I just thought this was cool, especially since we saw the original cover of Anne Bradstreet's "The Tenth Muse." It really has nothing to do with the rest of this blog.
I love Milton's rhetoric. Sometimes I'll find myself re-reading passages just because it sounds so darn good. I've always known words could be powerful, but I feel like this just took it to a whole other level for me.
What especially interested in was Milton's emphasis on LIGHT and DARK. There are so many allusions to this theme, whether he's talking about the underworld being a "dark descent" or God shining bright though covered by a cloud, or the Holy Spirit illuminating what is normally invisible to mortals. Why the consistent return to this language of sight?
- It's just a natural way to describe the indescribable? It is something that is always present, although it's intangible - so it makes the perfect analogy to God?
- It's simply human nature to focus on that which we do not have. So is Milton emphasizing the visual in his poetry because that is what he lacks? Is he perhaps trying to create a world which he can "see" in his mind's eye?
- When you close your eyes, you can still recognize the difference between light and dark, sun and shade. Maybe Milton's emphasis on light comes from the fact that it is still a part of the visual world that he can relate to and sense despite his lack of sight?
- Quite frankly, words of light, illumination and sunshine are beautiful. You just feel happy inside thinking about those things. Words associated with darkness have a very negative connotation. Maybe Milton is trying to play off of these natural human feelings to evoke emotion in his work?
- Along those lines: this stark contrast, the very opposite-ness of the natures of light and dark, make a perfect dichotomy for God and Satan?
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