I think that the maze pattern in Virgil carries a much darker
suggestion, namely that the boys in their military games are being
inducted *into* the maze like the sacrificial Athenian youths annually
given up to the Minotaur.

>>> [log in to unmask] 5/22/2007 10:08 AM >>>
I don't think that Milton invariably viewed mazes in a negative light. 
Yes, 
one can cite instances of demonic or dangerous mazes ("in wandring
mazes 
lost," "many a labyrinth self-rolled", and "all my evasions vain,
though 
through mazes" etc.) but then there are the rivers of Paradise that
move 
with "mazy error under pendant shades."  As for the maze dance in
heaven, it 
is modelled on Virgil's description of the Trojan youths riding their
horses 
in a maze-like pattern that Virgil likens to the Cretan labyrinth (Aen.

5.583 f).  The point of this passage and Milton's is, as Jon succinctly

notes, to depict harmony in the midst of seeming disorder.  Satan in
heaven 
goes through the motions of such harmony, but loses himself in the
maze, and 
so prepares the way for the wandering mazes of hell.  Blake's
innovation, as 
I see it, is to conflate the mazes of heaven and hell by putting Milton
in 
Satan's place.

John Leonard

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: Mazes and murmurs in Milton's Heaven (was Re:
Metempsychotic)


> Kevin's bright and interesting post leaves unresolved, for me at
least, 
> the basic question: was Milton inclined to view mazes in a negative
light, 
> in favor of simplicity and "the harmonious One"?  (Harmony to me
suggests 
> complexity, and the beauty of harmony provided Renaissance Platonists
with 
> a rationale for manifold emanations from the One.)
>
> I'm inclined to dwell on the metafictive aspect of such passages as
this 
> from "Paradise Lost," and of many in FQ, beginning with the Error
episode. 
> Spenser's and Milton's ways of imagining the world in relation to God
and 
> the heavens certainly differ; Gordon Teskey's seminal "Imagining
Error in 
> Spenser and Milton" comes to mind in this connection.  Both present
us 
> with maze-like fictions, including traps for the unwary who will
never get 
> to heaven.  (In this connection I like Kevin's reference to "those
who are 
> attracted to voids.")
>
> It seems to me that the tension (and even "great argument") that
exists in 
> Milton, between the beauty of "mazes intricate, / Eccentric," and the
need 
> to make it explicit that they are "yet regular," is mostly absent, or
at 
> least less urgent, in Spenser.  Spenser puts the simple into the
complex 
> (upending Empson's formula for pastoral), but his "explanations" tend
to 
> complicate rather than to simplify the texture of his fiction.
>
> Jon Quitslund
>
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Kevin Farnham <[log in to unmask]>
>>
>> I disagree that Milton himself thought heaven has actual mazes.
Note:
>>
>> "... mazes intricate,
>> Eccentric, intervolv'd, yet regular
>> Then most, when most irregular they seem,"
>>
>> Who is Raphael speaking to? Ignorant, naive Man! He knows that, so
he
>> tailors the speech as best he can so that the Man can understand
his
>> meaning. Hearing this, the inexperienced man should wonder: "Wow!
the
>> more complex and irregular it appears, the more regular and simple
it
>> actually is. Weird!"
>>
>> So, what is in actuality a beautiful harmonious dance appears
intricate
>> and mazelike to the naive man. Why? Because his vision is highly
limited.
>>
>> As for Satan? Those who are attracted to voids alter their own
ability
>> to perceive, and hence they start seeing spaces where none actually
>> exist, and a harmonious One is disfigured into a complexity that
seems
>> artificial and arbitrarily constructed. Seeing this, he seethes,
>> conceiving it all to be held together by "power" rather than
life...
>>
>> Inept perception (either from ignorance or sin) sees complexity and
>> mazes where none actually exist.
>>
>> Milton tells us that what would appear to Adam as most "irregular"
is in
>> actuality the most regular of all... The dance is actually one
>> harmonious entity when seen with correct vision:
>>
>> "And in thir motions harmonie Divine
>> So smooths her charming tones, that Gods own ear
>> Listens delighted."
>>
>> Also, the dance will look to Adam like:
>>
>> "yonder starrie Spheare
>> Of Planets and of fixt in all her Wheeles"
>>
>> Now, to Adam the planets were a mystery. Their motions were not
nearly
>> the same mystery to Milton, born 65 years after Copernicus died. To
>> Adam, the motion of the planets is like a maze. So, Raphael wisely
>> describes the dance in language Adam should be able to understand.
>>
>> But does the passage being discussed imply that Milton himself
>> considered there to be mazes in heaven? I think not. To me, the
passage
>> implies the opposite...
>>
>> Kevin
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> John Leonard wrote:
>> > Kevin asks:  "Did Milton consider Providence to consist of
mazes?"
>> > Well, yes, there are mazes in Milton's heaven, and Blake alludes
to
>> > them in the lines Kevin quotes.  Specifically, Blake is alluding
to
>> > Paradise Lost 5 616f, where Raphael describes the angels' response
to
>> > God's command that they worship the newly begotten Son:
>> >
>> > So spake th' Omnipotent, and with his words
>> > All seed well pleas'd, all seem'd, but were not all.
>> > That day, as other solemn dayes, they spent
>> > In song and dance about the sacred Hill,
>> > Mystical dance, which yonder starrie Sphear
>> > Of Planets and of fixt in all her Wheels
>> > Resembles nearest, mazes intricate,
>> > Eccentric, intervolv'd, yet regular
>> > Then most, when most irregular they seem.
>> >
>> > Miltonists often quote these lines as a celebration of Heaven's
>> > harmony, forgetting that Satan too takes part in this maze dance. 
He
>> > does not rebel as soon as God issues his command.  He sings and
>> > dances--for a whole day, seeming "well pleas'd", though he (and
maybe
>> > other angels) is not pleased at all.  Blake puts Milton in
Satan's
>> > position, so that it is Milton who walks (not dances) through
heaven's
>> > "intricate mazes," trying hard to appear (and maybe even
sincerely
>> > trying to be) pleased: "he obey'd, he murmur'd not". But in truth
>> > Satan--any maybe Milton--seethes on the inside.  The absence of
any
>> > murmurs is not, I believe, I sign of complacent consent and
obedience.
>> > Blake's Milton does not openly complain, but neither does he sing
("he
>> > was silent").  Blake's point, I believe, is that Milton was not
truly
>> > happy with the "Providence" he thought he was celebrating. Kevin
calls
>> > this "passive obedience," and in some ways it is that, but it is
also
>> > passive aggression. To my mind, Blake perfectly captures the state
of
>> > mind of Milton's Satan on that first day, and a case might be
made
>> > that he also captures Milton's true state of mind too.  Blake is
not
>> > expressing "disdain" for Milton (Kevin's word), but trying to
release
>> > what he sees as the true Milton from the confining mazes of
Christian
>> > orthodoxy.
>>
>> -- 
>> Kevin Farnham
>> Lyra Technical Systems, Inc.
>> http://www.LyraTechnicalSystems.com 
>