Milton's Wisdom: Nature and Scripture in Paradise LostMilton's Wisdom examines the poet's use of the traditional notion that the eternal wisdom of God expressed itself in the "books" of nature and Scripture. It is the first study to draw attention to Milton's extensive use of biblical wisdom literature in his dramatization of Adam and Eve's education, their fall, and their reconciliation with one another and with God. The author looks at the ways theological and hence epistemological questions converge on and are generated by Adam's, Eve's, and Satan's responses to the world they see around them and to the words God and his emissaries speak to them. Reichert argues that the nature/Scripture dichotomy informs the symmetrical structure of the twelve books of Milton's epic. Milton's Wisdom challenges previous readings that have tried to ally Milton with the Puritans' strict theology of the word. Reichert has shifted our attention away from literary and historical theory and back to the experience of the poem as a whole. |
From inside the book
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Page 122
... fruit that had merely been named , along with tree and flower , as one of the visual delights of Eden , becomes singled out as " fruit surcharged , " " fruit divine , / Sweet of thy self , but much more sweet thus cropt . " The ...
... fruit that had merely been named , along with tree and flower , as one of the visual delights of Eden , becomes singled out as " fruit surcharged , " " fruit divine , / Sweet of thy self , but much more sweet thus cropt . " The ...
Page 147
... fruit , and some is dedicated to providing indirect evidence ( the for- biddance itself ) that the fruit must be desirable . A very few mysteri- ous phrases ( " It gives you life / To knowledge ... ye shall be as gods " ) suggest , but ...
... fruit , and some is dedicated to providing indirect evidence ( the for- biddance itself ) that the fruit must be desirable . A very few mysteri- ous phrases ( " It gives you life / To knowledge ... ye shall be as gods " ) suggest , but ...
Page 216
... fruit , in other words , as a parody of the fruit of Wisdom . There was , in fact , a tradition that associated the tree of life with Wisdom . For Augustine , as for Isidore of Seville after him , the tree of life signified both Christ ...
... fruit , in other words , as a parody of the fruit of Wisdom . There was , in fact , a tradition that associated the tree of life with Wisdom . For Augustine , as for Isidore of Seville after him , the tree of life signified both Christ ...
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Paradise Lost | 51 |
Meditating on the Creatures Part | 69 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
Adam and Eve Adam's angels answer appears beauty become beginning Book bring calls chapter conversation course created creation creatures death describes desire divine earth effect emphasis Eve's evil expressed eyes face fact fair faith Fall fallen Father fear feel follow fruit given gives God's grace hand happy hath hear heard heart heaven heavenly human hymn John knowledge leave light lines live look Lord meaning Michael Milton mind morning move nature once opening Paradise Lost passage perhaps phrase poem poet praise prayer present providence question Raphael reader reason reference Satan says Scripture seems seen sense sight speak speech spirit story suggest sweet tells thee things thou thought tree turn understanding University Press unto voice wisdom wonder words
References to this book
All in All: Unity, Diversity, and the Miltonic Perspective Charles W. Durham,Kristin A. Pruitt Limited preview - 1999 |