Daniel, Clay. Death in Milton's Poetry. Lewisburg, Pa. : Bucknell University Press, 1994

Thomas Babington Macauley captures best the whole spectrum of Clay Daniel's vision of Miltonic poetry: " The most striking characteristic of the poetry of Milton is the extreme remoteness of the associations by means of which it acts on the reader. Its effect is produced, not so much by what it expresses, as by what it suggests; not so much by the ideas which it directly conveys, as by other ideas which are connected with them." (Macauley, "Milton.") Macauley's statement shadows any reading of Daniel's erudite and convincing study of Milton in Death in Milton's Poetry. Within Daniel's analysis, the "remoteness of the associations" disturbs to the point of being ethically alarming. Daniel proves brave in noting "what it suggests" and exercises an excessive freedom in narrating other ideas "by which connected with them." He initiates his study with a powerful explanation of Milton's concept of sin and then lapses, in the following chapters, into metaphorical sexual allusions that he himself associates with Milton's verse. One denies not that sexual allusions exist in Paradise Lost and others, but Daniel upholds the approach rhetorically as the primary thrust in all of Milton's poetry, especially those concerning death.

Any scholar of Milton or any critic of the Seventeenth Century, Romantic, and Victorian Ages would remember salutes to Milton by other literary giants. There is Wordsworth's salute in "London, 1802": "Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart;/ Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea;? Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free/." Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote in "To Wordsworth," in March, 1816, that "In honored poverty they did weave/ Songs consecrated to truth and Liberty."William Blake wrote in 1804: " And did those feet in ancient time/Walk upon England's mountains green?/And was the holy Lamb of God/ On England's pleasant pastures seen?" The holiness of Milton, or his divine inspiration cannot be denied just as the divinity of Martin Luther King's mission on earth cannot be denied. Lawyer Arthur Shores of Birmingham testified in 1974 that MLK,Jr., was divinely inspired; many scholars today can say in like manner that Milton had a connection with a divine revelation.

In his academic training, Milton was saturated in the classical and Biblical works. Just as any author would do, Milton drew upon this powerful academic background to determine what he views to be the truth. The content of Paradise Lost and other poetry seethe with an ictus that stems from a basic divine connection: an epiphany or "a coming to terms with life." Therefore, it is only right to assume that he is projecting an idea that universally reigns above the sexual implications. His commentary on death can have only universal meaning: the rejection of Satan and the absolution of man's sin. Death comes to those who cannot connect with the earthly wonder of a divine being. Milton was proud of his ability to feel the divine even after all the woeful earthly happenings to him. Yes, he was creating images of the impotency of Satan; however, that impotency had more to do with ethereal matters than with earthly lust as Clay Daniel proposes.

The first reference to the sexual overtones in Death in Milton's Poetry appears in Chapter 2:

In Paradise Lost, Satan is not only an embodiment of death, he also is tormented by unsated lust. This combination of lust and death has been analyzed for its complex philosophical implications, especially in relation to the themes of creation, destruction, and the nature of existence. But in addition to representing larger, profounder issues, the sexually frustrated devil is simply a being burning with all-too-fallen sexual lust. Furthermore, Satan resembles fallen humanity in that he gives grandiose, cosmic reasons for his despicable behavior, his true motivation for escaping from hell and perverting paradise is, at least partly, something more basic: Satan needs sex. An embodiment of perverted creativity in the cosmos he may be. But on a more down-to earth level, Satan is a living picture of a being aflame with bestial burning.

This "bestial burning" that Daniel associates with Satan does not, in Milton's intent, have the rhetorical emphasis that Daniel would lead us to believe. One could doubt whether Milton deliberately incorporated what Daniel describes as conventional sexual symbols. Perhaps, this understanding can be taken in a latent way, but Milton's purpose was never to emphasize or balloon the sexual aspect.

A look at the footnote reveals that, perhaps, there is another interpretation possible. Citations he uses support the presence of another theory: "Both Michael Lieb and Frank Kermode assert that Satan is not merely aflame with lust but he is impotent. Lieb remarks,' Satan's omnipotence is not spiritually generative but physically impotent.' He adds that 'his impotence expresses itself as a corruption of creativity.' Similarly, Kernode comments that Milton boldly hints that the fellow angel is sexually deprived....the prize of warring against Omnipotence is impotence.' Impotency can, and does, have meanings that transcend sex. Impotency can mean "lacking power, ability." The devils are utterly unable to do anything, a state of being that is a hundred times far worse than sexual power failure. Puritanical interpretation takes precedence over sex as the prime mover for Satan. In chirurgical interpretation, as Milton would think, Satan has an internal motivation from Pride. Sex may have been a goal of Satan, but Milton never permitted the direct verbal promotion that Daniel narrates.

