Life Of John Milton, Richard Garnett [ebook offline txt] 📗

Red Light.  The People Had Assembled Before The

Palace With Torches In Order To Do Homage To Pharaoh,  The Son Of Light.

The King Looked Annoyed.  Such Homage Was Repeated Every New Moon--He

Desired It,  And Yet It Bored Him.  He Beckoned To The Cup-Bearers,  He

Wanted A Goblet Of Wine.  That Brought The Blood To His Cheeks,  And The

Light To His Eyes.  He Joined In The Hymn Of Praise To Osiris,  And His

Whole Form Glowed With Strength And Gladness.

 

When The Quiet Night Succeeded The Luxurious Day,  So Still Was It That

The Lapping Of The Waves Of The Nile Might Be Heard.  Jesus Lay On A

Curtained Couch Of Down,  And Could Not Sleep.  How Well He Had Slept In

The Hut By The Nile!  He Was Hot And Rose And Looked Out Of The Window.

The Stars Sparkled Like Tiny Suns.  He Lay Down Again,  Prayed To His

Father,  And Fell Asleep.  The Next Day,  When The Feast Was Over,  He

Would Find The Rooms In Which The Old Writings Were Kept,  And The

Teachers Who Would Instruct Him.  But It Was Not Like The Feast That

Comes To An End; It Was Repeated Every Day At The King's Court.

 

It Happened One Night That The Slaves Stole Around And Woke Each Other.

Jesus Became Aware Of The Subdued Noise And Asked The Cause.  One

Approached Him And Whispered,  "Pharaoh Weeps!"  Like A Mysterious

Breath Of Wind It Went Through The Palace,  "Pharaoh Weeps!"  Then All

Was Still Again,  And The Dreaming Night Lay Over Everything.

 

Jesus Did Not Lie Down Again On The Soft Cushions,  He Rested On The

Cool Floor And Thought.  The King Weeps!  Arabia And India,  Greece And

Rome Have Sent Their Costliest Treasures To Memphis.  Phoenician Ships

Cruise Off The Coasts Of Gaul,  Albion,  And Germany In Order To Obtain

Treasure For The Great Pharaoh.  His People Surround Him Day After Day

With Homage,  His Life Is At Its Prime.  And He Weeps?  Was It Not

Perhaps That He Sobbed In His Dreams,  Or It May Be Laughed?  But The

Watchers Think He Weeps.

 

 

 

Chapter 11 Pg 106

 

 

 

And The Days Passed By.  As The King Had Said,  The Boy Was Free.  But

He Stayed On At The Palace Because He Hoped One Day To Find The Room In

Which The Manuscripts Were Kept.  He Often Strolled Through The Town

And The Palm-Grove Down To The River To See His Parents.  Thousands Of

Chapter 11 Pg 107

Slaves Were Working At The Sluices Of The Stream Which Fertilised The

Land.  The Overseer Scourged Them Lustily,  So That Many Of Them Fell

Down Exhausted And Even Dying.  Jesus Looked On And Denounced Such

Barbarity,  Until He,  Too,  Received A Blow.  Then He Went Out To The

Pyramids Where The Pharaohs Slept,  And Listened If They Were Not

Weeping.  He Went Into The Temple Of Osiris And Looked At The Monster

Idols,  Fat,  Soulless,  Ugly,  Between The Rounded Pillars.  He Searched

The Palace Untiringly For The Hall In Which The Writings Were Kept,  And

At Last He Came Upon It.  But It Was Closed: Its Custodians Were

Hunting Jackals And Tigers In The Desert.  They Found It Dark And

Dreary There Among The Great Minds Of Old; The Splendour And Luxury Of

The Court Did Not Penetrate To The Hall Of Writings.

 

