John Milton's Epic Invocations: Converting the MuseA crisis over the function and identity of the Muse occurred in seventeenth-century religious poetry: How could Christian writers use a pagan device? Using rhetorical analysis, Phillips examines epic invocations in order to show how this crisis was eventually reconciled in the works of John Milton. While predecessors such as Abraham Cowley and Guillaume du Bartas either rejected the pagan Muses outright or attempted to Christianize them, Milton invoked the inspirational power of the Muses throughout his poetic career. In Paradise Lost, Milton confronts the tension between his Muse's «name» and «meaning». While never fully rejecting the Muse's pagan past, Milton's four proems (PL I, III, VII, and IX) increasingly emphasize the muse's Christian «meaning» over her pagan «name». Ultimately, Milton's syncretic blending of pagan and Christian conventions restores vitality and resonance to the literary trope of the muse. |
From inside the book
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Page 47
... voice becomes the voice of God , and the Muse's or Holy Spirit's inspired gift of song the poet's inspired gift to God . Milton's Poetic Nativity : On the Morning of Christ's Nativity While the paraphrases and translations reveal ...
... voice becomes the voice of God , and the Muse's or Holy Spirit's inspired gift of song the poet's inspired gift to God . Milton's Poetic Nativity : On the Morning of Christ's Nativity While the paraphrases and translations reveal ...
Page 48
... voice and a Christian voice at that capable of epic utterance . The placement of the Nativity Ode as the first selection in the 1645 and 1673 editions of his poetry certainly indicates Milton's high estimation of the poem . Milton's ...
... voice and a Christian voice at that capable of epic utterance . The placement of the Nativity Ode as the first selection in the 1645 and 1673 editions of his poetry certainly indicates Milton's high estimation of the poem . Milton's ...
Page 81
... voice : Arethuse , after the voice of Apollo ; Alpheus , after the voice of St. Peter . " 28 These observations help to illustrate the role invocations to the Muse play in Lycidas , especially in terms of moving from divine utterance to ...
... voice : Arethuse , after the voice of Apollo ; Alpheus , after the voice of St. Peter . " 28 These observations help to illustrate the role invocations to the Muse play in Lycidas , especially in terms of moving from divine utterance to ...
Common terms and phrases
Abraham Cowley Aeneas Aeneid Arethuse argues assert Bartas Bartas's beginning biblical Book Brutus calls Cambridge Christ Christian Muse classical Clio Comus conventions Crashaw David Davideis death Diodati divine inspiration English epic invocations epic poet epic poetry Epitaphium Damonis Erato genre God's goddess grief Heav'nly Muse heaven heavenly heroic Hesiod History of Britain Homer hymn Ibid Il Penseroso Iliad invocations in Paradise invokes the Muse John Milton King L'Allegro lament Late Civil literary Lucan Lycidas Lycidas and Epitaphium Melancholy Milton Milton's early Milton's Epic Milton's invocation Milton's Muse Mirth Muse's narrative Nativity Ode Nuttall origins Oxford pagan pagan gods pagan Muse Paradise Lost pastoral elegy Penseroso Pindar poem poet's poetic inspiration praise prayer present proem Psalms rejection relationship religious Renaissance reveals rhetorical Sabrina seventeenth-century sing song source of inspiration suggests thee theme Theocritus thou tradition Translation by Hughes University Press Urania vates Vergil verse vocation voice write