In another location in the chapter, Daniel takes to the extreme a reference:

In either case, Beelzebub promises the devils ( with a hint of sexual rage as well as jealousy), God's "darling Sons" they will "drive as we were driven"(2.373, 366). Whether the humans are cast into the dungeon of hell or remain in their God-forsaken earth, these new beings, though it is difficult for the devils to guess the exact nature of these unknown creatures, perhaps must provide a sexual outlet for hardened devils since it is known that" ancient and prophetic fame in Heav's" (2.346) has reported that these new creatures, though "favor'd more" by God ( 2.349-350), are "less/ In power and excellence" than angels. Additionally, since this new generation, as Satan says later, possibly is intended "to supply" the "vacant room" (2.835) caused by the devils' emptying of Heaven, there should be an amorous concubine for each devil. At this prospect, "joy/ Sparkled in all their eyes"(2.387-88).

One interpretation is that Milton would never have construed his poetry to be of this serious sexual leaning. Yes, the sexual overtones are there, but Milton, in interpreting this section, would not have provided such an elongated literary strength for the idea. The lines would have been read and left on the page as the possible means of providing some insight into the direction of the devils.

These in their dark Nativity the Deep
Shall yield us, pregnant with infernal flame,
Which into hollow Engines long and round
Thick ramm'd, at th' other bore with touch of fire
Dilate.....

This explanation seems somewhat extreme. However, Daniel is aware of the spirituality of Milton to include in this same chapter a comment that "It should be noted that Milton was no libertine. Milton does not specify the nature of the 'mysterious Law' that hallows ' wedded Love' and distinguishes it from ' adulterous lust,'except to say that it is the source of the ' Reason, Loyal, Just, and Pure' that produces the family, which he maintains is the basis of society and even is a reflection of the divine mind that created the cosmic order. "( 4.750-62). At this moment in his explanation Daniel redeems himself.

Beyond the excessive sexual allusions, Daniel misses the rhetorical emphasis of his points about death through the misorganization of his manuscript. He explains that the subject is death. Then he proposes that he organize his study around, first, the poems that reveal the Christian view that the reward of sin is death. Then, in the latter part of the study, he places the earlier poems showing conflict between Christian and classical interpretations of death. The structure, thus, almost accomplishes the in media res pattern of Milton in Paradise Lost, but falls short.

What stands out for the reader is the fact that Daniel presents an End, then a Beginning for his study. There is no Middle, the lack of which labels the study as having no Middle, or substance. Daniel is adept at scattering the meat of his study throughout the End and the Beginning, in that respective order. Although he defies all the rhetorical rules of order, he still conveys a message that is worthy of contemplation.

Finally, Daniel has an imaginative control over his own study that transcends any astute remarks that he may suggest on the theme of the book. In reviewing these creative interpretations of Daniel, I find that he is quick to cite the sources of his storytelling. A Victorian scholar, however, would never have launched into a narration or ramification on one of the classical or Biblical allusions as Daniel does.

Irregardless of his theme, Daniel tends to narrate, narrate, and narrate until the reader who is grasping for the death theme finds himself reading a mythological or Biblical account of the allusion. Yes, the reader wants to know the specifics of the background of the allusion, but one detests the tendency to form a narrative about it rather than just explain the story in simple terms and draw parallels with the theme of his book. The chapter " Sex and Violence in Samson Agonistes" is a case in point.

Thus, I can only return to the verity of the Macauley's statement about Milton. Daniel is guilty of following the same pattern that Macauley assigns to Milton's style: the remoteness of the associations, the suggestions, and the connections of a removed nature. What the reader does desire such as the expression concerning death and the ideas about death that the poem conveys is lacking. Would that Daniel had not assumed the style of a Milton and had stayed primarily with the concept of death! It is as if Daniel enjoys wallowing in the remoteness of the allusions and fails to see the universal scope of Milton's work: an explicit interpretation of the Fall of Man. Instead he spends time noting what the narration suggests and what connections with obscure stories can be made. The theme of Death in Milton's poetry becomes secondary--an unfortunate deed for any critic, especially one of Daniel's stature.

Library of Congress Information

Author:        Daniel, Clay, 1956-
Title:         Death in Milton's poetry / Clay Daniel.
Published:     Lewisburg, Pa. : Bucknell University Press ;
                  London ; Associated University Presses, c1994.
Description:   183 p. ; 25 cm.
LC Call No.:   PR3592.D35D35 1994
Dewey No.:     821/.4 20
ISBN:          0838752489 (alk. paper)
Notes:         Includes bibliographical references (p. 174-179)
                  and index.
Subjects:      Milton, John, 1608-1674 -- Criticism and
                  interpretation.
               Death in literature.
Control No.:   92056180