Dec 11, 2022·edited Dec 11, 2022Liked by Greg Olear
As a reader of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conon Doyle-type who-dunits, I do appreciate you, Greg, for dragging me kicking and screaming into the world of literary arts.
And just to show you there is (are?) no hard feelings, I leave you this oft-listened-to Christmas song: "Stuck in the Smoke Hole of Our Tipi." Please enjoy responsibly! (Apologies if this offends the Indigenous Peoples among us)
As a Wordie, I must admit that I wait for your Sunday Pages so that I may savor my coffee and roll your words around on my tongue and in my mind. Digesting your lyrical writings is a part of my Sunday Ritual that precedes my time on my yoga mat. It sets the tone of my day. Always adding to my practice.
Never a big Milton fan, except for a short run before nodding off, but accept your finely crafted piece on him here Greg! It’s always the atheist hang-over in my catholic schooled, oft-tortured tete that keeps me from reading the god/satan nonsense.
I will never forget going into the men’s room at the Tulane student center and seeing this line written on the wall over the urinals. “They also serve who only stand and wait” -- 56 years ago. Age brings home the truth of that line. Milton himself was nicknamed “the maid of Christ’s College” in Cambridge for being so extraordinarily beautiful as a boy with his long hair, but finished fourth in scholastic competition at Cambridge University his final year (how would it feel to know you did better than John Milton at academic achievement?) His manuscript of “Comus” written in his thin, spidery hand, is on display in the Christopher Wren Library at Trinity College, Camb., though it was published anonymously because of its politics. There is much to be said about Milton, and indeed he said a lot of it, but his defense of books is well-mentioned in these days of Nazi-like book banning by fools in the GOP. His treatise on divorce--arguing for compatibility and happiness--changed the laws on marriage forever. And Satan appears more human in Paradise Lost partly because Milton never shows an image of God, following his understanding of the Ten Commandments about making a graven image even in words. We see Satan stretched on a lake of fire; we don’t see God, only God’s effects. Thanks for mucking around in my brain and memories, Greg. This is another great column, and your reading of Sonnet 19 is spot on.
Good job, Greg! We should not let Milton go unread, unstudied, ignored. As a poet and an activist at as turbulent a time as these times are, he remains an anomaly. For that reason alone he warrants careful study as a contribtion to a good education in any discipline. As for "Paradise Lost," the controversy it arouses makes it timeless. Besides, the story it tells dwarfs the Old Testamemt version and that of the Gospels. For what it's worth, I've turned back to it in my old age after years of teaching it at the College/University level. Among other things, I now find it a compass telling me not where I'm going (although there's still a little of that), but where I've been. In fact, I'm working on a book for a publisher awaiting the final draft, where I examine it in the context of Native American creation mythology--another great body of work awaiting deserved recognition. Keep up the good work of making Facebook lively and relevant.
I'm from the English literature era where I did read quite a bit of Milton; I regard it now, even as I realized then, that it was "paying my dues" to Art. I agree with your deeper analysis, Greg. John Milton was a political rowdy and created an anti-hero in Satan. Some soaring soliloquies found in an Epic. 'On his blindness' should be in the canon, too, dead and white as it gets. We lost connection when it stopped being taught
Dear Greg, this post is particularly meaningful for me right now. I stand (or mostly lie) and wait. I asked myself a few days ago whether this will be the worst year or the best year of my life. My answer surprised me. Surrounded by love and comfort, wanting for nothing. What's not to like?
Such an important and timely point. We are not all young enough or fit enough to serve on the front line, but we all do have a part to play--if only to "stand and wait"--as Eckhart Tolle puts it, to be a "frequency holder." It makes me feel better to think so, anyway. Thanks for your work, Greg.
Thank you (once again!) for this lovely Sunday post. I always come away from reading them cheered & inspired to soldier on. Have a great day! 😸
💟 I think about this a lot bc sometimes it’s hard to know just how to help.
Thank you for all you do to keep us sane & also focused on the f*ckery at hand. It ain’t easy lol.
Wow, had no idea. Speaks to me from across the ages, even in my dotage. How did he do it???
