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

Poets: Great As Milton's

Obligations,  To Nature Were,  His Obligations To Books Were Greater. But

He Has Made All His Own By The Alchemy Of His Genius,  And Borrows Little

But To Improve. The Most Remarkable Coincidence Is With A Piece

Certainly Unknown To Him--Calderon's "Magico Prodigioso," Which Was

First Acted In 1637,  The Year Of The Publication Of "Comus," A Great

Year In The History Of The Drama,  For The "Cid" Appeared In It Also. The

Similarity Of The Situations Of Justina Tempted By The Demon,  And The

Lady In The Power Of Comus,  Has Naturally Begotten A Like Train Of

Thought In Both Poets.

 

     "_Comus._ Nay,  Lady,  Sit; If I But Wave This Wand,

    Your Nerves Are All Chained Up In Alabaster,

    And You A Statue,  Or,  As Daphne Was,

    Root-Bound,  That Fled Apollo.

 

      _Lady._                     Fool,  Do Not Boast

    Thou Can'st Not Touch The Freedom Of My Mind

    With All Thy Charms,  Although This Corporal Rind

    Thou Hast Immanacled,  While Heaven Sees Good."

 

 

 

 

     "_Justina._ Thought Is Not In My Power,  But Action Is.

    I Will Not Move My Foot To Follow Thee.

 

      _Demon._ But A Far Mightier Wisdom Than Thine Own

    Exerts Itself Within Thee,  With Such Power

    Compelling Thee To That Which It Inclines

    That It Shall Force Thy Step; How Wilt Thou Then

    Resist,  Justina?

 

      _Justina._ By My Free Will.

 

      _Demon._                    I

    Must Force Thy Will.

 

      _Justina._           It Is Invincible.

    It Were Not Free If Thou Had'st Power Upon It."

 

It Must Be Admitted That Where The Spaniard And The Englishman Come

Directly Into Competition The Former Excels. The Dispute Between The

Lady And Comus May Be,  As Johnson Says It Is,  "The Most Animating And

Affecting Scene In The Drama;" But,  Tried By The Dramatic Test Which

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Calderon Bears So Well,  It Is Below The Exigencies And The Possibilities

Of The Subject. Nor Does The Poetry Here,  Quite So Abundantly As In The

Other Scenes In This Unrivalled "Suite Of Speeches," Atone For The

Deficiencies Of The Play.

 

It Is A Just Remark Of Pattison's That "In A Mind Of The Consistent

Texture Of Milton's,  Motives Are Secretly Influential Before They Emerge

In Consciousness." In September,  1637,  Milton Had Complained To Diodati

Of His Cramped Situation In The Country,  And Talked Of Taking Chambers

In London. Within A Few Months We Find This Vague Project Matured Into A

Settled Scheme Of Foreign Travel. One Tie To Home Had Been Severed By

The Death Of His Mother In The Preceding April; And His Father Was To

Find Another Prop Of His Old Age In His Second Son,  Christopher,  About

To Marry And Reside With Him. "Lycidas" Had Appeared Meanwhile,  Or Was

To Appear,  And Its Bold Denunciation Of The Romanizing Clergy Might Well

Offend The Ruling Powers. The Atmosphere At Home Was,  At All Events,

Difficult Breathing For An Impotent Patriot; And Milton May Have Come To

See What We So Clearly See In "Comus," That His Asperities And

Limitations Needed Contact With The World. Why Speak Of The Charms Of

Italy,  In Themselves Sufficient Allurement To A Poet And Scholar? His

Father,  Trustful And Unselfish As Of Old,  Found The Considerable Sum

Requi Slowly Into The Scales In Order To Delight The

Eyes Of The Pilgrims.  Buyers Made Their Way Through,  Looked Scornfully

At The Goods,  Haggled,  Laughed,  And Bought.  Rabbis Glided Round In

Long Caftans And Soft Shoes So That They Were Not Heard.  They Wore

Velvet Caps On Their Heads Below Which Hung Their Curly Black Or Grey

Hair.  They Carried Large Parchment Scrolls Under Their Arms--For The

Sabbath Was About To Begin--Slipped Around With A Dignified Yet Cunning

Manner,  Bargained Here And There With Shopkeepers Or Their Wives,

Vanished Behind The Curtains And Then Reappeared.

