You're right that people generally underrate British prophets: William Blake is another one.
I could be wrong -- but in your opening paragraphs you seem to suggest that Milton (chronologically) precedes Shakespeare. Surely Iago (and Edmund) are the models for Milton's Satan?
A lot of scholars suggest that the "adult" version of Romeo and Juliet is Anthony and Cleopatra, which makes sense.
I'm a bit disappointed you didn't quote the end of Paradise Lost. Again, the subjects are Adam and Eve. It's possibly the most beautiful passage of English poetry outside Shakespeare:
They looking back, all th' Eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late thir happie seat,
Wav'd over by that flaming Brand, the Gate
With dreadful Faces throng'd and fierie Armes:
Som natural tears they drop'd, but wip'd them soon;
When I was in college we read Paradise Lost and I found it a very hard slog. My professor (who probably had some amateur actor in him) read the passage where Satan chooses evil and awed the class. Many years later I downloaded the audio version of Paradise lost and enjoyed it greatly. I think poetry is best enjoyed in audio.
Yes I think reading it alone would have been harder to get going
I played Schubert’s Erlkönig to my kids (3 under 7) and they found it terrifying as I walked them through it. Would not have been the same if they just read Goethe
You're right that people generally underrate British prophets: William Blake is another one.
I could be wrong -- but in your opening paragraphs you seem to suggest that Milton (chronologically) precedes Shakespeare. Surely Iago (and Edmund) are the models for Milton's Satan?
A lot of scholars suggest that the "adult" version of Romeo and Juliet is Anthony and Cleopatra, which makes sense.
I'm a bit disappointed you didn't quote the end of Paradise Lost. Again, the subjects are Adam and Eve. It's possibly the most beautiful passage of English poetry outside Shakespeare:
They looking back, all th' Eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late thir happie seat,
Wav'd over by that flaming Brand, the Gate
With dreadful Faces throng'd and fierie Armes:
Som natural tears they drop'd, but wip'd them soon;
The World was all before them, where to choose
Thir place of rest, and Providence thir guide:
They hand in hand with wandring steps and slow,
Through Eden took thir solitarie way.
I haven't read Anthony and Cleopatra... but makes sense from my knowledge of their story!
I've clarified the initial paragraph, thanks.
Beautiful passage...
When I was in college we read Paradise Lost and I found it a very hard slog. My professor (who probably had some amateur actor in him) read the passage where Satan chooses evil and awed the class. Many years later I downloaded the audio version of Paradise lost and enjoyed it greatly. I think poetry is best enjoyed in audio.
Yes I think reading it alone would have been harder to get going
I played Schubert’s Erlkönig to my kids (3 under 7) and they found it terrifying as I walked them through it. Would not have been the same if they just read Goethe
Schubert’s Erlkönig is a terrifying masterpiece.
Suggested reading
https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2017/sep/28/rise-and-fall-adam-and-eve-by-stephen-greenblatt-review