The Fourth Volume of the Harvard Classics is the Complete Poems of John Milton.
I've always had problems reading poetry. To me, poetry needs to be read aloud by someone who has a great voice (an actor, preferably.) I can read the words but it just doesn't click until I hear it. For me to read 400 pages of poetry without some help would be difficult.
The main attraction of the Fourth Volume is Paradise Lost. It wasn't until then that Milton really became a rockstar poet. Milton was also blind at the time, so it was even more of a feat.
So what's it about? The Fall of Man, according to the Bible. And this is where I truly hit the comprehension wall. I'm an atheist who sucks at reading poetry and Milton's brilliance adds another level of complexity on top of this. Ouch. Satan, by far, was my favorite. He had, as the kids would say, swag. He was an arrogant dick, but charming as hell - obviously.
I read Paradise Lost twice, and I'm still unable to explain it. I understood the plot. I understood Adam and Eve and temptation, but I couldn't come away with any great understanding or revelation regarding Paradise Lost. Obviously the work is brilliant and am glad I read it, but I just felt progressively stupider the more I tried to understand larger topics like themes throughout the poem and deeper meanings.
Paradise Regained covers the temptation of Christ, and was a poem trying to "reverse" the loss of Paradise in his first poem. More maddening of a read, and Milton's Samson Agonistes (about Samson from the Old Testament) made me feel even stupider. I lacked the biblical knowledge to understand the basic concepts. And perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to read Milton. It's not to say that Milton was horrible or that this shouldn't belong in the Harvard Classics - it's just that I wish I had help getting through this Volume.
And this is where my first issue was with the Harvard Classics came out: I needed an expert's guidance. Whether it's detailed footnotes or a scholar, I needed a hand. Perhaps when I finish this epic collection of books, I'll feel motivated to circle back and find a book on Milton from some major publisher that can walk me through his works without feeling like I've been throw in the deep end.
Next up? The complete poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I'm hoping it gets a lot easier.
I've always had problems reading poetry. To me, poetry needs to be read aloud by someone who has a great voice (an actor, preferably.) I can read the words but it just doesn't click until I hear it. For me to read 400 pages of poetry without some help would be difficult.
The main attraction of the Fourth Volume is Paradise Lost. It wasn't until then that Milton really became a rockstar poet. Milton was also blind at the time, so it was even more of a feat.
So what's it about? The Fall of Man, according to the Bible. And this is where I truly hit the comprehension wall. I'm an atheist who sucks at reading poetry and Milton's brilliance adds another level of complexity on top of this. Ouch. Satan, by far, was my favorite. He had, as the kids would say, swag. He was an arrogant dick, but charming as hell - obviously.
I read Paradise Lost twice, and I'm still unable to explain it. I understood the plot. I understood Adam and Eve and temptation, but I couldn't come away with any great understanding or revelation regarding Paradise Lost. Obviously the work is brilliant and am glad I read it, but I just felt progressively stupider the more I tried to understand larger topics like themes throughout the poem and deeper meanings.
Paradise Regained covers the temptation of Christ, and was a poem trying to "reverse" the loss of Paradise in his first poem. More maddening of a read, and Milton's Samson Agonistes (about Samson from the Old Testament) made me feel even stupider. I lacked the biblical knowledge to understand the basic concepts. And perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to read Milton. It's not to say that Milton was horrible or that this shouldn't belong in the Harvard Classics - it's just that I wish I had help getting through this Volume.
And this is where my first issue was with the Harvard Classics came out: I needed an expert's guidance. Whether it's detailed footnotes or a scholar, I needed a hand. Perhaps when I finish this epic collection of books, I'll feel motivated to circle back and find a book on Milton from some major publisher that can walk me through his works without feeling like I've been throw in the deep end.
Next up? The complete poems of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I'm hoping it gets a lot easier.
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