Paradise Regained

The problem of how you square Christianity with classical studies was something that all humanists had to face, from Petrarch in the 14th century to John Milton in the 17th.

This is what Paradise Regained is about.

So Erasmus is one of... trying to find a solution, but there's a whole continuum of ideas from complete rejection of the pagans to almost total assimilation.

And Erasmus, as usual, is somewhere in the middle of this.

The last lecture was Matt's.

I ended my last lecture on Paradise Regained with a brief consideration of the riddle of the Sphinx.

Satan was compared to the Sphinx, the Sphinx who had thrown herself off the Ismenian steep when her riddle had been discovered.

The Son of God, you'll remember, was implicitly compared to Oedipus.

who had figured out the riddle of his own identity by means of his exchange with the Sphinx.

I think it can be said that Samson Agonistes is more explicitly concerned with riddles and with riddling even than Paradise Regained was.

key moments, although this isn't anything that Milton does very much with.

One of the key moments of the story of Samson that we get from the Book of Judges in the Bible involves Samson's posing of this big riddle, the riddle of the honey and the lion.

Preface by the Reverend H. C. Beeching, M.

A. this edition of milton's poetry is a reprint as careful as editor and printers have been able to make it from the earliest printed copies of the several poems first the sixteen forty five volume of the minor poems has been printed entire then follow in order the poems added in the reissue of sixteen seventy three the paradise lost from the edition of sixteen sixty seven and the paradise regained and samson agonistes from the edition of sixteen seventy one the most interesting portion of the book must be reckoned the first section of it which reproduces for the first time the scarce small octavo of sixteen forty five the only reprint of the minor poems in the old spelling so far as i know is the one edited by mitford but that followed the edition of sixteen seventy three which is comparatively uninteresting since it could not have had milton's oversight as it passed through the press we know that it was set up from a copy of the sixteen forty five edition because it reproduces some pointless eccentricities such as the varying form of the chorus in some one hundred thirty six but while it corrects the errata tabulated in that edition it commits many more blunders of its own it is valuable however as the editio princeps of ten of the sonnets and it contains one important alteration in the ode on the nativity this and all other alterations will be found noted where they occur i have not thought it necessary to note mere differences of spelling between the two editions but a word may find place here upon their general character generally it may be said that where the two editions differ the later spelling is that now in use Thus, words like goddess, darkness, usually written in the first edition with one final S, have two, while on the other hand, words like vernal, youthful, and monosyllables like hug, far, lose their double letter.

Many monosyllables, for example, sum, S-O-M, course, C-O-U-R-S, glimpse, G-L-I-M-P-S, where, W-H-E-R, Verse, V-E-R-S, aw, A-W, else, E-L-S, done, D-O-N, I-E-Y, lie, L-Y.

So written, in 1645, take on in 1673, an E, mute, while words like harp, H-A-R-P-E, winds, W-I-N-D-E-S, only, O-N-E-L-Y, lose it.

In the first verse of the song in Archides, the manuscript reads, This, this is she, S-H-E-E.

And in the third verse, This, this is she alone, she with one E.

This use of the double vowel is found a few times in Paradise Regained.

in book two line two fifty nine and book four lines four eighty six and four ninety seven where me m e e begins a line and in book four line six thirty eight where he with two e's is specially emphatic in the concluding lines of the poem in samson agonistes it is more frequent for example lines one twenty four one seventy eight one ninety three two twenty two fifty two two ninety and eleven twenty five another word the spelling of which in paradise lost will be observed to vary is the pronoun there which is spelt sometimes thir the spelling in the cambridge manuscript is uniformly thire except once when it is thir and where there t h e i r occurs once in the writing of an amanuensis the e is struck through that the difference is not merely a printer's device to accommodate his line may be seen by a comparison of lines three thirty eight and three sixty three in the first book where the shorter word comes in the shorter line it is probable that the lighter form of the word was intended to be used when it was quite unemphatic Contrast, for example, in Book 3, line 59, his own works and their works at once to view, with line 113, their maker and their making and their fate.

Milton's Minor Poems.

this edition of milton's poetry is a reprint as careful as editor and printers have been able to make it from the earliest printed copies of the several poems first the sixteen forty five volume of the minor poems has been printed entire then follow in order the poems added in the reissue of sixteen seventy three the paradise lost from the edition of sixteen sixty seven and the paradise regained and samson agonistes from the edition of sixteen seventy one the most interesting portion of the book must be reckoned the first section of it which reproduces for the first time the scarce small octavo of sixteen forty five the only reprint of the minor poems in the old spelling so far as i know is the one edited by mitford but that followed the edition of sixteen seventy three which is comparatively uninteresting since it could not have had milton's oversight as it passed through the press we know that it was set up from a copy of the sixteen forty five edition because it reproduces some pointless eccentricities such as the varying form of the chorus in psalm one hundred thirty six but while it corrects the errata tabulated in that edition it commits many more blunders of its own it is valuable however as the editio princeps of ten of the sonnets and it contains one important alteration in the ode on the nativity this and all other alterations will be found noted where they occur I have not thought it necessary to note mere differences of spelling between the two editions, but a word may find place here upon their general character.

generally it may be said that where the two editions differ the later spelling is that now in use thus words like goddess darkness usually written in the first edition with one final s have two while on the other hand words like vernal youthful and monosyllables like hug far lose their double letter many monosyllables for example sum s o m course c o u r s glimpse g l i n p s where w h e r verse v e r s aw a w else e l s done d o n i e y lie l y so written in sixteen forty five take on in sixteen seventy three an e mute while words like harp, h-a-r-p-e, wins, w-i-n-d-e-s, only, o-n-e-l-y, lose it.

By a reciprocal change, air, a-y-r, and cypress, c-i-p-r-e-s-s, become air, a-i-r, and cypress, c-y-p-r-e-s-s.

In the first verse of the song in Archides, the manuscript reads, This, this is she, S-H-E-E.

And in the third verse, This, this is she alone, she with one E.

This use of the double vowel is found a few times in Paradise Regained.

in book two line two fifty nine and book four lines four eighty six and four ninety seven where me m e e begins a line and in book four line six thirty eight where he with two e's is specially emphatic in the concluding lines of the poem in samson agonistes it is more frequent for example lines one twenty four one seventy eight one ninety three two twenty two fifty two two ninety and eleven twenty five another word the spelling of which in paradise lost will be observed to vary is the pronoun there which is spelt sometimes thir the spelling in the cambridge manuscript is uniformly thire except once when it is thir and where there thir occurs once in the writing of an amanuensis the e is struck through that the difference is not merely a printer's device to accommodate his line may be seen by a comparison of lines three fifty eight and three sixty three in the first book where the shorter word comes in the shorter line it is probable that the lighter form of the word was intended to be used when it was quite unemphatic Contrast, for example, in Book 3, line 59, his own works and their works at once to view, with line 113, their maker and their making and their fate.