 

When Jesus Had For Some Time Observed All This Confusion From The

Threshold,  Anger Overcame Him.  Pushing The Traders Aside With His

Arms,  He Cut Himself A Way Through.  At The Nearest Booth He Snatched

Up A Bundle Of Phylacteries,  Swung Them Over The Heads Of The Crowd,

And Exclaimed So Loudly That His Voice Was Heard Above Everything: "Ye

Learned Teachers And Ye Temple Guards,  See How Admirably You Understand

The Letter Of The Word!  It Is Written In The Scriptures: My House Is

For Prayer!  And You Have Turned Solomon's Temple Into A Bazaar!"

Hardly Had He So Spoken When He Overturned A Table With His Hand,  And

Upset Several Benches With His Foot So That The Goods Fell In Confusion

To The Ground Under The Feet Of The Crowd Which Began To Give Way.

They Stared At One Another Speechless,  And He Continued To Thunder

Forth: "My House Shall Be A Holy Refuge For The Downcast And The

Suffering,  Said The Lord.  And You Make It A Den Of Assassins,  And,

With Your Passion For Lucre,  Leave No Place For Men's Souls.  Out With

You,  Ye Cheats And Thieves,  Whether You Higgle Over Your Goods Or With

The Scriptures!"  He Swung The Phylacteries High Over The Rabbis And

Teachers So That They Bent Their Heads And Fled Through The Curtained

Entrances.  But The Rabbis,  The Pharisees,  And The Temple Guards

Assembled In The Side Courts,  And Quickly Took Counsel How They Were To

Seize This Madman And Render Him Harmless.  For See,  Ever More People

Streamed Through The Gates Into The Forecourt,  Surrounded The Angry

Prophet,  And Shouted: "Praised Be Thou,  O Nazarene,  Who Art Come To

Chapter 2 Pg 29

Cleanse The Temple!  Praise And All Hail To Thee,  Long-Looked-For

Saviour!"

 

When The Rabbis Saw How Things Were Going,  They Too Raised Their Voices

And Shouted: "Praised Be The Prophet!  Hail To Thee,  O Nazarene!"

 

"All Is Won!" Whispered The Disciples,  Crowding Up Together.  "Even The

Rabbis Shout!"

 

The Rabbis,  However,  Had Quickly Sent For The Police; They Came Up To

Jesus And,  As Soon As The Crowd Became Quieter,  Entered Into

Conversation With Him.

 

"Master," Said One Of Them,  "Truly You Appear At The Right Time.  The

Condition Of Our Poor People Is Such That We Know Not Which Way To

Turn.  You Are The Man Who Turns Aside Neither To Right Nor Left,  But

Who Keeps In The Straight Path Of Justice.  Tell Us What You Think:

Shall We Jews Pay Taxes To The Roman Emperor Or Shall We Refuse?"

 

Jesus Saw What They Were Driving At,  And Asked To Be Shown A Coin.

They Were Surprised That He Had No Money In His Pockets,  And Handed Him

One Of The Roman Coins Current In The Country.

 

"From Whom Do These Coins Come?" He Asked.

 

"As You See,  From The Roman Emperor."

 

"And Whose Picture Is On The Coin?"

 

"The Emperor's."

 

"And Whose Is The Inscription On The Coin?"

 

"The Emperor's."

 

"Whose Is The Coin?"

 

They Were Silent.

 

Jesus Said: "Render Unto God What Comes From Him,  And Unto Caesar What

Comes From Caesar."

