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(2004.05): 143‐154
Jin Sunwoo
This study of the invocations in Paradise Lost attempts to
examine the aspects of poetic pride in Miltonʹs efforts to ʺassert
eternal providence,/ And justify the ways of God to men.ʺ1) As
Walter Schindler points out, the study of the invocations are
important to any study of Miltonʹs poetics because they are not
only important markers of major shifts within the epic but
defines the epic voices itself (Schindler 46).2) Thus, the poetʹs
stance adopted in the invocations, guides and shapes the larger
narrative sections of the poem. Because the poem begins with an
invocation that was overly bold in claiming divine inspiration
and prophetic powers, it leaves itself open to charges of poetic
pride and satanic hubris. A careful examination of all four
1) Alastair Fowler ed. John Milton: Paradise Lost (New York: Longman
Inc., 1971) Book 1.25‐26, p.44. All quotations from Paradise Lost are from
this edition and will be indicated parenthetically with volume and line
numbers.
2) The existence of a pattern in the invocations has been noted by
Walter Schindler who argues that there is evidence of ʺa fundamental
unity in Miltonʹs poetry,ʺ namely ʺa pattern of invocationʺ which ʺmay
provide a new vantage point for the interpretation of Miltonʹs poetryʺ
(Schindler ix). John S. Diekhoff likewise argues that the invocations
serves a rhetorical function of marking the stages in the narrative as
well as satisfying the ethical proof of the argument (Diekhoff 700‐701).
Though limiting his discussion of the invocations to Miltonʹs style, Lee
M. Johnson also underscores the ʺformal construction of Miltonʹs
invocations,ʺ one that form a ʺdownward sequenceʺ (Johnson 75‐6).
144 Jin Sunwoo
...I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. (PL 1.12‐16)
Miltonʹs choice of the epic invocation as well as the boldness
of his stated aspirations to surpass his peers including ʺ[t]hat
shepherdʺ (PL 1.8) Moses, is startling considering that invocation
in itself ʺcan be a risky poetic gesture, especially when it signals
friendly relations with heavenly powersʺ (Geisler 58).3) Invoking
Poetic Hubris as Knowing Transgression in PL 145
divine guidance raises the question of whether the inspiration is
a reality or delusion for as Rodney Delasanta notes, it ʺ...must
either be divine, or inspired by divinity, or deluded into
pretensions of divinityʺ (Delasanta 14).4) Following our reading of
the opening invocation, we do not think of a humble and
tentative poet apologizing for the sins of mankind. Instead the
more typical perception is one of an overly confident voice,
convinced and determined to convince us of his authority in
what he narrates.5) Steven Blackmore explains this initial epic
boast in terms of the satanic, arguing that the words and images
of the opening invocation are invested with ʺsatanic
connotations,ʺ ʺsatanic echoes,ʺ as well as ʺsatanic prideʺ and
that the persistence of these satanic echoes within the poem
associates ʺthe poetʹs ambition with satanic pride‐‐inflating the
poetʹs boast into a version of Satanʹs hubrisʺ (Blackmore 23‐25).
Considering the elements of the pride and presumption on the
part of the narrator in the invocation, then, question remains as
to why a Christian poet writing amongst the ruins of the
Puritan revolution would soar beyond the bounds of protestant
humility required in matters of biblical exegesis. He after all
must have been well aware of the tradition holding such
invocations as ʺevidences of arrogance and presumptionʺ
(Schindler 47). The only possible answer to such a problem is
3) As Alastair Fowler points out in his notes, the opening of Paradise
Lost ʺwas particularly bold in view of contemporary attacks on
invocationʺ (Fowler 41). Sir William Davenant goes even further by
accusing that the narrator in Paradise Lost was displaying a ʺsaucy
familiarity with a true Godʺ (Davenant 21). Quoted in Fowler 41 and
Geisler 58.
4) Quoted in Schindler 46.
5) William Kerrigan attributes this confidence to the fact that Milton
ʺbelieved himself a prophetʺ and that he ʺspoke as a prophetʺ in the
epic prologues (Kerrigan 11).
146 Jin Sunwoo
(Daiches 63). Subsequent lines in the invocation seems to support
Daichesʹs argument that the poet wishes to supersede Moses:
The sequence of biblical places to which the poet alludes
follows a pattern leading towards ever greater perfection. Moses
was inspired by the burning bush ʺon the secret top/ Of Orebʺ
but the Word was more fully revealed at Siloaʹs brook where
Christ healed a blind man. The movement of allusions from the
Old to the New Testaments as well as his direct appel to the
Holy Spirit [ʺThou O Spirtʺ(PL 1.17)] suggests not only Miltonʹs
ʺenormous self‐confidenceʺ but his belief in himself as
ʺʹsome other channelʹ comparable in some ways to Christ
himselfʺ (Daiches 65). And, from this elevated perspective, as
one writing after the incarnation and inspired by the Holy Spirit,
the poet theoretically can aspire to write ʺthings unattempted yet
in prose or rhyme.ʺ
The aspiration expressed in the poemʹs beginning invocation is
certainly excessive and somewhat approaching the satanic. As
William Riggs has noted, the word ʺattemptʺ in the narratorʹs
stated intention reminds us of Satanʹs project ʺto attempt the
mind/ Of Manʺ (PL 10.8‐9), and suggests the degree of Satanic
ambition in the poetʹs quest (Riggs 20). The ʺsatanic echoʺ of
Miltonʹs intention to surpass his peers is also immediately
148 Jin Sunwoo
apparent when seen in connection with the portrayal of Satanʹs
desire to ʺTo set himself in glory above his peers,ʺ (PL 1.39) that
follows directly on the heels of the narratorʹs own stated
ambition. According to Blackmore, the ʺsuggestively satanic
contextʺ of Miltonʹs attempt as well as the ʺthematic proximityʺ
between the two intentions ʺsuggests a connection between the
poetʹs ambition and Satanʹs presumptionʺ (Blackmore 23).
