Reading Paradise Lost (the second time when I wasn't an obnoxious teen atheist) was a pretty special thing to me, it almost felt "magic" how Milton could conjour up this really absurd/horrific/abstract imagery but it felt familiar and old like a memory? Then there's the beautiful audacity of the introduction and all the complexities stemming from Milton's political and religious beliefs. Gorgeous verse goes without saying. That said, I'm not one to moralize when it comes to art but I can never get over just how viciously Eve is portrayed tho lol.
I'm still meaning to read all of "Milton" by Blake sometime (I find his epics lil difficult)
I always shell out for any Illuminated Blake. I missed the big 5 volume set back in the 90's so I will forever be catching up. Fun fact- Milton's daughter wrote paradise, Milton created mostly from memory. Do not see how anyone could hold the entire thing in their head. Then again rote memory is lost on modern man.....
I knew he was blind and had to dictate to his daughters, didn't know it was from memory though. Had he actually begun to write any of it before he went blind?
Reading Paradise Lost (the second time when I wasn't an obnoxious teen atheist) was a pretty special thing to me, it almost felt "magic" how Milton could conjour up this really absurd/horrific/abstract imagery but it felt familiar and old like a memory? Then there's the beautiful audacity of the introduction and all the complexities stemming from Milton's political and religious beliefs. Gorgeous verse goes without saying. That said, I'm not one to moralize when it comes to art but I can never get over just how viciously Eve is portrayed tho lol.
I'm still meaning to read all of "Milton" by Blake sometime (I find his epics lil difficult)
I always shell out for any Illuminated Blake. I missed the big 5 volume set back in the 90's so I will forever be catching up. Fun fact- Milton's daughter wrote paradise, Milton created mostly from memory. Do not see how anyone could hold the entire thing in their head. Then again rote memory is lost on modern man.....
I knew he was blind and had to dictate to his daughters, didn't know it was from memory though. Had he actually begun to write any of it before he went blind?