John Milton
Methought I saw ...
1 Methought I saw my late espoused saint
2 Brought to me, like Alcestis, from the grave,
3 Whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave,
4 Rescu'd from death by force, though pale and faint.
5 Mine, as whom wash'd from spot of child-bed taint
6 Purification in the old Law did save,
7 And such as yet once more I trust to have
8 Full sight of her in Heaven without restraint,
9 Came vested all in white, pure as her mind;
10 Her face was veil'd, yet to my fancied sight
11 Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shin'd
12 So clear as in no face with more delight.
13 But Oh! as to embrace me she inclin'd,
14 I wak'd, she fled, and day brought back my night.
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1.
Late espoused saint: Katharine Woodcock, Milton's second wife,
whom he married in 1656, when already blind. She gave birth to
a daughter in October, 1657 (who also died), and she died in February,
1658. Saint bears witness to her piety and gentleness.
2.
Alcestis: In the Alcestis of Euripides, the heroine dies but is
rescued from the lower world and restored to Admetus (''her glad
husband'') by Hercules, the son of Zeus ("Jove's great son'').
5-6.
The ritual of purification after a birth is set forth in Leviticus
12: 7-12. The blind Milton had never seen Katharine. She presents
herself in his dream with every attribute of love and goodness,
but veiled (like Alcestis), and clad in white (cf. "What
are these which are arrayed in white robes? ... These are they
which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb''--Revelation 7:
13-14: the true purification), white symbolizing also her purity
of mind. As she here appears, Milton hopes to have full sight
of her in heaven.
14.
day brought back my night: the night of his blindness as well
as of his loss.
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Credits and Copyright
Together with the editors, the Department of English (University
of Toronto), and the University of Toronto Press, the following
individuals share copyright for the work that went into this edition:
Screen Design (Electronic Edition):
Sian Meikle (University of Toronto Library)
Scanning:
Sharine Leung (Centre for Computing in the Humanities)
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NOTES
Other poems by Milton ...
The poet's life and works ...
Composition Date:
1658.