Volume 4: John Milton

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.

Volume 3: Bacon, Milton and Browne, Part 2

The second part of Volume 3 of the Harvard Classics covers two works from John Milton and Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici.

The more I read Volume 3, the more I realized I've probably bitten off more than I can chew. John Milton's a difficult read. He's brilliant, but I just felt stupid reading him. But I progressed on, even though Volume 4 was Milton's poems. I figured if I got through that, then I'd be able to handle most things. Probably.

Areopagitica, Milton's first work, was his gauntlet being thrown down regarding licensing and censorship in publishing. Dissent was generally stifled by fees attached to publishing, so if you wanted to publish something you needed permission and money - which were both in short supply. Licensing was a product of the Inquisition, which helped the English Parliament (full of Protestants) pay attention to Milton's arguments because this was a way for them to give a big middle finger to the Catholics.

In an argument that mirrors internet censorship, Milton argued that a licensing order really won't stop scandalous and unapproved books. Information wanted to be free. Even if the information was "bad," we could still learn something from it (like a modern day Tom Friedman book!) And by licensing books, we're stifling learning. It was very libertarian.

Eventually Parliament gave in - 52 years alter.

Milton's Of Education was a letter regarding education (obviously), arguing for moving away from medieval education of grammar, rhetoric and dialectic. Instead, Milton wanted to increase the scope of learning - including things like arithmetic, geography, religion, politics and rhetoric and logic. Makes sense to me, but at the time it was controversial. Milton wanted to prepare students for changes of society. Made sense to me.

What I got out of Milton's works is that our current issues regarding publishing, censorship and education are nothing new, and Milton was one in a long line of advocates of free speech and education to better themselves personally as well as better the state. Good things to read, although, not terribly exciting.

Thomas Browne wrote Religio Medici shortly after becoming a physician, and is one of the first memoirs. It's a spiritual journey, diving deep into Christian virtues and veers into everything from mysticism to alchemy to astrology. It was a difficult read, mainly because every paragraph was a confession of his devotion as a Christian. I understand this, but it was just tough to read.

Three volumes finished, 48 more to go. What the hell did I get myself into?