Milton T-Shirts

It is usually best, when embarking on the study of a ponderous classic, to begin with humor. Humor gives us an angled way to look at what otherwise might seem a dizzying, dazzling and daunting collection of words and images. As I was memorizing Book I, I came upon a number of suggestive, picture-giving phrases that not only give insight into the passage in which they appear, but also let us pause and think, dream, smile and fill our mind with the thick worlds of Hell (and sometimes Heaven). These essays describe 10 phrases I would love to see on T-shirts. My idea is that the heart of the T-shirt would be a picture of the action described in the words, and that the words would then appear below, with appropriate citation.

First T-Shirt--I.45

"Hurl'd headlong flaming"

Milton has to provide a quick review of heavenly history, in I.27-51, before landing us in Hell with Satan and his minions, where the main action of Book I takes place. He does this with incredible efficiency in these 25 lines, working backwards in history from the Fall of Adam and Eve, to the One who deceived them, to the reason why there was One lurking around earth to deceive them (i.e., a heavenly revolt), to the reason for the angelic revolt in Heaven (pride--line 36). Once we move backwards in time, we are then brought forward a little in history and left with Satan and his "horrid crew" in Hell, before the Fall of humans. Then, as it were, action slows to a crawl, as we join the party in Hell. So, the first 51 lines of PL, with the hugely compact Introduction and the backward winding, and then (little) forward winding section from 27-51, then prepare us for the rest of the story. Most people either become so afraid of Milton through the first 51 lines that they don't go on, or they skip these lines, because they don't know exactly what he is doing, and so the pleasure of these lines is lost. But this T-shirt will help us focus on one aspect of the story from 27-51--the punishment for the revolt in Heaven by the Rebel Angels.

In a word, God tossed them out. My next Milton T-shirt will give more flavor to this tossing, but this one captures in only three words the speed, intensity and decisiveness of that tossing. Him the Almighty (God) "Hurl'd headlong flaming." Can't you see it? A blazing Satan, with flames pointing in spires from his sides and head, heading down, down, down. How would you depict his facial expression? Defiant? Desperate? Scared? Blank? Why the flames? Because he was going so fast? Because he "caught fire" in the Heavenly combat? Say the words several times, "Hurl'd headlong flaming," and think of a variety of life situations where they are useful--when the boss comes down on someone? when you discard someone from your life? Other examples?

Second T-Shirt--I.740-42

Imagine Mulciber Falling

This would be a complement to the first T-shirt, and perhaps might even be on the back of it. It isn't a direct quotation from PL, but it captures an event vividly portrayed by Milton. We are near the end of Book I with this incident. Satan has rallied his troops, inspiriting them with energy to build their city in Hell. Called Pandemonium (the first coinage of the term), it is the stately and huge "high Capital of Satan and his Peers" (756-57). But someone needed to build all this and, indeed, the builder of Hell was the demi-god who was Heaven's original builder. He was caught up in the rebellion, too, and had to be thrown out of Heaven. We don't know the names of the original revolutionaries (Milton tells us that their names were "blotted out and raz'd by their Rebellion"--I.362-63), but later, after their Fall, they assumed names of various pagan deities and would continue to harass the people of God. So, this original builder, whose original name is lost to us, later took on the name of Mulciber (Greek Hephaestus; Latin also Vulcan). In telling us about his work, Milton feels he also has to give his history--in good epic form. So, Milton briefly but briskly tells the story of Mulciber's past, and his Fall. Whereas Satan was "hurl'd headlong flaming" from Heaven, we focus on a different way that Mulciber fell.

Here the slower, almost lazy, character of Mulciber's fall is stressed. At first he he thrown "Sheer o'er the crystal Battlements" in Heaven (742), which means he was with vigor and energy ("sheer" means "completely, absolutely, altogether, quite") tossed over the castle-like walls of Heaven. But then he fell, and fell, and fell. Down and down he goes, all day long until he reaches the zenith and then he dropped down like a falling star. So, the picture of his flaming is preserved, but here we s-t-r-e-t-c-h out the fall, which took a day. And, indeed, he only drops onto Lemnos, the Greek isle, rather than into Hell, so Milton's story doesn't tell us completely how he made it to Hell. But since the pagan deities, and the writers about them, only tell shadows of the truth, they are hinting at (perhaps without knowing), the real Fall of the unnamed angelic builder, who later is known as Mulciber.

Milton's telling of Mulciber's Fall with the lines "from Morn to Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve, A Summer's Day" (742-44), gives us pause and encouragement to imagine the slower, yet no less "flaming" Fall of Mulciber. What was he thinking during his long day's fall? How fast did he fall? Was the wind screaming by his ears? And, when he dropped from the zenith like a falling star on Lemnos, how was he welcomed by the bewildered inhabitants?

Conclusion

Now you see how we not only can get T-shirts from Book I of PL, but we can encourage the imagination and, at the same time, help us slow down to understand the intensity of the narrative that lies behind Milton's often stately poetry. And, if for no other reason, allowing students to make T-shirts will help them never forget PL.

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