This book will change how readers read not only Milton but any poetry. Whereas prose is written in sentences, poetry is written in lines, lines that may or may not coincide with the syntax of the sentence. Lines add an aural and visual mode of punctuation, with some degree of pause and weight at the line-turn. So lineation, the division of poetry into lines, opens a repertoire of possibilities to the poet. Notably, it encourages an enhanced concentration on meaning, rhythm, and sound. It makes metrical patterns possible, with interactions between regularity and deviation; or it makes possible the presence or absence of structural rhyme; or the multiple variations of the line-turn, whether in harmony with syntax or overflowing, in ways that may be either more or less conspicuous. Starting from theories of Derek Attridge, this book develops new methods for exploring the expressive resources of the verse line as exploited by the greatest of English poets, John Milton. Topics examined include: the interaction of strictness and freedom in the rhythms of Milton's line and paragraph; the interfusion of diverse prosodies in a single poem; approaches to free verse; rhyme in the earlier lyric verse and modes of near-rhyme in the later blank verse; the diverse modes of onomatopoeia; and the complex interweavings of prosody and ideology in this very political poet. The great themes and issues and characters of Milton's innovative and always controversial poetry are perceived afresh, being approached intimately through the rich possibilities of the line, and the insights of the approach illuminate the reading of any poetry.

About the Author
John Creaser is Emeritus Fellow of Mansfield College, University of Oxford and Emeritus Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Reviews
Creaser reveals Milton's mastery of all elements of poetic expression and compares him favorably with poets past and present. * Choice *


Awards
Winner of Winner, James Holly Hanford Book Award, Milton Society of America.



Book Information
ISBN 9780192864253
Author John Creaser
Format Hardback
Page Count 432
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 808g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 164mm * 29mm