Nilanjana
Majumder
PG-II,
Roll- 101200402031
In Milton's
poetry, we see a fusion of elements both of the Renaissance and the
Reformation. The Renaissance was characterized by a renewed interest
in the writings of the ancient Greek and Roman authors. The scholars
of the Renaissance period infused into their works the beauties of
ancient Greek and Roman literature. Love for beauty, music and art
became the governing passion of writers during Renaissance. The
glorification of beauty, music, art and love for exuberance of life,
that is also known as "Hellenism" is evident in the
majority of Milton's work.
The Reformation,
on the other hand, was a religious movement aimed at the cultivation
of religious, moral and spiritual values. The Reformation or
Hebrewism stands for spiritual discipline, moral austerity and an
otherworldly outlook. More than artistic pursuits, Puritans were
concerned about religious morality.
Milton's poetry
showcases the influence of both these movements. He was a child of
both the Renaissance and the Reformation. His childhood was spent at
a time when the Renaissance was in the ascendancy. His youth
witnessed the rise of Puritanism and his old age marked the
consummation of the Puritan ideals. So Milton's poetry became a link
between the age of Renaissance and the Puritan age. He was both a
belated Elizabethan and a fervent disciple of the Reformation.
A brief
consideration of his works would fully justify the view that he is a
connecting link between the Elizabethan and the Puritan age. The
poems he wrote during his college days, both in English and Latin,
are for the most part simply a young man's experimental work and are
of little significance. But the "Ode on the Morning of Christs's
Nativity" is an exception. Even though the subject matter of the
poem is biblical, Milton celebrates pagan imagery through it, thus,
revealing a fusion of Renaissance and Reformation influences.
His minor poems
were chiefly written under the influence of the Renaissance and the
Puritan element was quite subordinate in those poems. Thus, in "L'
Allegro" and "Il Penseroso", with their charming
contrasted pictures of man, nature and art as seen through the medium
of mood, and the depiction of gladness and melancholy, there is
little that is puritan. "L Allegro" strikes a positively
anti-Puritan note when Milton invokes the Goddess of joy:
“Haste thee
nymph, and bring with thee
Jest and youthful
Jollity,
Quips and cranks,
and wanton wiles,
Nods, and becks,
and wreathed smiles,
Such as hang on
Hebe s cheek, And love to live in dimple sleek;
Sport that
wrinkled Care derides,
Ana. Laughter
holding both his sides.” (L’ Allegro lines 25-32)
In "ll
Penseroso" the tone and spirit are much more subdued, and they
put Milton nearer the Puritans. The Goddess of Melancholy is
described as a "pensive nun" and has a few definitely
Christian associations. But there is the same Renaissance element
visible too. Milton likes Plato and Hermes. He loves to read Chaucer
and see tragic performances.
“ With thrice
great Hermes, or unsphere
The spirit of
Plato, to unfold
What worlds or
what vast regions hold
The immortal mind
that had forsook
Her mansion in
this fleshly nook:
And of those
demons that are found
In fire, air,
flood, or underground,
Whose power hath
a true consent
With planet or
with element.
Sometimes let
gorgeous Tragedy
In sceptred pall
come sweeping by,
Presenting
Thebes, or Pelops’ line,
Or the tale of
Troy divine,
Or what of later
age
Ennobled hath the
buskined stage.” ( Il Penseroso, lines 88-102)
Then with
"Comus", we see a distinct stage in the development of his
mind. Though mildly, the Puritan spirit now makes its influence
felt, not only in the Poet’s increased earnestness, but also in the
specific quality of his moral teaching. On the literary side, this
work too belongs to the Renaissance; for it is one of the finest
examples of a “Masque” a genre of drama that is considered to be
the embodiment of the Renaissance spirit. However, even though Milton
penned a popular form of Renaissance art, he filled it with a
strenuous moral spirit. Milton's masque is in spirit and purpose
highly puritanical. Its only Renaissance characteristic is its form.
The simple story of a lady lost in the woods, lured away by god Comus
and his band of revellers, and rescued by her brothers with the help
of an attendant spirit and a river nymph, is a patient allegory of
virtue attacked by sensuality and overcoming it by divine aid. The
masque is loaded with classical pagan influence, yet the nobility of
its tone and faith in god which is expressed through it, testify to
the growing power of religious inspiration over the poet’s thought.
Finally, in
“Lycidas” we witness the influence of Puritanism which is
political and ecclesiastical as well as spiritual and ethical.
Lycidas (1637) was a pastoral elegy written on the death of Milton's
friend Edward King who was drowned in a shipwreck near Anglesea. As
in Comus, its form and theme are representative of two different
cultures. The form of Lycidas is classical but the theme and
expression are indicative of a puritanic spirit. We find more of
Milton than King in the poem. King's death prompts Milton to think of
the futility of his own poetic craft:
“Alas! What
boots it with incessant care
To tend the
homely slighted shepherd's trade,
And strictly
meditate the thankless Muse?
Were it not
better done as others use,
To sport with
Amaryllis in the shade,
Or with the
tangles ofNeaera 's hair?” (Lycidas, lines 64-69)
But Milton
expresses his intention to devote himself to serious and religious
poetry, as Phoebus tells him that his reward is not fame, "that
last infirmity of noble mind' He should, rather, "in heaven
expect his meed." Then as a zealous Puritan Milton finds the
opportunity to lash the corrupt clergy who lead a comfortable life
whereas:
“The hungry
sheep look up, and are not fed,
But swollen with
wind, and the rank mist they draw,
Rot inwardly, and
foul contagion spread.” (Lycidas, lines 125- 127)
From a study of the works of Milton, it is obvious that the
Puritanism influenced him greatly but it should never be forgotten
that the culture of the Renaissance was never totally exterminated by
his Puritanical bent of mind. On the one hand,
he drank deep of classical poetry and philosophy and inherited all
the culture and humanism of the Renaissance and on the other, he had
a deeply religious temperament, and was a profound student of the
Bible and the literature of the scripture. Thus at the back of
Milton’s mind there were the best fruits of classical scholarship
and Biblical learning.
Bibliography
L’ Allegro- John Milton
Il Penseroso- John Milton
Lycidas- John Milton
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