Analysis of Milton
Henry Van Dyke 1852 (Germantown, Pennsylvania) – 1933 (Princeton, New Jersey)
Lover of beauty, walking on the height
Of pure philosophy and tranquil song;
Born to behold the visions that belong
To those who dwell in melody and light;
Milton, thou spirit delicate and bright!
What drew thee down to join the Roundhead throng
Of iron-sided warriors, rude and strong,
Fighting for freedom in a world half night?
Lover of Liberty at heart wast thou,
Above all beauty bright, all music clear:
To thee she bared her bosom and her brow,
Breathing her virgin promise in thine ear,
And bound thee to her with a double vow, --
Exquisite Puritan, grave Cavalier!
The cause, the cause for which thy soul resigned
Her singing robes to battle on the plain,
Was won, O poet, and was lost again;
And lost the labour of thy lonely mind
On weary tasks of prose. What wilt thou find
To comfort thee for all the toil and pain?
What solace, now thy sacrifice is vain
And thou art left forsaken, poor, and blind?
Like organ-music comes the deep reply:
"The cause of truth looks lost, but shall be won.
For God hath given to mine inward eye
Vision of England soaring to the sun.
And granted me great peace before I die,
In thoughts of lowly duty bravely done."
O bend again above thine organ-board,
Thou blind old poet longing for repose!
Thy Master claims thy service not with those
Who only stand and wait for his reward.
He pours the heavenly gift of song restored
Into thy breast, and bids thee nobly close
A noble life, with poetry that flows
In mighty music of the major chord.
Where hast thou learned this deep, majestic strain,
Surpassing all thy youthful lyric grace,
To sing of Paradise? Ah, not in vain
The griefs that won at Dante's side thy place,
And made thee, Milton, by thy years of pain,
The loftiest poet of the Saxon race!
Scheme | ABBAABBA CDCXCD EFXEEFFE GHGHGH IJJIIXJI FKFKFK |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1011010101 1101000101 1101010101 1111010001 1011010001 111111011 11010100101 1011000111 1011001111 0111011101 1111010001 1001010011 0111010101 100100101 0101111101 0101110101 1111001101 010111101 1101111111 1101110101 110111011 0111010101 1101010101 0111111111 1111011101 1011010101 0101110111 0111010101 1101011101 1111010101 1101110111 1101011101 11010011101 0111011101 0101110011 0101010101 1111110101 0101110101 111101101 0111110111 0111011111 011010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,735 |
Words | 325 |
Sentences | 15 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 6, 8, 6, 8, 6 |
Lines Amount | 42 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 228 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 53 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:37 min read
- 60 Views
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"Milton" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18353/milton>.
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