[The third edition, with title page almost exactly like that of the second, except for the date.] 4. PARADISE LOST. London. [Fourth edition, folio, some copies having "Paradise Regained" added.] 5. PARADISE LOST. London. 1692. [Fifth edition, folio. "Paradise Regained" added.] 6. THE POETICAL WORKS OF MR. JOHN MILTON. London. 1695. [All of Milton's Poems, in folio. "Paradise Lost was also bound by itself. To this edition was added the first Commentary on the poem, by Patrick Hume.] Of recent editions may be noted: Edited by (Mac 7. THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON. David Masson. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1874. millan.) [An excellent library edition.] 7a. The same in 3 vols., Globe 8vo, a good smaller edition. 7b. The same in one volume. Globe Edition. 8. PARADISE LOST. Edited with notes, glossary, and introduction, by A. Wilson Verity. Pitt Press Series, Cambridge: from 1892 on. [In six small volumes, each containing two books: Books ix. and x. have not yet been issued.] MASSON. LIVES. The Life of John Milton: narrated in connection with the Political, Ecclesiastical, and Literary History of his Time. By David Masson. Six volumes. London, 1871. [This is a great piece of work; too much for the ordinary student to read through, but valuable for reference.] PATTISON. Milton, by Mark Pattison. English Men of Letters Series. London, 1880. GARNETT. Life of John Milton, by Richard Garnett. Great Writers Series. London. Including a bibliography. ESSAYS. ADDISON. Eighteen numbers of the Spectator, as follows: 267, 273, 279, 285, 291, 297, 303, 309, 315, 321, 327, 333, 339, 345, 351, 357, 363, 369; i.e., every Saturday from Jan. 5th, 1712, to May 3d. Also, collected and edited by Edward Arber. London, 1868. New edition, 1895. Extremely appreciative in the oldfashioned way, serving to call attention to a good deal that is true about the poem. JOHNSON. In his "Lives of the Poets," originally written for an edition of the British poets, but now to be found in his Collected Works. The essay gives a somewhat prejudiced account of Milton's life; the poet was what Johnson called "an acrimonious and surly republican." When it came to his poetry, Johnson could not help admiring it greatly and esteeming it great; his rough common sense, however, prevented his going into any conventional ecstasies. MACAULAY. "Milton." The first essay contributed by Macaulay to the Edinburgh Review, appearing in the number for August, 1825. Ostensibly a notice of the newly discovered "Treatise on Christian Doctrine," it is really a description and an estimate of Milton's life and work. It is not the best example of Macaulay's style or of his opinions, but may well be read as a corrective to Johnson. LOWELL." Milton." A review of Masson's Life and of (7) above. Reprinted in "Among My Books." It is actually a review, and not an independent study. It discusses chiefly Masson's views on Milton's life, his language, and his versification. MATTHEW ARNOLD. "A French Critic on Milton." Quar terly Review for January, 1877. Reprinted in "Mixed Essays," 1879. It is interesting for its criticisms of the essays of Macaulay, Addison, and Johnson. The main part of the essay is a presentation of Edmond Scherer's view of Milton. It considers chiefly the necessary drawbacks incident to the conception of "Paradise Lost," and the greatness of Milton's style. DowDEN. "The Idealism of Milton." Originally published in the Contemporary Review (xix. 198), and afterwards in "Transcripts and Studies." A very suggestive essay, giving in greater detail the ideas summarized in pp. xix.-xxiii. of the Introduction. The student will also find valuable: BRADSHAW. A Concordance to the Poetical Works of John Milton. By John Bradshaw. London, 1894. BRIDGES. Milton's Prosody. An Examination of the Rules of Blank Verse in Milton's later poems, with an Account of the Versification of Samson Agonistes, and general notes. By Robert Bridges. Oxford. 1894. SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS I. Where the Poem is prescribed for Reading. It is best to begin by reading the books rapidly through in the class-room, without stopping for anything but explanation of obvious difficulties. In such a rapid reading the student will get a general idea of what the poem is about. This reading aloud will also be necessary to give familiarity with the metre and with the proper names. It will not be necessary that the rules of the metrical scheme (pp. lii.-lvii.) be learned by heart, but the examples should be looked up, so that the student may be familiar with the common forms of the verse. Any line that causes difficulty should be explained so that it may be read smoothly. The object, as far as this part of the study is concerned, is not to learn about the metre, but to be able to read the poem without stumbling. The proper names, too, should be fairly well understood. Never let a mispronunciation pass. The notes at the bottom of the page will give enough idea of the places and persons spoken of. The next point is that the Action of the books be thoroughly understood. The part of the Introduction (pp. xx.-xxiii.) referring to the subject should be read, and the analyses on pp. 79, 91, may be consulted. The Characters, too, Satan, Beëlzebub, Moloch, Mammon, should be discussed; the Introduction, pp. xxiii.-xxxvi., will give some suggestions. But it is important that the pupil should try to be definite in his ideas, and particularly that he should be able to refer to whatever passages are needed to support his opinions. If time permit, some passages should be committed to The passages memory, and essays may be written. should, in general, be left to the choice of the student: ask only that he take what seems an especially fine passage and get him to say why it is fine. As to essays, they should be short, so that they may be read and criticised in class. As to subjects, the Examination Questions, 6-8, will show the kind of subject that will be useful, the student being sent to other books so far as they are at hand. Some students may like to write essays commenting in detail on the idea of particular passages, and if the comment be definite the idea is not a bad one. Not until a good deal of the poem has been read is it worth while to study the Introduction. Then the parts on Milton's Life, and the relation of Paradise Lost" to his other work may be studied or read 66 The in class with any comment or enlargement the teacher may wish to add. sections on Style and Metre should be constantly referred to as cases come up in the daily reading. II. Where the Poem is prescribed for Study. The first thing to be done here, also, is to read the two books through rapidly. Afterward, however, the text must be mastered in a more thorough and complete manner than when the book is for reading only. It is an important thing to know the poem. Allusions and proper names must be more carefully studied. Milton was a learned poet, and it requires, work to know what he was writing about. There is so much else to learn about the text that matters purely linguistic may be largely neglected. It is true that a really good understanding of the text cannot be gained without a fair knowledge of Milton's English. But a knowledge of the English of Milton's day is not a very easy thing to come at. So it will be well to be satisfied with a good knowledge of the meaning of the text, a study of obscure sentences, of parts where the syntax is so unfamiliar as to conceal the sense, and an idea of |