Transcription
[Music] hello, ready for a discussion on the amazing writer John Milton? The most important writer of the English Civil War period. Milton was born in 1608. That was the time when Shakespeare was writing. He was only going to retire in 1610, remember? And one of the earliest poems of Milton was about Shakespeare. Milton lived up to 1674. You know, that is after the Restoration.
And Milton was born in Bread Street in Cheapside. He had his schooling in St. Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge. His education was in classics. He became a polyglot, that means he could speak many languages, and a great scholar. He became, he wrote both in Latin and English.
And Milton was a Protestant, as you know. He had broadly Protestant views. What do you mean by that? That means every single thing in Protestantism, he did not adhere to or agree with. He questioned some aspects of Protestantism. You can see that in the depiction of his Adam and Eve. You can see that in his prose work, *Areopagitica*. He will talk about them now.
I told you he went to Christ's College, Cambridge. Milton was a delicate young man. He had long hair, and he was very quiet and easy in his ways. And he was called "Our Lady of Christ," means Lady of Christ College, Cambridge.
When Milton finished his M.A., that was in 1632, at that time he had already started writing. He was early in his career, translating some Latin poems, religious, and afterwards he went and lived with his parents in Hammersmith, and then went and lived in Horton. These are the periods in which he wrote his earliest poems.
Milton's earliest poem that we know is *Ode on the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough*. Oh, that is a sad theme. And he contributed a poem to the second folio of Shakespeare. That is today called *On Shakespeare*, 1632 folio. Another early poem of Milton is *Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity*, also called *Nativity Ode*. Critics say that this is the first Miltonic work.
At this time, he was writing two companion poems, *L'Allegro* and *Il Penseroso*. *L'Allegro* is about one cheerful day in the countryside. *Il Penseroso* is about one melancholic day in the countryside. These are not puritanical poems, actually. These are descriptive poems, early poems. And in *L'Allegro*, he is invoking the goddess Euphrosyne, the goddess of mirth. And in *Il Penseroso*, he is invoking Melancholy, goddess Melancholy. And he is using pastoral conventions in these poems.
At Horton, I told you he lived in Horton. When he lived in Horton, he wrote some important poems. Among them were two masks, *Arcades* and *Comus*, and also his famous pastoral elegy. You know which is it? *Lycidas*. *Arcades* and *Comus* are masks, that means theatrical entertainment performed in court by amateur courtiers. *Arcades* was written for Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby. And *Comus* was written to be performed at Ludlow Castle for the Earl of Bridgewater.
*Comus* is important. In *Comus*, there is a lady. We don't know her name. She is traveling with her two brothers. They are walking through the forest, and they are tired and thirsty and hungry. The brothers say, "We will go bring some food. You stay here." And the lady is alone. At that time, the lady is approached by Comus. Comus is the god, the son of Bacchus. Comus tries to seduce her, but the lady exercises her reason, *recta ratio*, and dresses the temptations. Temptation, that is the theme in *Comus*. That theme continues in the later works, *Paradise Lost*, *Paradise Regained*, and *Samson Agonistes*.
Also, at the end, the lady is rewarded for being so virtuous. That is *Comus*. And *Lycidas*, the pastoral elegy, is very important. It was written to commemorate the death of his friend Edward King. Edward King, I'm telling you, was a man with great promise. He was going to be a poet and a great clergyman. Oh, but in youth, he died. He drowned in the Irish seas.
Milton wrote *Lycidas* as part of a group of commemorative poems that were written by all the friends of Cambridge together. At first, Milton, in a classical style, is addressing the laurels and myrtles. You know, they are symbols of poetic creativity. And then he is presenting the occasion of the poem. He's talking about why he's writing the poem. And then he's invoking the muse. You know, always it is a classical convention. Invocation of the muse means what? You are asking the muse to inspire you so that you will be able to write.
And then Milton is remembering the student days without working. He's describing the countryside, their life as shepherds. They were not really shepherds. This is pastoral elegy. Pastoral elegies always use the convention of speaking in the form of a shepherd. The speaker will speak as a shepherd. That is the convention in pastoral elegies.
You know, there are five major pastoral elegies in English. What are they? I am interrupting this discussion of *Lycidas* and reminding you of the pastoral elegies. There is Spenser's *Astrophel*, written for Sidney. Milton's *Lycidas*. Then, uh, Shelley's *Adonais*, written for Keats. *In Memoriam* by Tennyson, written for Arthur Henry Hallam. And Arnold's *Thyrsis*, written for Arthur Hugh Clough.
