Milton's Theory of Poetry and Fine Art: An Essay |
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Page 5
... action may be , it ought not to pass for great unless it is the result of a great motive . ' . Sobriety and industry , patient effort and daring , are meaningless , perhaps vicious , unless the end for which they are practised form them ...
... action may be , it ought not to pass for great unless it is the result of a great motive . ' . Sobriety and industry , patient effort and daring , are meaningless , perhaps vicious , unless the end for which they are practised form them ...
Page 9
... action , with a dignity of look and manner , befitting a man of holi- ness and probity . " Compare the lines in The Second Defence of the People of England in which Milton says he has never ' disgraced beauty of sentiment by deformity ...
... action , with a dignity of look and manner , befitting a man of holi- ness and probity . " Compare the lines in The Second Defence of the People of England in which Milton says he has never ' disgraced beauty of sentiment by deformity ...
Page 15
... actions : Which the Almighty seeing , From His transcendent seat the Saints among , To those bright Orders uttered thus his voice : ' See with what heat these dogs of Hell advance To waste and havoc yonder World , which I So fair and ...
... actions : Which the Almighty seeing , From His transcendent seat the Saints among , To those bright Orders uttered thus his voice : ' See with what heat these dogs of Hell advance To waste and havoc yonder World , which I So fair and ...
Page 72
... actions and events in a way suited to their dignity and importance , ought to write with a mind endued with a spirit , and enlarged by an experience , as extensive as the actors in the scene , that he may have a capacity properly to ...
... actions and events in a way suited to their dignity and importance , ought to write with a mind endued with a spirit , and enlarged by an experience , as extensive as the actors in the scene , that he may have a capacity properly to ...
Page 73
... actions were . " 2 Though one is here reminded of ' the main consistence of a true poem , " the vital distinction between poetry and history remains clear . Like Sidney , Milton ties the historians ' not to what should be , but to what ...
... actions were . " 2 Though one is here reminded of ' the main consistence of a true poem , " the vital distinction between poetry and history remains clear . Like Sidney , Milton ties the historians ' not to what should be , but to what ...
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Common terms and phrases
ancient angels Animadversions Apology Areopagitica Aristotle Aristotle's artist atque beauty Book Brit Bywater called Castelvetro catharsis chap Christian Doctrine Bk Church-Gov Comus Crit critics Dante decorum Defence delight divine dramatic earth Eikonoclastes Elegia English enim epic epic poetry Epist Essays fable Faerie Queene fame Garden Greek Gregory Smith harmony hath Heaven heavenly heroes heroic Hist honor Horace immortal Italian John Milton kings Latin law of form learning light Lycidas mihi mind Minturno Muse nature numbers Paradise Lost Paradise Regained passage passion Phoebus Plato poem poet poeta Poetics poetry praise preface to Samson Prolus prose quam quid quod references rime Samson Agonistes Satan says Shakespeare song speak Spenser spirit style subject-matter Tasso taught Tetrachordon thee theme theory things thou thought tion tragedy tragic trans Translation by Cowper Translation by Fellowes true truth verisimilitude verse voice words writes
Popular passages
Page 175 - I was confirmed in this opinion, that he who would not be frustrate of his hope to write well hereafter in laudable things, ought himself to be a true poem...
Page 271 - OF Man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing, heavenly muse...
Page 237 - Rain influence, and judge the prize Of wit or arms, while both contend To win her grace whom all commend. There let Hymen oft appear In saffron robe, with taper clear, And pomp, and feast, and revelry, With mask and antique pageantry; Such sights as youthful poets dream On summer eves by haunted stream. Then to the well-trod stage anon, If Jonson's learned sock be on, Or sweetest Shakespeare, Fancy's child, Warble his native wood-notes wild.
Page 17 - Or hear'st thou rather pure ethereal stream, Whose fountain who shall tell? Before the Sun,— Before the Heavens thou wert ; and at the voice Of God, as with a mantle, didst invest 10 The rising world of waters dark and deep, Won from the void and formless infinite.
Page 307 - I deny not, but that it is of greatest concernment in the church and commonwealth, to have a vigilant eye how books demean themselves as well as men; and thereafter to confine, imprison, and do sharpest justice on them as malefactors...
Page 36 - Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rose like an exhalation, with the sound Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet, Built like a temple, where pilasters round Were set, and Doric pillars overlaid With golden architrave ; nor did there want Cornice or frieze, with bossy sculptures graven •, The roof was fretted gold.
Page 206 - And ever, against eating cares, Lap me in soft Lydian airs, Married to immortal verse, — Such as the meeting soul may pierce, In notes with many a winding bout Of linked sweetness long drawn out, With wanton heed and giddy cunning The melting voice through mazes running, Untwisting all the chains that tie The hidden soul of harmony, — That Orpheus...
Page 198 - So on he fares, and to the border comes Of Eden, where delicious Paradise, Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green, As with a rural mound, the champaign head Of a steep wilderness, whose hairy sides With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild, Access denied...
Page 200 - Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose ; Another side, umbrageous grots and caves Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps Luxuriant...
Page 22 - Their dread commander : he, above the rest In shape and gesture proudly eminent, Stood like a tower : his form had yet not lost All her original brightness ; nor appeared Less than arch-angel ruined, and the excess Of glory obscured...