What do you think?
Rate this book
L'allegro and Il penseroso (The Merrill literary casebook series)
Italian
146 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1634
40 people want to read
About the author
John Milton
3,775 books2,250 followersPeople best know John Milton, English scholar, for
Paradise Lost
, the epic poem of 1667 and an account of fall of humanity from grace.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 14, 2024
LIKE ALL RENAISSANCE WRITERS, MILTON BELIEVED IN A BEHAVIOURISTIC GOLDEN MEAN - HALFWAY BETWEEN ELATION AND DEPRESSION.
I’ll tell tell you a story of life back in the fifties, when my little preschool pals’ houses didn’t seem to be with-it and in tune with the Down-Home simplicity of the little post-war neighbourhood we lived in unless their bathroom was graced with one naïvely cute wall plaque...
This faddish ornament bore a colourful cartoon of a little tyke making an urgent pit stop. Its inscription?
THE JOB’S NOT FINISHED TILL THE PAPERWORK’S DONE!
Yes - for that was a simple, sunny time, with simple, homespun remedies for behaviour dysfunction.
And practically NO ONE got sick!
In our day, on the other hand, properly-treated Depression is the Cadillac of modern psychological disorders.
Mildly depressed folks are OK: they’re acceptable - even cool - for they have that characteristically modern Edginess about them that so attracts the famously well to-do, as well as the cynically like-minded.
And lots of us get sick - one way or the other - though perhaps we’re just plain pooped out!
But in John Milton’s day depression and elation were equally laudable - in moderation.
And it was the hallmark of the cultivated and educated mind to bring them both into exquisite balance! And sound Brit common sense, too.
Each was a part of the eternal game.
So here Milton makes both of them into a duo of Superstar-Status Headliners, and to each of them he gives equal speaking time.
It’s a level playing field!
And each speaks aptly, nobly and well.
Neither one of them belongs to the modern In-Crowd, for to be ebullient and at the same time classically dark were two sides of a single highborn coin for Milton, and the true stamp of a gentleman. You even see it still in Wodehouse!
Milton stood amid the last peaks in the mountain range of classical European literature!
But even before Milton died, in the early stages of the (for him) hated Restoration, John Milton lost his own battle of balance between elation and depression.
Shakespeare was long in his grave then, and FEW in England could do what the Bard had still done - straddle the wide chasm between the comic and the tragic.
Not even Milton.
In later works like To His Blindness and Samson Agonistes, there is now No Room for Joy.
Did he see himself as a blinded Samson, bringing down the pillars and ceilings of the monarchical throne room upon the heads of the fearful Pharisees - the last of the licentious Stuarts?
Perhaps.
Though you see, he was a victim of workplace burnout. So perhaps he was just too pooped to party.
He had confined himself, like Bob Cratchet, to a little room with a desk and a quill pen, by dim candle light, for countless days and nights of mightily forcing his Muse to sing - all his life.
And, oh yes, he was totally blind.
But his poetry is to literature as the supreme sculpture of Michelangelo is to art. It is true greatness.
So few of us read him nowadays...
So, now that you’ve heard the overture, it’s time to fill the Void of silence -
And Feed your Head with MILTON’S MAJESTIC MUSIC!
I’ll tell tell you a story of life back in the fifties, when my little preschool pals’ houses didn’t seem to be with-it and in tune with the Down-Home simplicity of the little post-war neighbourhood we lived in unless their bathroom was graced with one naïvely cute wall plaque...
This faddish ornament bore a colourful cartoon of a little tyke making an urgent pit stop. Its inscription?
THE JOB’S NOT FINISHED TILL THE PAPERWORK’S DONE!
Yes - for that was a simple, sunny time, with simple, homespun remedies for behaviour dysfunction.
And practically NO ONE got sick!
In our day, on the other hand, properly-treated Depression is the Cadillac of modern psychological disorders.
Mildly depressed folks are OK: they’re acceptable - even cool - for they have that characteristically modern Edginess about them that so attracts the famously well to-do, as well as the cynically like-minded.
And lots of us get sick - one way or the other - though perhaps we’re just plain pooped out!
But in John Milton’s day depression and elation were equally laudable - in moderation.
And it was the hallmark of the cultivated and educated mind to bring them both into exquisite balance! And sound Brit common sense, too.
Each was a part of the eternal game.
So here Milton makes both of them into a duo of Superstar-Status Headliners, and to each of them he gives equal speaking time.
It’s a level playing field!
And each speaks aptly, nobly and well.
Neither one of them belongs to the modern In-Crowd, for to be ebullient and at the same time classically dark were two sides of a single highborn coin for Milton, and the true stamp of a gentleman. You even see it still in Wodehouse!
Milton stood amid the last peaks in the mountain range of classical European literature!
But even before Milton died, in the early stages of the (for him) hated Restoration, John Milton lost his own battle of balance between elation and depression.
Shakespeare was long in his grave then, and FEW in England could do what the Bard had still done - straddle the wide chasm between the comic and the tragic.
Not even Milton.
In later works like To His Blindness and Samson Agonistes, there is now No Room for Joy.
Did he see himself as a blinded Samson, bringing down the pillars and ceilings of the monarchical throne room upon the heads of the fearful Pharisees - the last of the licentious Stuarts?
Perhaps.
Though you see, he was a victim of workplace burnout. So perhaps he was just too pooped to party.
He had confined himself, like Bob Cratchet, to a little room with a desk and a quill pen, by dim candle light, for countless days and nights of mightily forcing his Muse to sing - all his life.
And, oh yes, he was totally blind.
But his poetry is to literature as the supreme sculpture of Michelangelo is to art. It is true greatness.
So few of us read him nowadays...
So, now that you’ve heard the overture, it’s time to fill the Void of silence -
And Feed your Head with MILTON’S MAJESTIC MUSIC!
August 15, 2024
I love this edition, which I was fortunate to pick up at a used book fair. I've read it over and over again throughout the year and it has become an obsession of mine. The William Blake paintings accompanying the poems provide an additional depth and help me visualize some of the more abstract imagery and concepts Milton plays with. I even fell down a rabbit hole of researching musical education of the era and toying with concepts such as Musica Humana and Vita Contemplativa. This book has given me endless hours of fun and I'll continue to dissect it throughout the year.
September 26, 2022
A beautiful book that was gifted to me with illustrations by William Blake. This was nice inspiration for some ideas I have kicking around for both an alborada and a nocturne; both poems of course being pertinent. It's like a dorky lullaby book to read before going to bed, like a Goodnight Moon for Paradise Lost obsessives. Maybe the morning poem can be a nice welcoming incantation to the day, who knows. Milton rules and this was great to get.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews