A Vision of the Future -- Breanna Poole

 I had not expected for Milton to go into showing other Biblical events through visions to Adam, as this is a retelling of Creation and not of the whole Bible. But Milton, ever brilliant Milton, is not one to neglect the other events of Genesis and he retells them in a heartbreaking fashion. I can see why the Romantics loved Milton, as part of Romanticism is not only about the idea of nature and respecting it but also the beauty of emotion. And Milton captures the emotional side of Genesis in a way that humanizes these historical figures. 

For Adam to watch as his own sons kill the other and be the first example of death, that certainly was horribly heartbreaking to read. Cain and Able is a story of tragedy but so often the way they are presented is often of a stock story, without really much emotion applied to it. It's almost ironic that this vision was shown to him as a way to give him hope for humanity and so Adam did not fall into despair. Of course the vision goes on to show that their is hope with Noah's family and the promise of the rainbow, but their is still something saddening about this part of the poem. 

I also wanted to talk briefly on the idea Milton presented, when Adam said he wished he could build altars where he spoke to God. Milton talked about how location is not important when worshiping God, which certainly is a Protestant idea. This dips into the idea of idolatry and putting more faith in the power of a building than the power of God's might and what He can do, regardless of place or time. 

P.S. I commented on Bug and Emory's posts. 

Comments

  1. Taylor ViceSeptember 27, 2021 at 7:28 PM

    Yes, I also found it ironic that the death of his own son caused by the other gave Adam a vision that allowed him to have hope for the future of humanity. I also did not expect all of the visions of Bible stories, but I really loved how they were incorporated into "Paradise Lost". As a reader, knowing the Bible stories, it was nice to have a view on how Adam interpreted the stories that happened after his death and did not actually get to react to in the Bible. // Taylor Vice

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