[Milton-L] L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, P.S.

[Hannibal Hamlin]

(P.S.) Thanks to Mario DiCesare who kindly and tactfully corrected my Latin,
a correction I'll pass on -- it should be *in utramque partem*. I have,
sadly, small Latin and less Greek.


On 3/25/09, Hannibal Hamlin <hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com> wrote:

> O.K., I'll bite. I sort of agree, at least in that it seems to me Milton's
> heart is more in Penseroso than L'Allegro, but I think that both are really
> aspects of his character. And this is, after all, what this kind of poetic
> exercise (writing *in utremque partem*) is all about. You have to argue
> both sides. In this case, since it's something of a "glass half full" versus
> "glass half empty" argument, no side can really "win," even though we might
> be able to argue whether Milton was himself more sympathetic to one side or
> another. For a more recent literary work somewhat along these lines, you
> might be interested in Herman Hesse's novel Narziss (or Narcissus) and
> Goldmund, the story of two close friends who represent opposite character
> types and world views.
>
> A couple of further thoughts:
> 1) it's telling that these poems both allude to the Marlowe-Raleigh poems
> "The Passionate Shepherd" and "The Nymph's Reply" -- another verse debate
> 2) it may be even more telling that "L'Allegro" is full of allusions to
> Shakespeare -- perhaps this is getting too Freudian/Harold Bloomian, but is
> "L'Allegro" who Milton, in a way, wanted to be but couldn't? Shakespeare (at
> least as Milton conceived him) "warbling his native wood notes wild"?
>
> I pause for a reply.
>
> Hannibal
>
>
>  On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 11:06 AM, Ross Leasure <trleasure at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> I might recommend looking at an article by Donald Dorian in a journal
>> called _Modern Philology_ (vol. 31) entitled "The Question of
>> Autobiographical Significance in 'L'Allegro' and 'Il Penseroso'"
>> (November 1933; pp. 175-182).  Somewhat date, but still pertinent to
>> your question.  Perhaps a local college library can provide you with a
>> copy.
>>
>> 2009/3/24  <gamefreak727 at gmail.com>:
>>
>>  > Hey, i am just a high school student writing about John Milton's
>> poem's
>> > "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso." My prompt i made for my senior project
>> was,
>> > If the two poems above were considered a debate, an argument, or two
>> sides
>> > of an issue or debate, or two people, which side or person would Milton
>> most
>> > prefer or like? My answer was "Il Penseroso." Would any of you agree
>> with
>> > me?
>>
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>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> T. Ross Leasure
>> Dept. of English
>> Salisbury University
>> Salisbury MD 21801
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Hannibal Hamlin
> Associate Professor of English
> The Ohio State University
> Burkhardt Fellow,
> The Folger Shakespeare Library
> 201 East Capitol Street SE
> Washington, DC 20003
> hamlin.22 at osu.edu/
> hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com
>



-- 
Hannibal Hamlin
Associate Professor of English
The Ohio State University
Burkhardt Fellow,
The Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street SE
Washington, DC 20003
hamlin.22 at osu.edu/
hamlin.hannibal at gmail.com
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