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his chariot? Can you feel its beauty and grandeur? Whence does he draw the materials for this picture? How, in lines 781 +, does he belittle the recent achievements of the rebel angels, and why?

800-892. Is the address of Messiah worthy of the occasion? If Milton fails in any respect in his speeches, in what does the failure consist? Does the combat satisfy expectation? How were the angels defeated? Listen for the lines whose "sound echoes the sense." Especially note the metrical construction of the closing line in the description of the fall (866), and determine the purpose of the irregularity therein.

What æsthetic principle is exemplified in the last paragraph? What figures of speech and other poetical devices are used in lines 867, 868, 876, 887? Note the appropriateness of the closing sentence of the narrative.

Book VII.

191-242. What quality must the poet make most prominent in describing the act of creation? By what means does he secure this quality in this passage? What is the æsthetic effect of having the address of Messiah to Chaos so brief? Is the conception of winged chariots self-impelled dignified and poetic? Is the conception of the golden compasses for marking the boundary the same? What lines are especially impressive? What lines are reminiscent of previous ones? How does Milton avoid repeating himself in various references to the same thing?

243-568. Read the first chapter of Genesis. Determine what poetical qualities must be given to the description of each creative act there mentioned, and judge whether Milton has thus differentiated them. Observe what an opportunity is here offered for the poetic rendering of color, sound, motion, and other physical phenomena. Select the effective epithets, the onomatopoetic lines, the beautiful figurative expressions, the notable metrical departures from the normal line, and determine the aesthetic reason for each. Are there any examples of tawdry adornment in the description of the third day's work? in that of the fifth

day? Is the passage in regard to the creation of man adequate to the importance of the subject, as compared with the previous ones? What subject dominates Milton's mind as he reaches this point in the narrative? Note the effective climax, leading up to the subject of the whole book, "his six days' work, a World!"

Book X.

504-545. This passage is an especially noteworthy example of onomatopoeia (see p. 15). Select the lines whose sound suggests form, motion, repulsive quality, or the sound described. Is the conception here presented a dignified one? Is its presentation at this moment powerful? For what were the followers of Satan being punished?

GENERAL STUDY OF THE SELECTIONS.

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STRUCTURE. Review the order in which Milton has introduced his minor subjects, and determine why this order is dramatically more effective than the normal chronological one. Observe the artful alternation of different styles and types of composition. Read twenty lines at intervals of about a hundred lines, and determine Milton's favorite type of variation from the normal sentence structure. Classify the different characteristic variations that you have observed.

DICTION. From what tongue is the language chiefly drawn? From what literary work? What variations from the normal forms of participles have you noticed? Make a list of uncommon words used by Milton. Make a list of words used in an unusual sense. What poetic reason leads him to give words unusual meanings? What figures of speech predominate? Does he rely more on the beauty of his adornment, on the interest of his matter, or on the music of his verse?

MATTER. -a. Complete the study of Satan's character, along the lines previously indicated, employing the incidents detailed in the later books to verify or correct previous impressions. Determine

whether the character is consistent with itself, is in harmony with the popular conception of the Devil, is fitted to be the central figure in a poem, is interesting.

TOPICS FOR ORIGINAL RESEARCH.

I. The Poets' Conceptions of Hell. For Homer's conception read the eleventh book of the Odyssey, for Virgil's read the sixth book of the Æneid. There are numerous good translations of both works. For Dante's conception read the first part of the Divine Comedy (called the Inferno) in Carlyle's or Norton's translation, and if this is not fairly intelligible, consult the introduction to Longfellow's translation of the Divine Comedy. With these compare Milton's, as determined by your own reading, and then compare the conception of Milton's Hell presented in Masson's edition of Milton's works.

II. The Character of Satan. Trace in the Bible the sources of various elements in Milton's conception of Satan, seeking in a concordance the various names and epithets applied to him throughout the poem. Then read Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, to obtain some idea of the popular notion of the Devil in Milton's time. If possible, read in the Junian Cadmon the parts of the book of Genesis dealing with Satan (the translation is by Morley). Consult the article on this subject in the Cambridge Milton, edited by Verity, and studies of the character in Milton literature generally. Determine what elements (if any) were original with Milton.

III. An Historical Setting. Make a list of Milton's contemporaries of note in religion, learning, art, and public life generally, arranged with a graphical representation of the limits of their lives, so as to show how these stood in relation to his own. In the same manner treat the important events of the seventeenth century, thus enabling yourself to determine the relation in which Milton stood toward them, as a curious student, as an active participant, or as an impartial observer and critic. Especially study the character of the Puritans and the nature of the revolution wrought by them, as described in Greene's Short History of the English People, Gar

diner's Puritan Revolution, Macaulay's Essay on Milton, etc. Thus learn to see in this work, as in all great works, the expression of the vital elements of the age which produced it.

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IV. A Study of Versification. Ascertain the names and the characteristics of the verse structure employed in the great world the Iliad, the Æneid, the Divine Comedy, Orlando FuriThe Faerie Queene. Find out, if possible, why each type is peculiarly adapted to the language in which it is employed. Trace the history of the blank verse form, in Italian and in English poetry. Study Masson's article on Milton's versification in the Introduction to his edition of the poems, read Lowell's criticism of that article in his essay on Milton, and test a large number of lines for yourself. Compare the later part of the poem with the earlier, and determine whether Milton became less strict in his adherence to the norm as he progressed in his work. Count the number of feminine endings, of initial trochaic feet, of unmusical lines, etc. (For an illustration of this kind of investigation, see Dowden's Shakspere Primer, chapter IV., paragraph 29.)

V. Milton's Debt to his Fellow Poets. Take any elaborately annotated edition of Milton's Poems, like Masson's or Verity's, and make a special study of the parallelisms noted between Milton's work and that of earlier authors. Determine whether he has borrowed the thought only, the expression only, or both; whether he has so modified them as to give them fresh force or beauty, or has applied them to a distinctly new use. Thus test to what degree he was an original writer.

GLOSSARY.

[THIS glossary includes: (1) Words peculiar to Milton, or used by him in a sense no longer common; (2) words stil in good use, but likely to be unfamiliar to a pupil of secondary school age; (3) familiar words of more than ordinary interest because of their history and the connotation that they have acquired through long use; (4) names of persons and places to which Milton makes only casual reference. The origin of many of the words is indicated by the initials of the tongue whence they were derived. For example, “Gr. = uncover means that the word is a descendant from a Greek original, meaning to uncover.

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In using the glossary, the pupil should note the origin of the word under scrutiny, and, if familiar with the language whence it is derived, he should endeavor to recognize the parent word or root; and he should try to establish a logical connection between the different meanings of a word as given, endeavoring by reflection to determine why the same word should mean, for instance, "blessed" and "foolish." Thus he will not only enlarge his vocabulary, but also train his mind to observation and reflection, and find in language a constantly increasing expressiveness and richness of suggestion.]

Abortive. (L.) 1. Born prematurely. (Used of any organism which, having begun to develop, fails to reach completeness. Used causatively, see P. L. II. 441.) 2. Fruitless.

adamant. (Gr. not conquerable.) This word was the name of a substance existing only in the imagination of early philosophers,

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