文档介绍：Lecture 9
John Milton —
Paradise Lost
Jacobs Ladder
John Milton(1608—1674 )
He remained outside both Donne’s and Jonson’s influence
Paradise Lost takes its place in western literature along with Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, Virgil’s Aneid《伊尼伊德》, and Dante’s edy and in English literature with Beowulf and Spenser’s Fairie Queene.
1. John Milton's Times
1642-1649: English Civil War
King/Anglican Clergy vs. Parliament (dominated by Puritans)
Protestant Revolution (Death of King Charles I)
1649-1660: No British King
1649-1653: Commonwealth
1653-1658: Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell
1660: Restoration (of King Charles II)
’s Religion
1). Milton believed that each individual Christian should be his own church, without any establishment to encumber him.
2). In his later years, Milton came to view anized Christian churches, whether Anglican, Catholic or Presbyterian, as an obstacle to true faith.
3. His revolutionary career
1). Pamphleteering in the cause of religious and civil liberty in 1641-60.
2). Appointed Latin Secretary to Cromwell’s Council of State in 1649.
3). Censor and editor of monwealth paper, Mercurius Politicu in 1651. Latin Defense of the People of England.
4). Totally blind in 1652 and imprisoned for a short time after the restoration and then retired to private life.
4. Milton’s literary career
1625-1640: short poems: L’Allegro and Il Penseroso (1632), Comus (1634, 宴会欢乐之神), and Lycidas (1638)
1640-1660: pamphlets and tracts: Areopagitica (1644《论出版自由》); The Defense of the English People (1650); The 2nd Defense of the English People (1650).
1660-1674: Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained (1671), and Samson Agonistes (1671).
1). Milton’s Works of His Early Days
Poems written in Cambridge and at Horton:
a. On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity 《基督诞生晨颂》, first important work
b. L’Allegro《快乐的人》
Penseroso《幽思的人》
c. Comus 《科玛斯》a mask假面剧, in blank verse
d. Lycidas 《利西达斯》, expressing the pathos(哀颂)of his friend Edward King’s premat