Crittenden press. [volume] (Marion, Ky.) 1879-1907, 1907-01-10
Criticism on Mil
tons Minor Poems
BY MISS MAY TRAVIS

be quit over shadows Milton, the
author Of LAllegro. II Pen.esoso,
Arcade., Comu., aud ,Laycida.. Yet
bad the latter been al. that be ever
wrote they would place hlm almost a.
high a. Shakespeare. After Melton
had completed his college course at
Cambridge be went 20 hi. father
a, Horton aud it wa during biz stay
Of tx year. here. that the Minor
Poem. were written.
LAllegro and II Penseroso were
written in 1893 and are a very beau
tiful reflection Of Milton and hi- sur
roundiDgs. They are masterpieces Of
English literature which have few
equals and perhaps one superior IN
the poems Of Shakespears. Each
piece i directly in contrast with the
other. get each i Deerssary to com
plete the thought. Garnett has said
that they may be in a sense regard
ed as one poem, whose theme j the
reasonable life.
Throughout L'Allegro, uirthful
though it Is, there is an undertone
not Of cheerfulness but Of sadness
while in Il Penseroso, the poem Of
Melancholy, the is an uRdertone Of
gayety. 10 these poems Milton
shows himself cavalier in all save
his severe chastity. In them be de-
monstrates his belief in the close con-
necticn Of seriousness and gayety Of
heart.
A. painter Of nature Milton
shows himself an artist Of marvellous
skill. His method was that Of the
time in which be lived, absolutely
true in broad effects, sometime. i'll
defined aud even inaccurate in min
ute details. He displays a true
love Of the beautiful in nature, though
be saw it 20 largely through books.
We see the
Meadows trim, with daisies pied, in
shallow brooks and rivers wide,
L'Allegro or IN II Penseroso the
"Arched walks of twilight groves,
and shadows brown that Sylvan
loves.
A. plainly almost a. if they were
really before our eyes.
Milton uses many classical illusions
in the poems, especially in the III
Penseroso. when understood, these
add greatly TO the beauty Of the
poems but when they are not, they
detraet from our interest. Some
critics condemn Melton for this
others commend him. A notable
feature in their use, j. their blend.
Ing with the Christian religion and
the worship Of the true God. Thi.
makes Thorn even more difficult to IN
derstand.
Some critics have accused Melton
Of inaccuraey in his mythology, be-
cause be does not follow the old ac-
cepted canons. This j. not exactly
Just, however, for he did this not
through lack Of knowledge, but for
the purposes Of the poem. Thu, he
makes Venus, the Goodies. Of Beauty
and Bacchus, the god Of reyelry and
wine, the parents Of Mitth, while
melancholy j. the daughter Of Vesta,
the goddess Of the home, and Satarn,
the duty Of civilization. Certainly
no one can deny that in both case,
the geuealogy i most appropriate.
In L'Allegro and Il Peesero.o We
see the full soul Of the complete man.
The true man has sympathy for every
thing that Is pure and good, whether
II be gay or grave in the whole life
He would turn away not only from
the "vain deluding Joys Of folly and
sin, but also from the ..loathed mel
ancholy of dark despair and unbelief
There is a time Tor cheerfulness and
harmless mlrth as well "a for quiet
thoughtfulness and retrospect.
"Never were ideas of such dignity
and power embodied in verse 20 easy
and familiar, and with such apparent
absence of effort, a. in LAllegro and
II PeDseroso. Though Spenser