However, as Riggs again points out, the pride of the first
invocation is part of the authorʹs conscious rather than
subconscious composition, and he argues that Milton,
examines every implication of his creative act with a care which
suggests a fear of self‐delusion, while he insists on the pious
intentions of what he undertakes, he never neglects to expose
the satanic aspect of his poetic posture. (Riggs 20)
6) This methodology is similar to a process Victor Shklovsky calls
ʺdefamiliarizationʺ (quoted in Scholes 83). According to Shklovsky, when
Poetic Hubris as Knowing Transgression in PL 149
...ever‐during dark
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair
Presented with a universal blank
Of natureʹs works to me expunged and razed,
And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.
So much the rather thou celestial Light
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight. (PL 3.45‐55)
Instead of outright hubris, then, there is a good deal of
tentativeness on the part of the narrator in its searching,
a perception becomes habitual, we do not any longer really observe it.
However, a structural variation, the breaking of the traditional structural
pattern, will help the reader recover its meaning in a newly striking
way that leaves a lasting impression upon the reader.
150 Jin Sunwoo
As noted by Blackmore, the invocation to Book VII indicates
an important turning point for in the poem for the poet who
not only acknowledges the danger of his poetic attempt but
Poetic Hubris as Knowing Transgression in PL 151
The four invocations tellingly record the change in the poetʹs
attitudes towards his poetic vision in Paradise Lost. There is a
steady movement from the poetʹs confidence, in the early
prologue, his belief in the ability to convey the acts of God to
7) According to Blackmore, ʺthe Christian poet must ʹdescendʹ in order
to rise, metaphorically clipping his ambitious wings, in order to soar
above the Aonian mountʺ (30).
152 Jin Sunwoo
man by expanding upon the story of Genesis, to a sense of fear
raised by the consciousness of the possibility of Satanic
aspiration. The invocations in Paradise Lost reveal, thus, not only
the powerful and personal sense of ambition Milton may have
felt in undertaking his epic task but also of a peculiar form of
authorial anxiety, a sense of the authorʹs humility and self‐doubt,
that form the background of the poem. This sensitivity to the
dangers of spiritual presumptions, I believe, contributes to the
unique tension within Paradise Lost that affects its meaning and
structure.
(Seoul Theological University)
Works Cited
Diekhoff, John S. ʺThe Function of the Prologues in Paradise
Lost.ʺ PMLA 57 (1942): 697‐704.
Fish, Stanley. Surprised by Sin: The Reader in Paradise Lost. 2nd
ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1997.
Fowler, Alastair, ed. John Milton: Paradise Lost. New York:
Longman, 1971.
Geisler, Marc. ʺʹJoin Voices All Ye Living Soulsʹ: Renunciation
and Gathering in Miltonʹs Invocations.ʺ A Journal of Poetry
and the Humanities (Hellas) 6.2 (1995): 48‐68.
Hill, Christopher. Milton and the English Revolution. New York:
Viking, 1977.
_____. The Experience of Defeat: Milton and Some Contemporaries.
London: Faber and Faber, 1984.
Johnson, Lee M. ʺMiltonʹs Epic Style: the Invocations in Paradise
Lost.ʺ The Cambridge Companion to Milton. Ed. Dennis
Danielson. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1989. 65‐78.
Kerrigan, William. The Prophetic Milton. Charlottesville, VA: U of
Virginia P, 1974.
Riggs, William G. The Christian Poet in Paradise Lost. Berkeley: U
of California P, 1972.
Schindler, Walter L. Voice and Crisis: Invocation in Miltonʹs Poetry.
Shoe String Press, 1984.
Scholes, Robert E. Structuralism in Literature: An Introduction. New
Haven: Yale UP, 1974.
154 Jin Sunwoo
Abstract Jin Sunwoo
This study of the invocations in Paradise Lost attempts to
examine the aspects of poetic pride in Miltonʹs efforts to ʺassert
eternal providence,/ And justify the ways of God to men.ʺ As
Walter Schindler points out, the study of the invocations are
important to any study of Miltonʹs poetics because they are not
only important markers of major shifts within the epic but
defines the epic voices itself. Thus, the poetʹs stance adopted in
the invocations, guides and shapes the larger narrative sections
of the poem. Because the poem begins with an invocation that
was overly bold in claiming divine inspiration and prophetic
powers, it leaves itself open to charges of poetic pride and
satanic hubris. A careful examination of all four invocations in
the poem, however, reveals a underlying message of humility,
patience and sufferance instead. Beginning with prideful
ambition, there is a pattern of progressive downward movement
in the tone of the invocation, moving from visions of grandeur
and the sublime to a more subdued and humble voice at the
end. This changes in the poetic voice, I would argue, can be
linked to Miltonʹs overall message of ʺpatience and heroic
martyrdomʺ (PL 9.32) in Paradise Lost.
(Seoul Theological University)