Now, in *Lycidas*, the conventions of pastoral elegies are followed. He's remembering the happy days he spent with Edward King. They were both like shepherds. The guardian angels, including Cambridge and the river Cam, were supposed to protect Edward King, the child of Cambridge. But nobody protected. The guardian angels failed. But then, even Calliope, the muse of epic poetry, was unable to protect her son, Orpheus.
Milton realizes that there is no use in plying his trade. There is no use in doing such hard work because everybody has to die one day. He is disillusioned. He is wondering whether it is of any use to study and spend his life like this without any enjoyment. He's disillusioned. And the reply to him is given by Phoebus, or Apollo. Apollo tells him, "Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil." You should do hard work. We should all study. We should all study literature, pass exams, become scholars and great teachers, not only for money, not only for the gains that we get in this world, but also because we'll be able to contribute to our discipline, to our society. The work we do will live after us. Hence, "Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil."
Phoebus, or Apollo, tells the speaker. That is one of the digressions in *Lycidas*. The first. The second digression in *Lycidas* is about the corrupt clergy. Saint Peter is attacking the corrupt clergy, you know, Reformation theme. And Milton now understands the inevitability of this tragedy. It is inevitable that Edward King, like everybody else, will have to die. He had to die.
Now Milton is becoming a little more optimistic. He is throwing the coffin with flowers, and he is thinking of the future. "Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new." That is the last line of *Lycidas*. *Lycidas* is gone, but he's immortal. He is with the gods and angels. And "Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new." There is more left for the future. Hope, optimism. This is a poem that beautifully blends pagan elements or Hellenic elements with Christian elements. Hellenic and Hebraic elements fuse in *Lycidas*.
*Lycidas*, the pastoral elegy, is often compared to another pastoral elegy that Milton wrote, *Epitaphium Damonis*. He wrote it for his friend Diodati. After the Horton period, Milton went on a 15-month foreign tour. He went abroad traveling. He met many great masters of the Renaissance, including Galileo. And when he returned to England after his foreign tour, things had completely changed in England. What happened in England at this time? All of us know the Civil War was raging in England. And Milton supported the Puritans, the Republicans, against the King and the Royalists. The Civil War was between the Puritans, or the Roundheads, and the Royalists, or the Cavaliers.
Milton became the official spokesperson of the Roundheads, or the Puritans. He wrote *Iconoclastes* against Charles's autobiography, *Icon Basilike*. He wrote a series of pamphlets and tracts. His prose works are dominant in this period. Milton's prose works are powerful political statements. But Milton knew that he was the future poet. He reserved his right hand for poetry and called his prose his left hand. Did you understand?
Milton wrote both in Latin and English, but his last Latin poem, *Elegia Prima*, was already written at this time. Milton wrote anti-monarchical pamphlets against monarchy, political, anti-political pamphlets. They were on religion. And he wrote a series of four divorce tracts on the doctrine and discipline of divorce. Very famous, you know why? Because at this time, Milton's own wife had left him, Mary Powell. Milton was a great man, polyglot, scholar, but he must have been a terrible husband, probably because he didn't have time for domestic chores. And Mary Powell, a young girl, just 16 years old, she left Milton, went back to her parents. Milton was so angry, he wrote the divorce tracts because divorce was not legal at that time. He wanted divorce. He wanted a wife, and he wrote the pamphlets on divorce. But Mary Powell returned. But later, she died in childbirth. Milton had married thrice in his lifetime. This was the first.
And when he advocated divorce, he was actually going against the status quo or the conventions of the Protestants. There was in 1643 a licensing order, and Milton wrote against this censorship order, licensing order. And that pamphlet everybody knows, *Areopagitica*, 1644, on the freedom of the press. It was in the form of a speech addressing the Parliament of England, modeled on the Greek orator Isocrates, referring to Areopagus, the hill on which several real and legendary tribunals took place.
At that time, *Areopagitica* argues that it is wrong to censor books because great thinkers, great scholars, they know what they are writing about. Nobody has the right to censor their books and writing. There was no such censorship mentioned in the Bible. There was no such censorship in the Greek or Roman period. Milton is saying that, arguing that there is life in a book. To kill a book is like killing God. It is against God. It is heresy. There are famous, powerful lines that Milton has written in *Areopagitica* in favor of freedom of speech.
In *Areopagitica* as well as another pamphlet that Milton wrote at this time, *Of Education*, it was addressed to the educationist reformer Samuel Hartlib. Here, in these pamphlets, Milton emerges as the champion of Christian humanism. He shows classical values in all of education. He talks about an ideal classical curriculum, and he lays the foundations of the Christian humanist epics that he was to write later.
