Yes. But Milton is interestingly inconsistent on the point.
"New Heaven and earth" rise from the ashes of heaven and
earth as we know it, and it is not entirely obvious that
souls come through the conflagration with their
individuality, their histories and their personal memories
and their wills (if souls have wills) . Milton says that
when new heaven and earth come "God will be All in All."
Does this mean God will permeate a universe like ours, or
that the his creatio per se will return to undifferentiated
being? Milton in general seems to me to sustains as radical
a reading as we might want to give him.
And that's if we want to read his theology back into his
narrative. Whatever he thinks about the relationship of
individual subjectivity to unfulfilled desire, his
narrative vehicle won't carry him past "God is All in All"
so Milton may not think that desire is not endlessly
deferred but his poem knows that when and if it desire is
ended, so too is the story.
On Sun, 22 Oct 2000 17:38:44 -0400 John Leonard
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: d. m. frances batycki <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: October 22, 2000 4:43 PM
> Subject: Re: Milton's wanting soul
>
>
> >
> >The wanting soul is indeed imperfect; it is lacking and awaiting
> >and,according to the very notion of original sin, always desiring a
> >perfection it can never have. It's imperfection is in the now, the
> >present, but the "lacking" or "wanting" exists in the paradox of desire.
> >Perfection can only exist in some endlessly deferred future.
> >Frances Batycki
>
>
> "Endlessly deferred"? Certainly not in in Milton, who anticipates a future
> in which the desires of the redeemed *will* be gratified:
>
> "New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date
> Founded in righteousness and peace and love
> To bring forth fruits Joy and eternal Bliss." (PL 12 548-50).
>
> The word "endless" in Milton is always used of either salvation or
> damnation. It is never used of pointless waiting. Milton's hope might be
> unfounded, but the hope is sincere, and he is hoping for more than
> deferment.
>
> Yours derentially,
>
> John Leonard
>
----------------------
Marshall Grossman
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