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. |
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Page 44
... mind and wisdom of the heavenly Father , enlighten my mind , that ( being blind in all other things ) I may see nothing , but that which belongeth to thee.50 The first words we hear Adam utter are spoken after their meal , and they are ...
... mind and wisdom of the heavenly Father , enlighten my mind , that ( being blind in all other things ) I may see nothing , but that which belongeth to thee.50 The first words we hear Adam utter are spoken after their meal , and they are ...
Page 87
... mind , and one that continues to exert pressure on him , is that of repentance , and it is immediately rejected . He powerfully asserts the fixedness of his mind . But to do so is difficult . What he displays here is not rhetorical ...
... mind , and one that continues to exert pressure on him , is that of repentance , and it is immediately rejected . He powerfully asserts the fixedness of his mind . But to do so is difficult . What he displays here is not rhetorical ...
Page 91
... mind not to be changed by place or time . The mind is its own place , and in itself Can make a heaven of hell , a hell of heaven . ( 1.242-55 ) There is deep sadness in the repeated , stressed demonstratives of the first four lines ...
... mind not to be changed by place or time . The mind is its own place , and in itself Can make a heaven of hell , a hell of heaven . ( 1.242-55 ) There is deep sadness in the repeated , stressed demonstratives of the first four lines ...
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 |