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Article: Milton and the muse-haters: 'Ad patrem,' 'L'Allegro/Il Penseroso,' and the ambivalences of poetry. (poet John Milton)
- Article from:
- Criticism
- Article date:
- January 1, 1995
- Author:
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James also said: "the man who wrote this [masque], though I dare call him a very skillful poet, yet seems uncomfortable in the imaginations of his heart and unhappy in the acuteness of his mind."
- Robert Graves, Wife to Mr. Milton(1)
In the sixth chapter of his line-by-line refutation of the Eikon Basilike, Milton dismisses the rationale for Charles's retirement from Westminster with an argument that is peculiar, to say the least, for someone who had written a masque, published a book of poems, frequently advertised his epic ambitions, and eventually would write Paradise Lost:(2)
The Simily wherwith he begins I was about to have found fault with, as ...