ENGL 220 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Blank Verse, Puritans, Simile
Document Summary
***read: intro to milton + paradise lost on anthology. Milton might have disapproved of donne"s metaphysical conceits, perhaps because of his religion (puritan) Puritans sought to purify the church of england from its catholic practices. Those who are far removed from the catholic church put more emphasis on the word of god than anything else. Climax can be related to milton"s puritanism (see it"s all in the mind ) Satan breaks all the rules just like milton does through his writing of paradise lost: free of the troublesome and modern bondage of rhyme . Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter, u / u / u / Each line has 10 syllables but no rhymes. No gap between poet and speaker unlike in donne"s poetry: milton is not distancing himself from the speaker. It is tempting to assume it is milton speaking because we do not sense any anarchy: speaker may be encouraging us to assume that he/she speaks for the author.
