[Milton-L] Milton's Heaven in 25 words or less

[Michael Bryson]

"Milton's Heaven"? Where? In Paradise Lost? In DDC?
In a constructed (by the critic) version of the one
that presumably resided in Milton's imagination?

Here's a version of the one this critic sees (and
therefore, in some sense constructs) in Paradise
Lost, though in sonnet form (thus, of necessity,
more than 25 words). The borrowings from Milton
should be all too obvious, but otherwise the quality
(or lack thereof) should be entirely blamed on me:

Milton's Heaven
We dance and sing, in ecstasy before
The throne, with distances to cringe, not fight,
Or fawn and cringe and servilely adore
Our Heaven’s awful king. What but His might

Arranges every harmony and note,
With choreography controlling motion
Of angels’ dances, learning steps by rote,
Turn, turn, kick, turn, in chorus lines’ devotion

To mastery of the dance the Master calls?
What though free will may yet illusion prove,
Or no, but solid show as Heaven’s walls?
What matters is the dance in which we move.

A tyranny or liberty in show,
The image is ourselves, and all we’ll know.

Michael Bryson

---- Original message ----

  Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 13:17:54 -0400
  From: Gregory Machacek
  <Gregory.Machacek at marist.edu>
  Subject: [Milton-L] Milton's Heaven in 25 words or
  less
  To: John Milton Discussion List
  <milton-l at lists.richmond.edu>
  >The bliss of gratefully resigning one’s will to
  that of a Creator who
  >lovingly wills better things than you could
  imagine to will for yourself.
  >
  >Greg Machacek
  >Professor of English
  >Marist College
  >
  >It's the 25 word limit that makes the exercise
  fun (and challenging for
  >academics!)
  >
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