The sun., 1915-10-03
Milton.

When one remembers Masson's huge
six volume biography of Milton. Hay
ley's Life Of Milton" Mark Pattison's
valuable monograph in the English
men of letters series. Garnetts Life,
Symonds's essay and DR. Bridges S
learned Millions Prosody" one won
ders what more can be said upon the
subject ~ cne takes up EsMys on
Whon. by ELBERT n. THOMPSON yale
University Press). The little book
contains no photography since in the
preface the author expresses his in
tention to publish soon a full and sep
arate topical photography. The es-
says are offered as an introduction to
study which NJ student Of English
literature can forcgo. for :, long as
the English language endures Milton's :
prose and poetry must be reverted to
as models Of dignity. sublimity and
grandeur
HIS life, with which this volume
deals in only cursory allusidn. might
be easily divided into three periods:
the period uf the young. sensitive.
spon,a eous student who wrote "I.Al-
lesro. IN Penseroso." "Comus" and
LycidaS', the middle period f the
austere, repellant Puritan pamphlet
eer. the final period when, a blind and
desolate old man he turned once more
To books the solaCe of his youth. and
wrote PARADISE l. St" Paradise Re
gained and Samson Agonistes." OF
these periods the first produced the
two loNcliest pastoras and one of the
greatest clegles II English literature:
the second series of pamphlets. some
OF which remain and will remain
am ng the nohlest of pleas for human
freedom. while the last gives us the
only world ranking English epic
MIR Thompson's volume opens with
a chapter in which he treats of Milton
as the last Of the Elizahcthans." Ii
is rather forced claim to make and
especially is IL difficult To base this
claim. as does Mr., Thompson, on Mil
tons great epics, since the epic was
u genus totally alien To the Eliza
bethan mind. The Elizabethans were
a people as keen tor sensation, for
what the cheap journalist calls "a slice
out of life" as are the modern Amer
leans, while the epic is and must
always he n literary genre. long,
slow moving narrative. suited for "A
people of much leisure. reflective
habit of mind and accustomed to
listening at length. Based upon its
form and kind one might claim that
"Comus" with it's cXuberance and spon-
tancity linked Milton To the past and
the sixteenth century. But Mr.
Thompson is quite right in one as
sertion; whether Milton is an Eliza
bethan or not, no one can put him
in the class with the Caroline poets.
The real tram is His soul was like
"a star anl dwclt apart" He derived
from, all literature, but he belonged
TO no school. lie was richly lowered
like the Flizabcthans, but he thought
more connectedly and more austcrcly.
lie understood al the delicate artitice
and subtleties of the Caroline poets.
hut his whole moral endowment was
utterly AT odds with them. AS to the
cNcelled, Milton rcnounccd them as
suited only to "llhdinous and igno-
rant poctastcrs' As TO drama. Milton
never attempted anything in that line.
unless one choose to think of the
Samson" as drama. and in referring
to the theatrical repertoire OF London
In Charles's time Milton seems to
know very little about IT,
Moreover there Is still another i'm
portant distinction to make between
Milton and the Elizabethans. These
latter made dramas for tho people.
They drew their material out OF life
"A m RI Hl to- n Ina,
sponsc from life. Milton was poets
poet; literary craftsman who loved
the art of letters, II an audience
heard and understood, SO much the
better; hut he wrote not to any inn ,
mediate audience. but to the sclcc, of
all times. He acknowledges In 1871
IAN inward prompting which grows