Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Paradise Lost


"Paradise Lost" by Milton is not something I have read, though there are excerpts in the English Poetry book I bought last Christmas in Banff.   The introduction to it was quite instructive and the excerpt was barely comprehensible to me on first quick reading.  The question about Milton is:  "Was he a heretic?"

Someone posted a link to this lecture below on Milton's book.  People say the lecture is excellent.  Milton is using Midrash and Midrashish method:  filling in gaps.  So explains the professor.  He uses the Old Testament and fills in the gaps from the New Testament understanding.  The Jews aren't totally happy, it seems.   Luther did that sort of thing, too, coming to the Old Testament in a Christ-centered way, and not everyone was pleased.  But you would think that the Jews would think it over, seeing the fulfilled prophecies and that their own kin is our Messiah.

What I like about the video is the professor's reading of the poem, out loud.  He stresses all the right words in the right way.  Even though he is rushing, he is capturing me there.  "All our Woe".  "Sing!"

But something in me fears that Milton is a heretic.  I have forgotten the reason,  but I got that impression from the Poetry book.


http://youtu.be/1GcY5WrMlWs







I like the picture.  It is very dramatic.  Usually, we just see pictures of the innocence in the garden with all the animals frolicking.  It makes me think about how this "woe" is our current state. It makes me think how God is worthy of love and respect.  It makes me think about how lightly we deal with his directives.

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