Yes, I take your point. And I don't have that problem with Donne's Holy
Sonnets, so my point is probably rather blunted. Perhaps I need to go
back & see if I can get that music to which you referred. With the
Donne, I feel the passion; with a lot of PL I only feel the lesson. On
the other hand, clearly there are the stories, the drama, & much of
that is wonder-full....
Hmmnn. I actually found, that year, that I ended up 'enjoying'
Spenser's The Fairy Queen more than the long Milton poems. But then,
again, I actually do like not only the two you dismissed, Il Penseroso
& L'Allegro, but also Lycidas.
I think I'll stop turning in circles now....
Doug
On 23-Mar-06, at 10:23 AM, Mark Weiss wrote:
> I should add that being stuck because of the message can make it
> difficult to read almost anything before Bart Simpson. There are some
> older texts that we read with pleasure by pretending they aren't as
> distant from us as they really are. Much of Chaucer, for instance,
> lends itself to this kind of reading.
>
> If Milton's message is an obstacle, how about Dante? or for that
> matter, George Herbert, who everybody here seems to give more
> importance than I do? Pretty much the same religious message. And no
> more (or less) toxic than say Pound.
>
> Mark
Douglas Barbour
11655 - 72 Avenue NW
Edmonton Ab T6G 0B9
(780) 436 3320
What’s received’s given out
in smaller measure. The speaker as hearer
comprehends what he can’t
say, a music of what sounds him.
Wayne Clifford
|