John Milton - Tumblr Posts

How many languages do u speak??

English is my first language and Spanish is my second. However, I'm not entirely fluent in Spanish, even if I understand the vast majority of what's spoken to me. Yet that generally applies to more casual discussion because I find it hard to write academically in Spanish. Once I wrote a really brief, simple screenplay scene though. That's probably the most I can do currently. Plus, I suspect my Spanish is passively going in a retrograde direction since then because I haven't used it that frequently and it needs maintenance. If I am exposed to Italian, I can understand some singular words here and there (probably because of cognates or near-cognates), but that's it.

I don't think it counts as a language as it's more of a dialect, but I am able to read Middle English (ME). Except, I rely heavily on Norton Critical Edition annotations, so it may not truly count. (Fun fact: Shakespeare is classified as New English (NE or our modern English), which shocked me when I first heard it.)

Oh, and I kind of want a second opinion on something, so I may as well put it out here: is learning Latin worth it? You see, I wish I could just... acquire it, as another language, because I want to be able to get all the references John Milton (and some others) make if I ever read more of his works, so I could feel "hyperliterary," like what I've been told about the lens with which he saw the world. Then again, the annotations are enough for me to get certain words' provenance, or why one word was a significant choice over another, so I feel like it would be useless otherwise.

Life was honestly better when we were studying British Poetry and Drama (17th-18th Century) in uni.

AL PACINO as JOHN MILTON

THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE(1997) dir.Taylor Hackman

They were conscious that when the creative impulse was given a free rein, a power flowed through their poetry. This happened when they created imaginary worlds and expressed these fleeting visions in a concrete form. The only way they could make the imaginary world intelligible to the reader, and to themselves, was through the imagery. The imagery was a link between the known and the unknown; it was in fact the stairway to the stars.

The Imagery of Thomas De Quincy's Impassioned Prose - Dwyer (1965)

My fav characters of Al PACINO !!!!!!! <33333333333

- Paradise Lost

❝𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒔,

𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔: 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒍 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒔, 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒍

𝒊𝒏𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍

𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒓: 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔

𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒊𝒕𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇

𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏.❞

—𝐣𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕, 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊.

𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐳𝐤𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐤𝐢, 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓. 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐛𝐮𝐟𝐞, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒓.

Here at least we shall be free.

John Milton; Paradise Lost

”…the loss thereupon Paradise wherein he was placed.”

Book one of Paradise Lost sets the scene of all the hosts of hell immediately after they have been thrown from heaven, dazed in a fiery lake. This is where we meet the protagonist of the novel, Satan and sees his first definable character traits: courage, confidence, and determination. The devil instead of exploding with rage at his forces instead rallies them in saying, “All is not lost; the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield; (And what is else not to be overcome?) That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me, to bow and sue for grace With suppliant knee and deify his power, Who from the terror of his arm so late Doubted his empire.” Despite his falling in conquering Heaven, he is still confident in his cause and command. He also talks to his troops much like a heroic leader would encouraging them to stand strong and with pride. It is really interesting for Lucifer to be framed in this light, especially right after his failed rebellion against the almighty. One would expect anger, fear, frustration, cowardice. Instead Milton’s Satan who despises weakness and is set in his goals. This heroic leader set up frames Lucifer as the hero for the rest of the poem, and down he line in history as a sympathetic figure.

Leonard, John 1940-, and John Milton. Paradise Lost (Book I). Penguin Books, 2000.

“The fruit of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste brought death into the world.”

In Book IX of Paradise Lost, Satan finally overcomes his internal conflict and struggle in seducing Eve to eat from the forbidden tree of knowledge. The fact that the Devil struggles with this seduction is interesting but either way it occurs. The way Satan seduces Eve is by presenting the tree as a gateway to knowledge and truth. This is so interesting especially in the modern day with the theme of the perversion of knowledge. The devil says to her, “Why then was this forbid? Why but to awe; Why but to keep you low and ignorant, His worshippers; he knows that in the day Ye eat thereof, your eyes that seem so clear, Yet are but dim, shall perfectly be then Open’d and clear’d, and ye shall be as gods.” Humanity has always found our power to be on par with God, but that’s probably never for the best. Satan appeals to that part of humanity, and in that Eve takes a bite. And so Paradise is lost.

Leonard, John 1940-, and John Milton. Paradise Lost (Book IX). Penguin Books, 2000.

O Prince, O Chief of Many Throned Powers

While Sandman #23 is the one of the main points of my post today, I have to pull up Sandman #4 and Dream winning the battle for his helm by having his last fighter be "Hope". In a strange way, there is a kind of hope in both the classical tale of Lucifer's descent to hell and his leaving of hell in the Sandman comics. The hope in Paradise Lost comes from Lucifer's defiance and rallying of his troops, giving an inspirational speech worthy of a hero. He surveys his new kingdom and looks to it as a means for his goal. And while he doesn't succeed in the comics or in the poem, we can see a similar hope in Sandman's Lucifer. As he throws out souls and demons from hell there is still an air of leadership around him and he is not cruel to any of his subjects unless they directly challenge his power. He even bends down and kisses Mazikeen as a type of benediction and thanks.

For both there is also a sense of hope for a new day even with what is lost: Heaven in Paradise Lost, and Hell and his wings in the comics. It is strange to find hope in the prince of darkness, but here we are. And looking at the sunset with him, I feel a type of hope too.

Gaiman, Neil, et al. The Sandman Omnibus. DC Comics, 2013.

Leonard, John 1940-, and John Milton. Paradise Lost. Penguin Books, 2000.