Milton's Grand Style
What is Milton's grand style in paradise lost?
Introduction
"The name of Milton", says Raleigh, "is become the mark, not of a biography nor of a theme, but of a style - the most distinguished in our poetry." In all that he has written he has impressed his indomitable personality and irrepressible originality. John Milton is not only in every line of Paradise Lost but in every line of poetry that he has written. As Macaulay has said: "There is not a square inch of his poetry from first to last of which one could not confidently say." "This is Milton and no one else." His accent and speech alike in Ode to Nativity and in Paradise Lost are his own and in marked contrast to any other English poet.
Essentials of Miltonic Style
Since style is the expression of personality, we have to find the peculiar quality of Milton's style in his personality and character. In the first place, Milton's mind was "nourished upon the best thoughts and finest words of all ages", and that is the language, says Pattison, of one "who lives in the companionship of the great and the wise of the past." Secondly, Milton was a man of lofty character, whose "soul was like a star that dwelt apart, and who in all that is known about him, his life, his character, and his power of poetry, shows something for which the only fit words is Sublime." Thirdly, Milton was a supreme artist. "Poetry", says Bailey, "has been by far our greatest artistic achievement, and he ( Milton) is by far our greatest poetic artist. Tennyson truly called him "God gifted organ-voice of England." "To live with Milton," says Bailey, "is necessarily to learn that the art of poetry is no triviality, no mere amusement, but a high and grave thing, a thing of the choicest discipline of phrase, the finest craftsmanship of structure, the most nobly ordered music of sound. So, in Milton's poetic style we inevitably find the imprint of a cultured mind, a lofty soul and an artistic conscience. "In the sure and flawless
Introduction
"The name of Milton", says Raleigh, "is become the mark, not of a biography nor of a theme, but of a style - the most distinguished in our poetry." In all that he has written he has impressed his indomitable personality and irrepressible originality. John Milton is not only in every line of Paradise Lost but in every line of poetry that he has written. As Macaulay has said: "There is not a square inch of his poetry from first to last of which one could not confidently say." "This is Milton and no one else." His accent and speech alike in Ode to Nativity and in Paradise Lost are his own and in marked contrast to any other English poet.
Essentials of Miltonic Style
Since style is the expression of personality, we have to find the peculiar quality of Milton's style in his personality and character. In the first place, Milton's mind was "nourished upon the best thoughts and finest words of all ages", and that is the language, says Pattison, of one "who lives in the companionship of the great and the wise of the past." Secondly, Milton was a man of lofty character, whose "soul was like a star that dwelt apart, and who in all that is known about him, his life, his character, and his power of poetry, shows something for which the only fit words is Sublime." Thirdly, Milton was a supreme artist. "Poetry", says Bailey, "has been by far our greatest artistic achievement, and he ( Milton) is by far our greatest poetic artist. Tennyson truly called him "God gifted organ-voice of England." "To live with Milton," says Bailey, "is necessarily to learn that the art of poetry is no triviality, no mere amusement, but a high and grave thing, a thing of the choicest discipline of phrase, the finest craftsmanship of structure, the most nobly ordered music of sound. So, in Milton's poetic style we inevitably find the imprint of a cultured mind, a lofty soul and an artistic conscience. "In the sure and flawless