Milton's greatest poems were all published after the Restoration: *Paradise Lost*, *Paradise Regained*, and *Samson Agonistes*. Let me tell you about them. *Paradise Lost* was published in 10 books in the year 1667. It is the only literary epic in English, and it is written in blank verse. *Paradise Lost* has classical echoes and it appeared with explanatory notes. The aim of *Paradise Lost* is to justify the ways of God to men. And also the subject of *Paradise Lost* is the fall of man.
First, *Paradise Lost* appeared in 10 books. Later, it was revised in 12 books. In 1667, it was printed in 10 books. In 1674, the year in which Milton died, it was revised in 12 books. Shall I tell you what each book is about?
In Book One, Satan, Beelzebub, and the other fallen angels are waking after their war in heaven. They had been thrown out, and they are building Pandemonium. In Book Two, Satan is opening debate in Pandemonium. Pandemonium means all devils. It is Satan's parliament. In Book Three, God foresees imminent danger from Satan. God knows that Satan will try to tempt man. And in Book Four, Satan enters Eden, but he doesn't tempt man. He sees the beautiful Eden. He sees how he has been thrown out of his central position in the favor of God. You know the story? Satan was an angel, the greatest archangel, Lucifer, and he was very close to God. God loved him. He became proud, and God and Son together created man. Satan became jealous, and the fall of man is like a revenge of Satan on God. Satan is an injured son. He is sad that his father has done this to him.
In the early books of *Paradise Lost*, Satan is presented with leadership qualities. He is presented almost as great as a hero. It is in the later books, in Book Nine, that he becomes a wily serpent. So this depiction of Satan as a hero in the early books of *Paradise Lost*, you might know, intrigued writers like William Blake. What did William Blake say? Tell me, type in the chat box. William Blake said, "Satan is the devil's party without knowing it." He said that in *The Marriage of Heaven and Hell*.
And this Satan becomes a wily serpent in Book Nine. And before that, what happened? In Book Five, Raphael, the angel Raphael, comes to Eden, meets Adam, and he warns Adam against the dangers posed by Satan. In Books Five and Six, both, he warns Adam. In Book Seven, he talks about the creation of Adam and Eve. And in Book Eight, Adam is asking questions to Raphael. All these questions Raphael cannot answer. And after giving one more warning, Raphael leaves. And then immediately after all this warning, in Book Nine, there is the fall of man. Eve and Adam work separately, and Eve is approached by the serpent. The serpent uses reason on Eve and tempts her into eating the forbidden fruit. After eating the forbidden fruit, she begins to think like the serpent. She tempts Adam in much the same way as a serpent tempted Eve. But Adam is not tempted. However, he eats the fruit out of his love for Eve because he does not want Eve to be alone in punishment.
After eating the forbidden fruits, they begin to feel shame. They make love not like before, but for the pleasure of it. And the harm is done. In Book Ten, Son of God comes and pronounces punishment on man. In Book Eleven, the Son intercedes with God in favor of man. He does not want God to punish them with death. In Book Twelve, Michael, the angel, leads Adam and Eve out of Eden and tells Adam and Eve of the future. Christ will come. And Adam is amazed to hear about the coming of Christ, and he says, "*Felix culpa*", or "fortunate mistake." Means mistake, fortunate mistake. And at the end, Adam turns to the paradise within. You know, inside us, within us, there is a paradise. He turns to the paradise within him. That is the ending of *Paradise Lost*.
You should know the poem in detail. You should know all the books in detail. In Book Eleven, when Michael talks about Adam, sorry, to Adam about the future of mankind, he talks about glorious cities like Agra and Lahore. They had asked in net about it recently. Very, very important reference.
And then came *Paradise Regained*. Why? Because in *Paradise Lost*, man has committed sin, the original sin, and lost Eden. In *Paradise Regained*, Christ is coming in the form of man, the Son of God is becoming Son of Man, and undergoing the same temptation, but this time resisting temptation. That is how regaining paradise. Satan tempts Christ in much the same way. Son of Man, or Son of God, is fasting for 40 days in the wilderness. Satan comes and offers him food, pleasure, a public life of power. The Son rejects all this. He chooses a private life instead. You know, meekness, private life, a small life. That is a very important virtue in Christianity. Power, fame, these are negative in Christianity. And Christ teaches us a very valuable lesson by choosing private life as against public life of power.
