John Milton's Epic Invocations: Converting the MuseA crisis over the function and identity of the Muse occurred in seventeenth-century religious poetry: How could Christian writers use a pagan device? Using rhetorical analysis, Phillips examines epic invocations in order to show how this crisis was eventually reconciled in the works of John Milton. While predecessors such as Abraham Cowley and Guillaume du Bartas either rejected the pagan Muses outright or attempted to Christianize them, Milton invoked the inspirational power of the Muses throughout his poetic career. In Paradise Lost, Milton confronts the tension between his Muse's «name» and «meaning». While never fully rejecting the Muse's pagan past, Milton's four proems (PL I, III, VII, and IX) increasingly emphasize the muse's Christian «meaning» over her pagan «name». Ultimately, Milton's syncretic blending of pagan and Christian conventions restores vitality and resonance to the literary trope of the muse. |
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Page 5
... Trinity , the Muse may be regarded as " male , " but when invoked as Divine Wisdom , the Muse resembles Sophia . While Milton's Muse can be seen as a function of the Holy Spirit , she may also personify the feminine Greek goddesses ...
... Trinity , the Muse may be regarded as " male , " but when invoked as Divine Wisdom , the Muse resembles Sophia . While Milton's Muse can be seen as a function of the Holy Spirit , she may also personify the feminine Greek goddesses ...
Page 25
... Trinity College , Cambridge in about 1638 ( when Milton was beginning to think of his Arthuriad ) , and expanded it in later years , without completing more than four of the projected twelve books . 18 In his 1656 Preface , Cowley takes ...
... Trinity College , Cambridge in about 1638 ( when Milton was beginning to think of his Arthuriad ) , and expanded it in later years , without completing more than four of the projected twelve books . 18 In his 1656 Preface , Cowley takes ...
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