 

Those Who Saw Through The Case Broke Out Into Applause And Shouting

Over The Decision,  And Carried The Crowd With Them.  The Rabbis Were

Secretly Furious That He Had Escaped Their Cunning Snare.  They Had

Reckoned: If He Says,  Pay Taxes To The Roman Emperor,  The People Will

Know That He Is Not The Messiah But Rather A Servant Of The Foreigner.

And If He Says,  Do Not Pay Taxes To The Emperor,  He Is A Demagogue,  And

Will Be Taken Prisoner.  But Now He Has Both Emperor And People On His

Side,  And We Must Let Him Alone.

Cini,  Have Linked Their Names With Milton's By

Their Encomiums On Him Inserted In His Works. The Key-Note Of These

Surprising Productions Is Struck By Francini When He Remarks That The

Chapter 2 Pg 30

Heroes Of England Are Accounted In Italy Superhuman. If This Is So,  Dati

May Be Justified In Comparing A Young Man On His First And Last Foreign

Tour To The Travelled Ulysses; And Francini In Declaring That Thames

Rivals Helicon In Virtue Of Milton's Latin Poems,  Which Alone The

Panegyrist Could Read. Truly,  As Smollett Says,  Italian Is The Language

Of Compliments. If Ludicrous,  However,  The Flattery Is Not Nauseous,  For

It Is Not Wholly Insincere. Amid All Conventional Exaggerations There Is

An Under-Note Of Genuine Feeling,  Showing That The Writers Really Had

Received A Deep Impression From Milton,  Deeper Than They Could Well

Explain Or Understand. The Bow Drawn At A Venture Did Not Miss The Mark,

But It Is A Curious Reflection That Those Of His Performances Which

Would Really Have Justified Their Utmost Enthusiasm Were Hieroglyphical

To Them. Such Of His Literary Exercises As They Could Understand

Consisted,  He Says,  Of "Some Trifles Which I Had In Memory Composed At

Under Twenty Or Thereabout; And Other Things Which I Had Shifted,  In

Scarcity Of Books And Conveniences,  To Patch Up Among Them." The Former

Class Of Compositions May No Doubt Be Partly Identified With His College

Declamations And Latin Verses. What The "Things Patched Up Among Them"

May Have Been Is Unknown. It Is Curious Enough That His Acquaintance

With The Italian Literati Should Have Been The Means Of Preserving One

Of Their Own Compositions,  The "Tina" Of Antonio Malatesti,  A Series Of

Fifty Sonnets On A Mistress,  Sent To Him In Manuscript By The Author,

With A Dedication To The _Illustrissimo Signore Et Padrone

Osservatissimo_. The Pieces Were Not Of A Kind To Be Approved By The

Laureate Of Chastity,  And Annoyance At The Implied Slur Upon His Morals

May Account For His Omission Of Malatesti From The List Of His Italian

Acquaintance. He Carried The Ms. Home,  Nevertheless,  And A Copy Of It,

Finding Its Way Back To Italy In The Eighteenth Century,  Restored

Malatesti's Fifty Indiscretions To The Italian Parnassus. That His

Intercourse With Men Of Culture Involved Freedom Of Another Sort We

Learn From Himself. "I Have Sate Among Their Learned Men," He Says,  "And

Been Counted Happy To Be Born In Such A Place Of Philosophic Freedom As

They Supposed England Was,  While They Themselves Did Nothing But Bemoan

The Servile Condition Into Which Learning Amongst Them Was Brought,  That

This Was It Which Had Damped The Glory Of Italian Wits; That Nothing Had

Been Written There Now These Many Years But Flattery And Fustian." Italy

Had Never Acquiesced In Her Degradation,  Though For A Century And A Half

To Come She Could Only Protest In Such Conventicles As Those Frequented

By Milton.

 

The Very Type And Emblem Of The Free Spirit Of Italy,  Crushed But Not

Conquered,  Then Inhabited Florence In The Person Of "The Starry

Galileo," Lately Released From Confinement At Arcetri,  And Allowed To

Dwell In The City Under Such Severe Restraint