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Camden Features | John Milton | Poems of the underground
THE ideals of John Milton, the poet whose Republican views saw him cast as the laureate of Cromwellian resistance in the mid-1600s, are as important today as they were when he wrote them nearly 400 years ago, according to the curators of a series of poems displayed on Tube trains.
Gospel Oak residents Judith Chernaik, Gerard Benson and Cicely Herbert have chosen the poet for a new series of Poems on the Underground, the public transport literary series, this summer.
Mrs Chernaik said: “This is part of a year-long celebration of the writings of this great poet, republican and defender of free speech.
“It is 400 years since he was born in the heart of London – but his poetry still sounds glorious.”
She said she hoped the series would introduce Milton’s words to new fans, and added: “He is also at times a difficult poet because he is so learned – he loved classics, history and the Bible.
“Yet he was so sensuous and a great advocate of freedom at a time when it was very much under threat. He is the hero of the left and he was a great rebel. We hope [this series] will show their continuing importance today.”
Among those on display is an extract from his best known work, Paradise Lost:
In either hand the hastening
angel caught
Our lingering parents,
and to the eastern gate
Led them direct,
and down the cliff as fast
To the subjected plain; then
disappeared.
They, looking back, all the
eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy
seat,
Waved over by that flaming
brand, the gate
With dreadful faces thronged,
and fiery arms.
Some natural tears they dropped,
but wiped them soon;
The world was all before them,
where to choose
Their place of rest, and
Providence their guide:
They, hand in hand, with
wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary
way.
Paradise Lost XII 641-649
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