Milton's 23rd Sonnet by Sarah Phillips

Milton’s 23^rd Sonnet uses a mixture of Greek mythology and Christian biblical references to somewhat eulogize his second wife, Katherine Woodcock. The rhyme scheme is abba abba cdcdcd which means that this is a Petrarchen sonnet. The author refers to his late wife as if he has met her in a dream throughout the poem. Milton thought that he saw his wife, who had died from complications from childbirth, brought back to him from the grave. He had full view of Katherine dressed in all white in heaven. However, when he goes to embrace her she leaves and he wakes up. The volta of this sonnet comes in around line 9 and transitions from Milton comparing his wife’s return to that of Alcestis to the great qualities of his wife that he misses and how she has been taken from him once again after he wakes up from the dream. This is the general summary of Milton’s 23^rd sonnet, however after closer inspection we learn more through paying close attention to the biblical and mythological references.

The story of Alcestis is used as an analogy to the way that Milton’s wife was in a way brought back from the dead. Line 2 in which Milton says “Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,” he is referring to the story of Alcestis who, according to the myth, sacrificed herself to save her husband, Admetus. Through this analogy Milton is praising his late wife’s selfless love, and it is only the first time of many in the poem that he praises her character. In the third line Milton writes “Whom Jove’s great son to her Husband gave,” he is referring to how “Jove’s great son,” Hercules, rescued Alcestis from the underworld and returned her to her husband. Starting at line 5, however, Milton does a complete 180 and turns from Greek mythology to Old Testament rituals.

Milton’s late wife Katherine gave birth to their only daughter who was also named Katherine on October 19, 1657. As previously mentioned it is believed that Milton’s wife died of complications from childbirth and this is because he died only a few months after giving birth on February 3, 1658 and baby Katherine died only five weeks after her mother passed. It is evident in this poem that Milton is grieving, but it is also evident to the reader that Milton’s faith seemed to get him through both of these losses. His faith shows through the reference to bible verses that related to child birth and cleansing rituals. In line 5 Milton refers to his wife being “washt from spot of child-bed taint,” which refers to an old testament belief that is best described through Leviticus 12. “Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty-three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.” The “Purification in the old Law,” that is referred to in line 6 is speaking of the biblical requirements that call for sacrifices. Leviticus 12:6-8 tell us that it was required that “When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she shall bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then he shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her. And she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who has borne a male or a female.” Milton is also open about his faith when he mentions seeing his wife in heaven and that she was “vested all in white,” which describes her purity and blessedness. This is reflected in Revelation 7:14 “I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ Then he told me, ‘These are the people who are coming out of the terrible suffering. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.’” And in Revelation 19:8 which says “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” However, his wife’s purity is not the only quality that he praises about her. He also admires her love, sweetness, and goodness.

Milton's Sonnet 14

John Milton wrote his “Sonnet 14” in order to comfort his friend George Thomason and his children after his Catherine’s death. In trying to give the family comfort and hope, he writes of how Catherine has not ended but moved on to a better place. He uses addresses Catherine herself, employs Biblical allusions, and uses grammar and diction to manipulate time in the poem in order to convey the message of Catherine’s continued existence.
The sonnet is written in the second person voice. This is significant, however, in that the addressee is deceased. Milton does not say, “she was” or “she did,” as one may expect in a poem about a dead woman; instead Milton speaks directly to Catherine, telling her of her virtues and how they have followed her to heaven and will bring her eternal salvation. While Milton could have said these things using a third person point of view, his speaking to Catherine is a way of making the entire poem a constant reminder that she hasn’t ceased to be.
The Biblical allusions in the poem send the message that Catherine not only still lives, but that only now does she truly live. Milton states that she has gone “to dwell with God” and that her “Works and Alms and all…[her] good Endeavour” will “speak the truth…/Before the Judge,” thus granting her everlasting bliss in heaven. These references remind the reader, meant to be Milton’s friend Thomason, of what God has done and will do for Catherine because of her faith and love.
Milton also uses diction and elements of grammar to manipulate time within the sonnet. He begins in past tense, the same way in which Thomason is probably thinking of his late wife, but at the end, Milton uses the present tense not only to speak of the present, but also of Catherine’s future in heaven. This ends the sonnet on a hopeful, uplifting note rather than in a tone of mourning or simple remembrance. Also, Milton uses such words as dwell, for ever, and immortal to bring into the reader’s mind thoughts of eternal life rather than thinking of death as a termination of one’s existence.
These formal elements used by Milton in his “Sonnet 14” bring more power to his message of comfort for his friends than the literal meaning alone could. By addressing Catherine as a living person, referencing the Bible’s words of life after death, and by using diction and grammar to enforce the sense of endlessness, Milton is able to remind George Thomason that Catherine is not simply dead; she is in heaven and will be forever, thus effectively offering consolation in the form of a sonnet.

Sonnet 14

John Milton’s Sonnet 14 is a eulogy for the late Catherine Thomason. In the notes we are told that this was meant as a comfort for her family. The poem is in sonnet form, with the standard 14 lines in iambic pentameter. Milton uses this eulogy to lift up the life of Mrs. Thomason, praising her for “Faith and Love,” “Works and Alms,” and for “meekly” bearing her “earthy load.” It is very obvious that Milton desires a comforting effect by his assertions that she lived a good life and that now Mrs. Thomason was drinking “thy fill of pure immortal streams.” His approach is not unlike ours today when we assert that a deceased loved one is “in a better place.” Through his use of the sonnet structure, and the diction surrounding the Volta, Milton creates a picture of Mrs. Thomason’s love, and thus, her place in heaven.

