the_epic_hero.ppt |
[On] dry land
He lights[1], if it were land that ever burned With solid, as the lake with liquid fire, And such appeared in hue; as when the force Of subterranean wind transports a hill Torn from Pelorus or the shattered side Of thundering Etna[2], whose combustible And fueled entrails thence conceiving fire, Sublimed[3] with mineral fury, aid the winds, And leave a singèd bottom all involved With[4] stench and smoke: such resting found the sole Of unblest feet. ~ Paradise Lost, Book I, lines 227-38 ___________________________ [1] lights: rests after flight [2] the force . . . Etna: an underground wind moves a hill torn from Cape Pelorus, on the coast of Sicily, or Mount Etna, a nearby volcano. It was formerly thought that earthquakes were caused by underground winds. [3] sublimed: vaporized [4] involved with: wrapped in * * * Explanation: The “dry land” that becomes the “resting” place of Satan’s “unblest feet” offers no relief from the torments of hell. Milton seems to struggle as he tries to describe this otherworldly terrain. Although the land is not identical to the “liquid fire” of the lake, it – like the lake – burns, but with solid fire. And like the lake, it is the color of fire (line 230). At last, Milton settles for an image familiar to his earthly audience. He introduces the vehicle of the “singed” ground, shrouded in “stench and smoke,” that is left in the wake of a lava flow. Though the reader gets the sense that this does not entirely capture Milton’s vision of damnation, it seems to be the nearest earthly equivalent that he could come up with for hell’s dry land. In short, hell’s dry land – the only place Satan can find to rest his feet – is like the smoldering ground left behind by a volcanic eruption.
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