“Teach the Erring Soul” 1669–1674ture sought to contain by rhyme. He brings the issue home to Dryden (Bayes) in
the concluding lines, making him exemplify the folly of trying to contain genius
and inspiration within conventional norms. Then, wryly, he includes his own trib-
ute among the fashionable poems “tagged” with rhyming points^103 that Milton so
far surpasses. Marvell offers a fitting tribute to Milton, and in doing so defends
individuality and inspiration wherever found:^104
Well mightst thou scorn thy Readers to allure
With tinkling Rhime, of thy own sense secure;
While the Town-Bayes writes all the while and spells,
And like a Pack-horse tires without his Bells:
Their Fancies like our Bushy-pointes appear,
The Poets tag them, we for fashion wear.
I too transported by the Mode offend,
And where I meant to Praise thee must Commend.
Thy Verse created like thy Theme sublime,
In Number, Weight, and Measure, needs not Rhime. (45–54)“With New Acquist Of True Experience:” Paradise Regained
and Samson Agonistes
Milton’s last major poems, published together as a diptych, continue the educa-
tional project of Paradise Lost: to create imaginative experiences that will help read-
ers gain moral and political knowledge, virtue, and inner freedom – the “paradise
within” that is also the necessary precondition for gaining liberty in the public
sphere (plate 17). These poems enact the two forms of heroism pointed to in Para-
dise Lost: “Patience and Heroic Martyrdom” by Jesus tempted in the desert, and the
defeat of “worldly strong” by one “deemd weak,” the blinded Samson (PL 9.32;
12.567–8). Both the brief epic and the classical tragedy portray an isolated hero’s
hard intellectual struggle in dialogues and debates with a tempter or series of tempt-
ers. And for both heroes, the right understanding of themselves, of their different
callings, and of a large spectrum of moral and political issues, must precede the
fulfillment of those roles. Paradise Regained is concerned primarily with the realm of
attitudes and choices, Samson Agonistes with the realm of public duties and political
action. Like Paradise Lost, both poems are deeply engaged with contemporary issues
as well as with enduring human passions, desires, and fears.
Paradise Regained is a complement, not a sequel to Paradise Lost. Milton’s only
major sources are the few short verses in Matthew 4:1–11, Mark 1:12–13, and Luke
4:1–13 and the exegetical tradition pertaining to them; partly for dramatic effect
Milton followed the Luke sequence (stones, kingdoms, tower) rather than the more
often cited Matthew sequence. From this slender basis, he produced a narrative in