The first way Milton creates this picture of her life is through his choice of sonnet structure. With a structure of octave followed by sestet, as well as the rhyme scheme of ABBAABBA CDCDCD, a classic Petrarchan sonnet is set up. If the reader is familiar with Petrarchan sonnets, then it is obvious that form is most commonly associated with commentary on love. This love, though, normally comes from the author and projects towards a counterpart that often does not respond in kind. Love is definitely the central theme of this sonnet as well, but Milton is not the one loving. Instead, he describes Thomason’s love for good deeds (“Thy Works and Alms”) as well as her love for God (“When Faith and Love which parted from thee never”). So the form Milton uses is supposed to point us directly to love, but he changes the perspective that the love is coming from.

Diction is another large part of Milton’s approach to the projection of love from Thomason and attribution of praise to Thomason. Specifically, diction can be broken up in two main sections: before the Volta (line 9) and after the Volta. The pre-Volta octave is full of language that evokes images of this world. Its language keeps our thoughts here in the world that we live in, and in the world that Thomason lived in. Words such as “ripened,” “earthy,” and “grave,” are complemented by phrases about “Works and Alms” and “golden rods” to focus our minds on the actions Mrs. Thomason was focused on while she was alive. Although the diction is down on an earthly plane, it is still very full of praise and respect, because her works on this earth were pleasing to God.

The second section, a sestet, is much more “lofty” in its diction. Instead of focusing on the world and the actions she took while here, after the Volta we are taken on a trip with Mrs. Thomason to her final destination: the throne of God. Language such as “purple beams,” “azure wings,” and “pure immortal streams,” hardly present us with a picture of life here on earth. Instead, the focus is on the magnificence of her place of “rest.” This creates the picture of comfort that Milton desires for the family of Mrs. Thomason. By showing her drinking her “fill of immortal streams,” the heavenly aspect of her existence becomes a comforting place for her family’s thoughts to rest.

So by his Petrarchan sonnet form and his description of her earthly time and heavenly time through diction, Milton accomplishes his goal of consoling her loved ones.

Milton’s Sonnet 14

I chose to do my blog post on John Milton’s Sonnet 14. This poem is about the tragic loss of the wife of one of Milton’s friends, and he wrote this to aid in their family’s grieving. Despite the fact that a death has occurred, Milton focuses not so much on the themes associated with death, such as sadness and despair. Rather he creates a happy, comforting and uplifting tone to describe life after death.

This poem helps reassure that the dead wife will be going on to a better place. This can be seen through the exclusive word choices that Milton selected. Milton transitions from the aspect of death and the grave quickly to love, faith and glory. He makes use of a paradox in saying “Of Death, call’d Life,” trying to state that what we think of as death on earth leads to life afterwards in heaven, if our soul has been “ripen’d…to dwell with God.” Although we achieve the opportunity to go on to a better place, we have to leave our loved ones behind in their mourning to continue living their earthly life. The person that the author speaks of has traded in her “earthly load” in exchange for “rest” and the opportunity to “drink thy fill of pure immortal streams,” which is a reality that Milton and other religious persons strive to attain despite the sadness in incorporates for others left behind.

To follow this point, Milton uses lots of examples of imagery in this sonnet. From the statement presented above, in stanza one, the reader can literally imagine seeing a person giving up something heavy and becoming light and, in stanza 4, the person becoming calm, relaxed and drinking from a stream. Milton also uses exquisite use of colors to truly paint a picture in our minds of the events unfolding within the poem. The poem says that “Faith pointed with her golden rod.” Also, the hand-maids, which are women servants that in this poem probably reference angels, were “clad…with purple beams and azure wings.”

This poem uses personification to turn Faith and Love into living beings. These abstract concepts of goodness are the cornerstones that help guide the deceased wife to heaven, an amazing place waiting for her. Faith “pointed her golden rod…to joy and bliss for ever” and Love “led them on.” This makes sense, since “Faith and Love…parted from thee never.” The wife had always shown faith and love throughout her earthly life, and these qualities have not abandoned her; rather, they have stayed with her to transform her spirit and lead her to “dwell with God.”

Another element of this poem that stands out is its rhyme structure and the way it is utilized throughout the passage. This is a Petarchan sonnet that has an octet follwed by a sestet, and follows the rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA CDC DCD. The rhythm of the poem is also upbeat, more so than one would think for a poem about death.

Post by Jacinda Evans---Sonnet XIV Sonnets From the Portuguese

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet begins with a rhyme scheme of ABBA ABBA CDDC CE showing that the poem is a Shakespearean sonnet, considering the couplet at the end. This sonnet dwells on the previous love that she has had and the love that she desires to have instead. The sonnet is broken up into three different parts. The first sestet focuses on the kind of love that Browning desires to have. “If thou must love me, let it be for naught (nothing), Except for love’s sake only.” This statement meaning that the speaker wants someone that doesn’t love her for anything except for love itself. She then mentions things that may cause people to love someone, such as their smile, their looks, or their way of speaking, because it intrigues them.

The second sestet discusses why people should not love for appearance or material things. Browning says that these things change, or can be changed at the expense of the person. Love is then shaped by these material things and love therefore is not true.

“Neither love me for Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry.
Since one might well forget to weep who bore
Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby.”

Elizabeth Browning suffered from a blood vessel bursting in her lungs that caused her to become very sick and weak. She later had to move to a slight confinement for her own safety. There she continued to try and write poems. Although it was a challenge she made due. In this quote from the poem Browning does not want anyone who just loves her because they pity her or because she may be saddened, because in due time she will not have tears and the comfort she once had may disappear along with the love. I think this poem is basically a lesson learned by Browning from prior experiences. After finding Robert Browning and realizing that what he offered her was true love, she was excited.