As a reader of Agatha Christie and Arthur Conon Doyle-type who-dunits, I do appreciate you, Greg, for dragging me kicking and screaming into the world of literary arts.
And just to show you there is (are?) no hard feelings, I leave you this oft-listened-to Christmas song: "Stuck in the Smoke Hole of Our Tipi." Please enjoy responsibly! (Apologies if this offends the Indigenous Peoples among us)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkwlR6EnOps&t=89s
As a Wordie, I must admit that I wait for your Sunday Pages so that I may savor my coffee and roll your words around on my tongue and in my mind. Digesting your lyrical writings is a part of my Sunday Ritual that precedes my time on my yoga mat. It sets the tone of my day. Always adding to my practice.
Thank you for your consistent love of Words!
Never a big Milton fan, except for a short run before nodding off, but accept your finely crafted piece on him here Greg! It’s always the atheist hang-over in my catholic schooled, oft-tortured tete that keeps me from reading the god/satan nonsense.
Looking forward to the 5-8, 🙏
I will never forget going into the men’s room at the Tulane student center and seeing this line written on the wall over the urinals. “They also serve who only stand and wait” -- 56 years ago. Age brings home the truth of that line. Milton himself was nicknamed “the maid of Christ’s College” in Cambridge for being so extraordinarily beautiful as a boy with his long hair, but finished fourth in scholastic competition at Cambridge University his final year (how would it feel to know you did better than John Milton at academic achievement?) His manuscript of “Comus” written in his thin, spidery hand, is on display in the Christopher Wren Library at Trinity College, Camb., though it was published anonymously because of its politics. There is much to be said about Milton, and indeed he said a lot of it, but his defense of books is well-mentioned in these days of Nazi-like book banning by fools in the GOP. His treatise on divorce--arguing for compatibility and happiness--changed the laws on marriage forever. And Satan appears more human in Paradise Lost partly because Milton never shows an image of God, following his understanding of the Ten Commandments about making a graven image even in words. We see Satan stretched on a lake of fire; we don’t see God, only God’s effects. Thanks for mucking around in my brain and memories, Greg. This is another great column, and your reading of Sonnet 19 is spot on.
Very nice, but Lycidas would like a word!
Good job, Greg! We should not let Milton go unread, unstudied, ignored. As a poet and an activist at as turbulent a time as these times are, he remains an anomaly. For that reason alone he warrants careful study as a contribtion to a good education in any discipline. As for "Paradise Lost," the controversy it arouses makes it timeless. Besides, the story it tells dwarfs the Old Testamemt version and that of the Gospels. For what it's worth, I've turned back to it in my old age after years of teaching it at the College/University level. Among other things, I now find it a compass telling me not where I'm going (although there's still a little of that), but where I've been. In fact, I'm working on a book for a publisher awaiting the final draft, where I examine it in the context of Native American creation mythology--another great body of work awaiting deserved recognition. Keep up the good work of making Facebook lively and relevant.
I'm from the English literature era where I did read quite a bit of Milton; I regard it now, even as I realized then, that it was "paying my dues" to Art. I agree with your deeper analysis, Greg. John Milton was a political rowdy and created an anti-hero in Satan. Some soaring soliloquies found in an Epic. 'On his blindness' should be in the canon, too, dead and white as it gets. We lost connection when it stopped being taught
Dear Greg, this post is particularly meaningful for me right now. I stand (or mostly lie) and wait. I asked myself a few days ago whether this will be the worst year or the best year of my life. My answer surprised me. Surrounded by love and comfort, wanting for nothing. What's not to like?
..they [checks notes] beheaded him..
Made my day.
Such an important and timely point. We are not all young enough or fit enough to serve on the front line, but we all do have a part to play--if only to "stand and wait"--as Eckhart Tolle puts it, to be a "frequency holder." It makes me feel better to think so, anyway. Thanks for your work, Greg.
Thanks Greg, unfortunately I am not able to understand this posting of Sunday Pages.
In my street hustling youth i didnt meet Milton.
Today i barley have time for Bukowski.
I passed on getting a urolift
"They also serve who only stand and wait." What an all-purpose phrase, and one I thought of daily when I was in the restaurant business.