That, to me, is the emotional core of this book. I have also tried to deal with the literary impact of some practical problems for Milton, most profoundly the total blindness to which he succumbed in 1652. For me Milton is above all a late, perhaps even a belated, humanist, but one with pronounced Hellenistic (he would perhaps have said “Alexandrian”) tastes, and a scholar who, sensitive to the times, and led on by his own massive self-esteem-a compound seemingly coined by Milton himself-drew some markedly radical conclusions from his reading. Nevertheless, Part 2, “Paradise Lost,” I hope, becomes increasingly critical as I lead the reader into some of the complexities of Paradise Lost’s internal construction and interpretation. To this extent my approach is, in Part 1, “Milton,” more scholarly than critical, but Mercury can only speak with authority when Minerva speaks with him. The particular focus of this study is on Milton as a reader and scholar, and indeed on how much of this scholarship was provoked and enhanced by his occupation as a teacher. Some of these are rather technical, but then Milton was a technical man. I have also essayed in several chapters and an appendix to provide what are in effect reference guides to certain topics, notably Milton’s known syllabus as a teacher, his theology, the evolution of his dramatic drafts, and the intricacies of the publication process of Paradise Lost. I can only hope that the biography-of-a-poem hybrid that I have attempted possesses its own kind of coherence, and indeed that my manner of tying biographical concerns so closely to literary production will, after all, help to illuminate what an extraordinary achievement Milton’s Paradise Lost is. On the other hand, those who seek a complete “reading” of Milton’s poetry may miss a sustained analysis of, say, Samson Agonistes or Paradise Regained. Those interested predominantly in history may consider this something of a “stealth” biography, and may accordingly regret that I spend comparatively little time addressing, say, Milton’s public, political life as an employee of successive interregnum regimes. In offering an account of the making of Paradise Lost, this book is partly biographical and partly critical. This book is an accessible introduction to and interpretation of the writing of the greatest single poem in the English language, John Milton’s epic Paradise Lost (1667, second edition 1674). Becoming a Classic Appendix: Milton’s Classroom Authors Notes Index Bibliographical Interlude: Publishing Paradise Lost PART TWO: PARADISE LOST 14. Preface and Acknowledgments PART ONE: MILTON 1. SAMUEL JOHNSONĪ Reader of Milton must be Always upon Duty he is Surrounded with Sense, it rises in every Line, every Word is to the Purpose There are no Lazy Intervals, All has been Consider’d, and Demands, and Merits Observation. I am now to examine Paradise Lost, a poem which, considered with respect to design, may claim the first place, and with respect to performance the second, among the productions of the human mind. P64 2017 | DDC 821/.4 -dc23 LC record available at Paradise lost-Criticism and interpretation. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2017. Title: Milton and the making of Paradise Lost / William Poole. paper) 978-0-5 (EPUB) 978-1-2 (MOBI) 978-7-3 (PDF) The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Names: Poole, William, 1977– author. Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 2017Ĭopyright © 2017 by William Poole All rights reserved Jacket art: Art: The Creation of Eve, by Henry Fuseli, 1791–1793, courtesy of Bridgeman art (image #XKH146779) Jacket design: Tim Jones 978-7-3 (alk.
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