Then Nights Came Again When Whispers Ran Through The Halls,  "Pharaoh

Weeps."  And The Reason,  Too,  Was Whispered.  He Had Caused The Woman

He Loved Best To Be Strangled,  And Now The Astrologers Declared That

She Was Innocent.  One Day The King Lay On His Couch And Desired That

The Boy From The Nile Should Be Summoned To Fan Him.  As The King Was

S "Securus Judicat Orbis

Terrarum." On One Point Only There Seems To Us,  As We Have Frequently

Implied,  To Be Room For Modification. In The Popular Conception Of

Milton The Poet And The Man Are Imperfectly Combined. We Allow His

Greatness As A Poet,  But Deny Him The Poetical Temperament Which Alone

Could Have Enabled Him To Attain It. He Is Looked Upon As A Great,  Good,

Reverend,  Austere,  Not Very Amiable,  And Not Very Sensitive Man. The

Author And The Book Are Thus Set At Variance,  And The Attempt To

Conceive The Character As A Whole Results In Confusion And

Inconsistency. To Us,  On The Contrary,  Milton,  With All His Strength Of

Will And Regularity Of Life,  Seems As Perfect A Representative As Any Of

His Compeers Of The Sensitiveness And Impulsive Passion Of The Poetical

Temperament. We Appeal To His Remarkable Dependence Upon External

Prompting For His Compositions; To The Rapidity Of His Work Under

Excitement,  And His Long Intervals Of Unproductiveness; To The Heat And

Fury Of His Polemics; To The Simplicity With Which,  Fortunately For Us,

He Inscribes Small Particulars Of His Own Life Side By Side With

Weightiest Utterances On Church And State; To The Amazing Precipitancy

Of His Marriage And Its Rupture; To His Sudden Pliability Upon Appeal To

His Generosity; To His Romantic Self-Sacrifice When His Country Demanded

His Eyes From Him; Above All,  To His Splendid Ideals Of Regenerated

Human Life,  Such As Poets Alone Either Conceive Or Realize. To Overlook

All This Is To Affirm That Milton Wrote Great Poetry Without Being Truly

A Poet. One More Remark May Be Added,  Though Not Required By Thinking

Readers. We Must Beware Of Confounding The Essential With The Accidental

Milton--The Pure Vital Spirit With The Casual Vesture Of The Creeds And

Circumstances Of The Era In Which It Became Clothed With Mortality:--

 

         "They Are Still Immortal

          Who,  Through Birth's Orient Portal

    And Death's Dark Chasm Hurrying To And Fro,

          Clothe Their Unceasing Flight

          In The Brief Dust And Light

    Gathered Around Their Chariots As They Go.

          New Shapes They Still May Weave,

          New Gods,  New Laws,  Receive."

Chapter 11 Pg 108

 

If We Knew For Certain Which Of The Many Causes That Have Enlisted Noble

Minds In Our Age Would Array Milton's Spirit "In Brief Dust And Light,"

Supposing It Returned To Earth In This Nineteenth Century,  We Should

Know Which Was The Noblest Of Them All,  But We Should Be As Far As Ever

From Knowing A Final And Stereotyped Milton.

Footnotes Pg 109

[Footnote 1: A Famous Presbyterian Tract Of The Day,  So Called From The

Combined Initials Of The Authors,  One Of Whom Was Milton's Old

Instructor,  Thomas Young. The "Remonstrant" To Whom Milton Replied Was

Bishop Hall.]

 

[Footnote 2: This Principle Admitted Of General Application. For

Example,  Astrological Books Were To Be Licensed By John Booker,  Who

Could By No Means See His Way To Pass The Prognostications Of His Rival

Lilly Without "Many Impertinent Obliterations," Which Made Lilly

Exceeding Wroth.]

 

[Footnote 3: Two Persons Of This Uncommon Name Are Mentioned In The

State Papers Of Milton's Time--One A Merchant Who Imported A Cargo Of

Timber; The Other A Leatherseller. The Name Also Occurs Once In Pepys.]

 

[Footnote 4: Rossetti's Sonnet,  "On The Refusal Of Aid Between Nations,"

Is An Almost Equally Remarkable Instance.]

 

[Footnote 5: The Same Is Recorded Of Friedrich Hebbel,  The Most Original

Of Modern German Dramatists.]

 

[Footnote 6: In His "Urim Of Conscience," 1695. This Curious Book

Contains One Of The First English Accounts Of Buddha,  Whom The Author

Calls Chacabout (Sakhya Buddha,  Apparently),  And Of The "Christians Of

St. John" At Bassora.]

 

[Footnote 7: Ariosto And Marcellus Palingenius. Both These Wrote Before

Ronsard,  To Whom The Thought Is Traced By Pattison,  And Valvasone,  To

Whom Hayley Deems Milton Indebted For It.]

 

[Footnote 8: We Cannot Agree With Mr. Edmundson That Milton Was In Any

Respect Indebted To Vondel's "Adam's Banishment," Published In 1664.]

 

[Footnote 9: Theocritus,  Idyll I.; Lang's Translation.]

Index Pg 110

A.

 

Adam,  Not The Hero Of "Paradise Lost," 155

 

Adonais Compared With Lycidas,  51

 

Aldersgate Street,  Milton's Home In,  67,  83

 

"Allegro,  L.," 49-50

 

Andreini,  His "Adamo" Supposed To Have Suggested "Paradise Lost," 169

 

Anglesey,  Earl Of,  Visits Milton,  186

 

"Animadversions Upon The Remonstrant," 72

 

"Apology For Smectymnuus," 72

 

"Arcades," 44

 

"Areopagitica,  The," 78;

  Argument Of,  79-82

 

Arian Opinions Of Milton,  159,  191

 

Ariosto,  Milton Borrows From,  164

 

Artillery Walk,  Milton's Last House,  144

 

"At A Solemn Music," 33

 

Aubrey's Biographical Notices Of Milton,  14,  15,  19,  24,  129,  144,  145

 

 

 

 

B.

 

Ball's Life Of Preston,  23

 

Barbican,  Milton's House In The,  96

 

Index Pg 111