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Inspiration, Action, and Fulfillment in the Invocations of Milton's Paradise Lost

Author: 
Year:
Pages:304
ISBN:1-4955-0985-0
978-1-4955-0985-8
Price:$219.95
The aim of this study is to make the case that Milton's Invocations should be recognized as central because, "they present most directly and most intimately the crucial event of man's spiritual life: responsive action taken to bring about renovation. The invocations involve us in the task of the poet's 'advent'rous Song,' for that action is a paradigm of our own 'advent'rous Song,' by which we create 'th' upright heart and pure.'"

Table of Contents

I. Introduction
II. The "Mystery" of Milton's Muse: Early Commentaries and Modern Criticism on "Name" and "Meaning" of Muse
and Invocation in Paradise Lost
III. "Inspiration," "Action," and "Fulfillment": The Poetic topos of the Invocatio and Miltonic Meanings
IV. "Th' upright heart and pure": The Pattern of Inspiration, Action, and Fulfillment in the First Invocation of Paradise
Lost
V. "The Mind through all her powers/ Irradiate": Solipsimsm versus "Fruitfulness" in the Invocation and Narrative, Boox III-VI
VI. "Graceful acts": Creative Action in the Invocation and Narrative, Bookx VII-VIII
VII. "Greatly instructed": The Task of Fulfillment in the Invocation and Narrative, Bookx IX-XII
Conclusion
Bibliography