South Atlantic Modern Language Association

Angelology to Politics
Samla Studies in Milton: Essays on John Milton and His Works by J. Max Patrick
Review by: Macon Cheek
South Atlantic Bulletin, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Nov., 1954), pp. 11-12
Published by: South Atlantic Modern Language Association
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 November 1954
TheLeavittVolume
SOUTH ATLANTIC STUDIES
FOR STURGIS E. LEAVITT. Edited
by Thomas B. Stroup and Sterling
A. Stoudemire. Washington, Scare-
crow Press, 1953. 215 pages. $5.50.
The volume of studies presented to
Sturgis Leavitt by his Samla col-
leagues is a fitting tribute to the man
who, for more than a quarter of a
century, has been the leading figure
in the promotion of humanistic stud-
ies in the South Atlantic states and
whose influence has been felt beyond
his own area in the national and in-
ternational scene. Scanning his biblio-
graphy, one is struck by the variety
of his interests and activities. If any
one aspect is dominant, it is his con-
tribution to the bibliography of Span-
ish-American literature. Yet his real
significance lies, not in his published
work, but in his qualities of leadership,
of enthusiasm, of faith in the study
of man.
The present volume, then, is a re-
flection of the amplitude of his im-
pact on his contemporaries. No less
than thirteen institutions of the
Southeast are represented (as well as
UCLA, which is perhaps "South Pa-
cific"). And there is a similar variety
in the themes discussed. The opening
paper, by an ex-Tar-Heel, Louis
Wright of the Folger Library, is ap-
propriately devoted to the general
subject of the role of the humanities.
There are papers on language, on
Spanish literature of the Middle Ages
and the siglo de oro, on Spanish-
American literature, on the Renais-
sance in Italy and France, on English
and American literature, and on the
modern novel in France, Brazil, and
the United States.
To attempt an analysis and criti-
cism of each of the papers would
be beyond the competence of the pre-
sent reviewer, but certain general
comments are possible. The level of
scholarly competence is uniformly
high; the facts, with which the papers
are largely concerned, are adequately
buttressed in the notes which follow
each paper; the editing and proof-
ieading, with insignificant exceptions,
is careful; the physical presentation
of the volume is clean, if undistin-
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SOUTH ATLANTTC BULLETIN
Books
guished. A few of the papers-Fran-
cis Hayes' "Lope de Vega and the
Common Man," Allan Gilbert's "Ma-
chiavelli as Poet," and Robert Ward's
"An Interpretation of A Psalm of
Life, with Reference to Manrique's
Coplas"-seek to present a new and
fresh approach to familiar problems.
Perhaps the most disappointing
feature of the volume is the general
drabness of style in which the papers
are presented. In this respect, an ex-
ception must be made in the case of
John Crow's study of "Some Aspects
of Spanish-American Literature." Mr.
Crow has long since demonstrated his
capacity for moving utterance; in
this paper he once more reveals his
gift of eloquence and his mastery of
artistic diction.
It has become almost a tradition in
American literary scholarship that
scholars are not supposed to write
well; grace, or even originality of
expression may be a symptom of
charlatanry. Yet the interpretation
and criticism of the art of letters is
itself an art and deserves to be
clothed in worthy form. There is en-
couragement in the steady stylistic
improvement in the papers published
in PMLA, thanks to the leadership of
its editor. But his philosophy has not,
as yet, been widely accepted. That
millennium will come only when a new
philosophy pervades our graduate
schools of literary and humanistic
studies.
HAYWARD KENISTON,
Duke University.
Angelologyto Politics
SAMLA STUDIES IN MILTON:
ESSAYS ON JOHN MILTON AND
HIS WORKS. Edited by J. Max Pa-
trick. Gainesville, University of Flori-
da Press, 1953. [xv], 197 pages. $3.50.