*Paradise Regained* is a little epic. It is a mini-epic, an epic poem. It has only four books. It was published in 1671, along with which other book, you know? *Samson Agonistes*. *Paradise Regained* was published with *Samson Agonistes*. What is *Samson Agonistes*? It is a closet drama. Did you know, guys, *Paradise Lost* was also originally meant to be a drama, a play? He started writing a play called *Adam Unparadised*. That is what later became the epic.
Now, *Samson Agonistes* is a closet drama, meant for reading. *Samson Agonistes*. Samson is a champion of the Israelites against, means champion or wrestler. Samson is a champion, a leader of the Israelites. He's imprisoned in a heathen temple by the Philistines, and he's lying there. His sweetheart Delilah, who loves him, just wants him to remain alive. So she's hoping that he will not fight the Philistines. And he's secretly cutting off his hair because it is in his hair that his power lies. When his hair grows, he gets powerful. Delilah is cutting off his hair. All the story of Samson, we come to know through the dialogues of Samson and the monologues of Samson. People are coming to meet him, like his own father Manoah. And then Delilah tells him what has been happening.
At this time, Samson has been blinded. This is semi-autobiographical. He's like Milton. Milton also is not allowed to come to his full potential. That is what he means. Delilah tells him how she had been trying to protect him by cutting off his hair. Samson prevents Delilah from doing this anymore. His hair grows back. He regains his power, and he pulls down the heathen temple, crushing all his enemies and himself. He dies. But this is not happening on stage. This is happening off stage. It is reported, like in a true classical tragedy. *Samson Agonistes* maintains unity of time and unity of action and unity of place, and it ends all the anger and rebellion in a frustration. In the play, it ends with a peaceful, on a peaceful note. The last line of *Samson Agonistes* is very famous: "Calm of mind, all passion spent."
Milton not only wrote epics and prose, he wrote sonnets. Did you know? Miltonic sonnets are quite different from Elizabethan sonnets. They are more philosophical. They are not about love, friendship, etc. Altogether, Milton has written 23 sonnets, of which sonnets number 18 and 19 are very important. Do you know which is sonnet number 18? *On the Late Massacre in Piedmont*. Have you heard of it? It is about Charles Emmanuel II. He was Duke of Savoy. He massacred Waldensians for religious reasons. That is what sonnet 18 is about.
Sonnet 19, everybody knows, very famous: "When I consider how my light is spent," which is that sonnet on his blindness. In the sonnet, you know, Milton is blind at this time. He's asking God, "God, if you wanted me to be blind, why did you give me these greater gifts?" He is disillusioned and desperate. And then he gets the reply: "They also serve who only stand and wait." That is a beautiful message, you know. We may not be in the forefront of everything all the time. We may not be achieving all the time. We may not be performing all the time. Some of us have to wait. Some of us have to be in the back of the queue. But waiting for our turn, waiting patiently, is also a means of serving God. You don't have to be achievers all the time. You know, even by waiting, even by being at the back, you are helping the society, this universe, to move forward. That is also a means of serving God. That is the meaning: "They also serve who only stand and wait." That is something that has really influenced me in my life, you know. That's a beautiful message, isn't it?
And Milton wrote all his poems in what is called grand style. It was Matthew Arnold who talked about grand style as a theory, and later Christopher Ricks wrote a book called *Grand Style*. What is this grand style? It is a classical style, Latinized and complex. It is philosophical and written about great ideas. It is sublime. Longinus, a sublimity. Do you remember? Sublimity is an elevation in thinking and expression. You know, *On the Sublime* originally written in Greek, *Peri Hypsous*, it was translated into English sometime in the time of Milton. Milton must have been influenced by it. And it was Dryden who called Milton a poet of the sublime.
As part of grand style, Milton uses Homeric similes or epic similes, extended similes. There are many such examples in *Paradise Lost*. And Milton uses Latinized diction. Milton uses symbols that can convey layers of meaning, such as maze or labyrinth. That is a very important symbol in Milton.
Milton was an amazing writer. Milton's *Paradise Lost* has influenced so many later writers. Dryden himself, in the time of Milton, wrote an adaptation of *Paradise Lost* called *The State of Innocence*. It was an operatic adaptation.
So that is about Milton. I hope my little lecture will inspire you to read more. You should read *Paradise Lost*. You should read at least a few passages of "Man's first disobedience, and the fruit of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste brought death into this world." You know, the opening of *Paradise Lost*. We should be able to enjoy, read and enjoy, and probably quote such world-famous lines. That is very important. And please read extra. Read detailed summaries if you can, and make your own notes. This is all very, very important. And also answer those questions that I ask in Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. I hope you've been following them. Together, all this will be an amazing preparation for not only passing several exams but also a wonderful career. And until the next video, bye-bye. Happy studying.