro and ll Penseroso show in themselves a preponderance of the Renaissance spirit over his puritanism. Basically, these two companion poems are poems of joy-U Allegro describing the pleasures sought after by a joyous man, and the other the pursuits desired by a melancholy man. The first poem is the work of a young man who is filled to the brim with the joie de vivre and who abandons himself to those pleasures which were anathema to the gloomy Puritans. Thus the poem strikes a positively anti-Puritan note. Milton invokes the Goddess of joy:
Haste thee nymph, and bring with thee Jest and youthful Jollity, Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles, Nods, and becks, and wreathed smiles, Such as hang on Hebe s cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek; Sport that wrinkled Care derides, Ana. Laughter holding both his sides.
Milton expresses his taste for country amusements and the plays of Ben Jonson and Shakespeare-things heartily disliked by the Puritans. In ll Penseroso the tone and spirit are much more subdued, and they put Milton nearer the Puritans. The Goddess of Melancholy is described as a "pensive nun" and has a few definitely Christian associations. But there is the same Renaissance element visible too. Milton likes Plato and Hermes. He loves to read Chaucer and see tragic performances. A critic observes about L 'Allegro and H Penseroro. "The Renaissance culture and learning were sweeping over these poems. There is no hint here of the fanaticism that would shut the theatres, pull down the maypoles on the village greens, and turn 'merry England' into 'psalm singing England."
“Comus” Milton's next important work is the masque Comus. The genre of the masque was very popular in Renaissance England, and before Milton, Ben Jonson had already written some splendid masques. But whereas the masques before Milton were unalloyed embodiments of the Renaissance spirit (including love of pagan mythology, fun and frivolous merry-making, and eschewing all moral purpose), Milton's masque is in spirit and purpose highly puritanical. Its only Renaissance characteristic is its form. Milton sets out in highly didactic terms to exalt cold and colorless virtue of the puritanical kind and the way in which it succeeds in circumventing the wily arts of vice. “Lycidas” Lycidas (1637) was a pastoral elegy written on the death of Milton's friend Edward King who was drowned in a shipwreck near Anglesea. As in Comus, its form and theme is representative of two different cultures. The form of Lycidas is classical but the theme and expression are indicative of a puritanical spirit. We find more of Milton than King in the poem. King's death prompts Milton to think of the futility of his own poetic craft:
Alas! What boots it with incessant care To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade, And strictly meditate the thankless Muse? Were it not better done as others use, To sport with Amaryllis in the shade, Or with the tangles ofNeaera 's hair?
But Milton expresses his intention to devote himself to serious and religious poetry, as Phoebus tells him that his reward is not fame, "that last infirmity of noble mind/' He should, rather, "in heaven expect his med." Then as a zealous Puritan Milton finds the opportunity to lash the corrupt clergy who lead a comfortable life whereas: The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, But swollen with wind, and the rank mist they draw, Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread.
"Paradise Lost" Paradise Lost-- Milton's magnum opus--is, according to L.A. Cormican, "the highest achievement of the Protestant mind looking at the whole created cosmos through faith purified and elevated till it coincides .with the mind of God." Both in theme and purpose Paradise Lost is a product of the Reformation spirit. Its theme is the fall of Satan and, through him the fall of Man. Its purpose is, in Milton's own words, "to justify the ways of God to man." Not that Milton thought for a moment that God's ways stood any need of justification, but he thought that in the case of some understandings clouded by evil and human frailty some pleading might have been helpful. He took up the role of God's own advocate. It was an assertion of militant Puritanism--intolerant and self- righteous. In the beginning Milton had remained toying for long with the idea of writing an epic on King Arthur and his Round Table, but his puritanism made him gravitate surely and steadily towards a biblical theme. In Paradise Lost he went out of his way to condemn in unmistakable terms the corruption and hedonism of the Cavaliers whom he calls "the sons of Belial flown with insolence and wine" who riot in the streets of London every night. Some critics have tried to "exculpate" Milton of puritanism by pointing out his covert sympathy with Satan. Blake went so far as to assert that "Milton was the Devil's party without knowing it." Some have averred that it is not Adam but Satan who is the hero of Paradise Lost. These views are altogether untenable. Satan is indeed a heroic figure unconquered and almost unconquerable, but he is not a hero, and he is quite definitely an embodiment of all the evil with which Milton has no sympathy at all. Of course, there is something parallel between Satan's rebellion against God and Milton's own rebellion against Charles II. But that is almost all. Hardin Craig observes in A History of English Literature (General Editor: Hardin Craig): "One would attribute the excellence of Milton's picture of Satan not to his sympathy with the heart of the archfiend, but to his great knowledge of the nature, even the power and attractiveness, of evil." In its form Paradise Lost conforms quite strictly to the classical epic of the kind of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Virgil's Aeneid. Milton upholds all the conventions of the epic. It has fable, action, characters, and diction as demanded of a classical epic. For the hexameter of the Aeneid Milton effectively substitutes the pentameter of blank verse, which comes close to his model. Instead of the pagan marvels we have "Christian" miracles wrought by God and His Son. Then there is the invocation to the Muse, though Milton's Muse is not the conventional Muse of epic poetry but the Holy Spirit. In short, it may be said that the form of Paradise Lost reflects the Renaissance spirit, and its theme the Reformation spirit
. "Paradise Regained" There is very little of the Renaissance spirit in Paradise Regained in which is described in four books the temptation of Christ by Satan, but his ultimate failure. From the beginning to the end the work is instinct with the religious spirit so strong in Milton.
"Samson Agonistes" Samson Agonistes is a classical tragedy composed strictly on the principles enunciated by Aristotle in his Poetics and, to a great extent, after the practice of the Greek tragedy writers-Euripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus. However, the spirit and the theme are highly religious. Milton put something of himself in the Biblical hero who defied the corrupt rulers of his times and fell a martyr to virtue and integrity. The mold of the tragedy is Hellenic but the spirit is pre•eminently Hebraic.