[Milton-L] Attacks on Milton and Civility on Milton-L

[Stephen Fallon]

I refrained up to now from adding my thoughts on the WAHCenter  
exhibition and ball, Charles McGrath's NYTimes piece, and the dustup  
on the Milton-L, mainly because I've not had the time to read most of  
the posts through.

I agree that McGrath's piece recirculated some charges against Milton  
that call for qualification at least, but I was very happy to see the  
piece in the paper.  I think that academic Miltonists should be  
delighted that non-academic readers and lovers of Milton are abroad  
in the land.  McGrath quotes from Samuel Johnson not only the  
"Turkish contempt" comment, but also these stirring  sentences:  
“Milton’s delight was to sport in the wide regions of possibility;  
reality was a scene too narrow for his mind. He sent his faculties  
out upon discovery, into worlds where only imagination can travel.”   
If one more echoing of the shopworn "Turkish contempt" comment is the  
price the revival of this appreciation of Milton, I see the deal as  
more than fair.

I'm delighted as well that the WAH Center held a ball in Milton's  
honor, with cake and sculpture.  Terrence Lindall clearly loves  
Milton, and I welcome his extraordinary paintings as a stirring  
visual interpretation for the epic.

In the academy we all share with students the news on Milton's  
greatness.  But many don't go to college, and most go through college  
without reading Milton.  I suspect that the WAH Center's exhibit and  
the McGrath piece will gain Milton many readers who would not have  
made their way to him otherwise.

Steve Fallon
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