This volume brings to fruition a
project conceived several years ago by
the Spenser-Milton Group of the South
Atlantic Modern Language Associa-
tion. Its aim is to assemble into com-
pact and permanent book form the
more significant scholarly papers on
Milton which have during recent years
been read at the annual meetings of
the Association. Thus, as its editor
states, it is both a venture in coopera-
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Page Eleven
tive scholarship and a regional prod-
uct. It is the one in that it is a
compilation of contributions from a
number of scholars, who have not only
as individuals provided the papers,
but who have as a group assisted in
carrying through the project. rt is the
other in that all the contributors
either are or have been affiliated with
institutions of higher learning in the
South Atlantic area. From this latter
point of view it is another among
the many manifestations of the intel-
lectual activity and scholarly achieve-
ment currently flourishing in southern
universities.
The eight essays which make up the
volume approach Milton from varied
angles of interest and reflect a wide
variety of perspectives and interpre-
tations. In subject matter they range
from an investigation in angelology
to a discussion of political theory, from
an appraisal of his cult of chastity
to a discourse on his defense of bawd-
ry, from an analysis of his vocabulary
to an examination of his prosody.
In method they vary from statistical
compilation to generalized research in
the history of ideas, and from source
study to interpretative criticism.
Thus the collection provides a fairly
representative cross section of con-
temporary trends and current tech-
niques in Milton scholarship.
The first two essays concern them-
selves with ideas fundamental in Mil-
ton's thought, and by inference basic
to an intelligent comprehension of his
writing. "Milton's Views on Universal
and Civil Decay"' by Joseph Allen
Bryant, Jr., re-examines the old prob-
lem of his stand on the seventeenth-
century controversy over whether or
not the universe is in a state of ad-
vanced decay and approaching immi-
nent collapse; and concludes that the
solution of the problem is to be found
in a transfer of the idea from its
cosmic to its civil, or rather civil-
political, level. "The Substance of
Milton's Angels" by Robert H. West
undertakes to reconcile the poet's ap-
parently confused and contradictory
statements on the nature of angels. It
reviews with considerable erudition
the several theological positions on
this subject current in seventeenth-
century England; and concludes that
Milton, while rejecting outright the
 Page Twelve
Page
~ ~
Twelve1_1 ~ ~ _L
Thomist or scholastic stand on the
absolute immateriality of angels, com-
bined into a logical synthesis the Puri-
tan and Platonist views, both of which
admit angelic materiality. It is ob-
vious that underlying the arguments
of both these essays there is a deeper
and more fundamental idea, and that
is Milton's theory that matter is not
only a creation of God but a creation
out of God; and hence in the final
analysis removed entirely beyond that
cyclic deterioration which besets all
creations of man, and at the same
time in its rarer and more subtle
combinations suitable embodiment even
for the celestial hierarchies.
The four essays which follow next
in order are perhaps best described as
studies in critical interpretation and
literary influences. "Milton's Defense
of Bawdry" by Allan H. Gilbert ad-
duces convincing evidence that Milton
did not hesitate to introduce scatolo-
gical elements into his prose pam-
phlets of controversy, that in so doing
he was following a tradition accepted
of both Classical and Renaissance
satirists, and that such elements were
designed to lend comic as well as
satirical effect. The essay goes far-
ther, however, than most Miltonians
will be willing to follow, in its argu-
ment that sirmilar scatological ele-
ments are introduced into the great
poems of his later years, and intro-
duced there also for comic and satir-
ical effect. "The Accent on Youth in
Comus" by R. H. Bowers is a slight
but graceful study, stressing the em-
phasis on the spirit of youth which
pervades the masque, and suggesting
that its moral and didactic qualities
have perhaps been taken over-seri-
ously. "Shakespeare and Milton Once
More" by Alwin Thaler supplements
two earlier studies of his, which were
designed to collect passages from Mil-
ton that parallel passages in Shake-
speare, and thereby establish Milton's
knowledge of and indebtedness to his
great predecessor. "Lycidas and the
Marinell Story" by Thomas B. Stroup
discovers in parts of the Marinell-
Florimell story in the Faerie Queene
a possible new source for some of the
imagery and phraseology in Comus,
adding thereby to the richly allusive
content which this poem is already
known to possess.
