The epic of the fall of man; a comparative study of Caedmon, Dante and Milton . twhere he tells us ; For as he softly slept, the Almighty tookA rib from Adams side, nor caused hitnpainSince from the wound there flowed no drop of therewith fashioned He a woman fair. Indeed, as a matter purely of poetic taste, weprefer this passage greatly to the crude, thoughmore realistic, delineation of the scene in Milton,where the Almighty takes, . . a rib, with cordial spirits warm,And life-blood streaming fresh. The closing incidents, in this section of the Epicof the Fall,—the greater benedicti
The epic of the fall of man; a comparative study of Caedmon, Dante and Milton . twhere he tells us ; For as he softly slept, the Almighty tookA rib from Adams side, nor caused hitnpainSince from the wound there flowed no drop of therewith fashioned He a woman fair. Indeed, as a matter purely of poetic taste, weprefer this passage greatly to the crude, thoughmore realistic, delineation of the scene in Milton,where the Almighty takes, . . a rib, with cordial spirits warm,And life-blood streaming fresh. The closing incidents, in this section of the Epicof the Fall,—the greater benediction of the Deity,and the threefold mandate, so delightfully told inCaedmon, do not seem to have aroused the imagina-tion of Milton, since here, he rises little, if at all,above the mediocrity of the Scriptural original ofhis story, and falls far short of it, in simplicity ofthought and diction. In Ccedmon we read, Then the Creator blessedHis latest triumph of creative mightWith blessings large, and words full fraught with blessed and said : Teem now and multiply,. He bli-sscd and said : Tt-eni. now mid iiiitltiplv.^ A Comparative Study 163 Fill with your heaven-born kin the verdant Earth ;To you I give dominion oer the Flood,Oer all this vast creation sole control,And in perpetual joy your days shall , then, the mandate of Omnipotence ;Whateer the Ocean holds, whateer the EarthBrings forth of fowl or cattle or wild beast,Whatever treads the Land or is enduedWith mystic life, een whatsoever movesThroughout the whale-path of the mighty DeepAll shall pay homage and obey your will. Raphael, in the most prosaic verse, tells how the Deity, . then blessed mankind, and said, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the Earth ;Subdue it, and throughout dominion holdOver fish of the sea, and fowl of the air,And every living thing that moves on the Earth ! This absence of poetic inspiration, is equallyapparent in Miltons rendition of the divine man-date to abstain from the forbi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectdantealighieri12651321
