Susquehanna University Press | Painting and the Turn to Cultural Modernity in Spain

Yet I would rather, if I were to choose, Thy service in some graver subject use, Such as may make thee search thy coffers round,

Before thou clothe my fancy in fit sound.

Such where the deep transported mind may soar

Above the wheeling poles, and at Heav’n’s door

Look in.

That Milton encourages his readers to “range” freely in their search for knowledge with a “deep transported mind” and that he expresses his personal choice of subject suggests that he may well have wished to be a model for those who approach his works.

The sixteen essays that comprise this collection represent how challenging, stimulating, and far-ranging are the efforts to read Milton critically and deeply. The subjects and approaches are purposefully diverse, suggesting the variety of topics that engage contemporary readers of Milton, but there are, nonetheless, relationships between and among them. Many focus on A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle, Paradise Lost, and Samson Agonistes, albeit from distinctive perspectives. A number view the poetry and prose through the lens of seventeenth- century controversies, movements, and events. Several use Milton’s prose works, like Christian Doctrine, or the divorce tracts, to illuminate his poetry. In thematic terms, the first six essays deal with the issue of evil, the next two deal with the world of Milton’s masque and the many worlds of his epic Paradise Lost, four examine influence—Milton’s use of his sources or his impact on later writers, and the final four focus on Milton’s later works—Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes—all suggesting the ambiguity of Milton’s treatment of trial and temptation.

These essays were first presented at the 2003 Conference on John Milton, sponsored by Middle Tennessee State University, and because of their merit as scholarly examinations of Milton, the authors were invited to expand their work for this collection. All demonstrate the rewards of “reading Milton deeply.”