The two concluding essays are de-
tailed and well documented studies in
Milton's language and prosody. "The
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SOUTH
SO ATLANTIC
ATL NTI BULLETIN
B U LE I
UTH____
Language of Book VI, Paradise Lost"
by Lalia Phipps Boone undertakes
to correct the mistaken idea that his
poetry is so highly Latinated that he
"got himself into a mess trying to
write English as if it were Latin";
and so far as his vocabulary goes at
least succeeds in its undertaking.
"Milton's Blank Verse and the Chron-
ology of His Major Poems" by Ants
Oras is the most ambitious essay of
the collection, and no doubt its most
significant scholarly contribution. It
traces in Milton's prosody a logical
and continuous development, and is
thus important not only as a clarifica-
tion of his growth in metrical skill
and changes in metrical technique,
but more important still in determin-
ing the chronological sequence of his
major poems.
The volume is ably edited by J.
Max Patrick, and contains an intro-
ductory essay by James Holly Han-
ford which reviews, synthesizes, and
evaluates the collection as a whole.
MACON CHEEK,
University of North Carolina.
What DanteSaid
DANTE: THE DIVINE COMEDY.
A New Prose Translation, with an In-
troduction and Notes, by H. R. Huse.
New York, Rinehart and Co., 1954.
xviii, 492 pages. $5.00. College edition,
paper, $.95.
For several decades, H. R. Huse has
quietly but effectively gone about his
chosen task of inspiring students at
the University of North Carolina to
understand and love Dante. Now his
patient and penetrating study of the
Divine Comedy has become the heri-
tage of thousands of readers in the
form of a new translation published
in the popular series of Rinehart Edi-
tions. This translation is the most
faithful English rendition of Dante's
poem and the handiest introduction to
the study of this summa of mediaeval
thought and art.
It is important for all who wish to
read Dante in English to understand
their translator's method. First of all,
Dr. Huse has made a prose transla-
tion: no exigencies of rhyme or meter
have hobbled him in his attempt to
get at the precise meaning of Dante's
words. But he is quite aware of the
large role played by formal elements
in producing the aesthetic effect de-
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
No e b r 1954
November,
1954i_
l__ ___ __ __
sired by Dante, and so he has ar-
ranged the text in the typographical
form given to it in all Italian edi-
tions, that is, in tercets (after all,
the number three is almost a character
in the poem). Thus the opening lines:
In the middle of the journey of our
life
I came to my senses in a dark
forest,
for r had lost the straight path.
Oh, how hard it is to tell
what a dense, wild, and tangled
wood this was,
the thought of which renews my
fear.
But it is not enough to reproduce
Dante's words in the form of their
nearest English equivalents and to
imitate their typographical form.
Within half a generation of Dante's
death, at least four commentaries on
his poem had appeared. For it is not
only the barrier of time which separ-
ates us from Dante: his poetry is in-
trinsically difficult; it is dense and
subtle, though not obscure. The effort
to surmount its difficulties has led to
the heaping up of a body of critical
comment which makes the Dante bib-
liography probably the vastest for any
individual author. It is essential, then,
to put a certain amount of information
and interpretation into the hands of
Dante's readers. Dr. Huse has ac-
quitted himself of this task with his
customary lucidity and economy.
The introduction sketches succinctly
but surely the main lineaments of
Dante's life and principal works, and
lays out in broad, firm lines the struc-
ture, the fundamental meaning, and
the major beauties of the Divine Com-
edy. The running commentary, which
is designed to resolve rather than to
raise difficulties, is based on standard
works (e.g., Grandgent, Carroll, and
Sinclair) and offers few surprises but
sheds a clear and steady light on the
text, which, incidentally, is based on
that of the Societh Dantesca Italiana.
Dr. Huse accepts (but does not insist
on) the traditional identification of
the veltro with Can Grande della
Scala, but departs from convention in
suggesting that "he who made the
great refusal" is Pontius Pilate rather
than Celestine V. instead of artificially
lumping his commentary into a few
paragraphs at the beginning of each
canto, the translator has placed it
where it is needed: just above each
new episode. Instead of spattering the
bottom of the page with footnotes,