The Astronomy of Milton's 'Paradise Lost' by Thomas Nathaniel Orchard (read along books .TXT) 📖
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Like distant breadth—to Taurus with the seven
Atlantic Sisters, and the Spartan Twins,
Up to the Tropic Crab; thence down amain
By Leo, and the Virgin, and the Scales,
As deep as Capricorn; to bring in change
Of seasons to each clime. Else had the spring
Perpetual smiled on Earth with vernant flowers.—x. 668-79.
In support of the theory of a perpetual spring, Milton assumes that the Earth’s axis was directed at right angles to her orbit, and that the plane of the equator coincided with that of the ecliptic. Consequently, the Sun’s path remained always on the equator, where his rays were vertical, and north and south of this line each locality on the Earth enjoyed one constant season, the character of which depended upon its geographical position. In what are now the temperate regions of the globe there was one continuous season, similar in climate and length of day to what is experienced at the vernal equinox, when the Sun is for a few days on the equator. There was then no winter, no summer, nor autumn; and, consequently, the growth of vegetation must have taken place under conditions of climate entirely different to what exist on the Earth at the present time.
The change of position of the Earth’s axis, ‘twice ten degrees and more from the Sun’s axle,’ is described by Milton as having been accomplished by the might of angels, who ‘with labour pushed oblique the centric globe.’
(2) According to the Ptolemaic belief, the Sun revolved round the Earth, but his course was altered from the equinoctial road to the path that he now pursues, which is the ecliptic. Instead of remaining on the equator, he travels an equal distance from this line upwards and downwards in each hemisphere.
The path of the Sun in the heavens is described by Milton with marked precision, and he mentions in regular order the names of the zodiacal constellations through which the orb travels. Passing through Taurus with the seven Atlantic Sisters (the Pleiades) and the Spartan Twins (Gemini), he enters the Tropic Crab (Cancer), in which constellation he attains his highest northern altitude; thence downwards he travels through Leo, Virgo, and the Scales (Libra), as deep as Capricornus, reaching his lowest point of declination at the winter solstice; and were it not for this alteration of the Sun’s path, the poet informs us that perpetual spring would have reigned upon the Earth.
Milton was evidently well acquainted with the astronomical reasons (the revolution of the Earth in her orbit and the obliquity of the ecliptic) by which the occurrence and regular sequence of the seasons can be explained.
The path of the Sun in the heavens; his upward and downward course from the equator; the names of the constellations through which the orb travels, and the periods of the year at which he enters them, were also familiar to him.
The grateful change of the seasons, and the varied aspects of nature peculiar to each, which give a charm and freshness to the rolling year, must have been to Milton a source of pleasure and delight, and have stimulated his poetic fancy.
His observation of natural phenomena, and his keen perception of the pleasing changes which accompany them, are described in the following lines:—
Ascending, while the north wind sleeps, o’erspread
Heaven’s cheerful face, the louring element
Scowls o’er the darkened landskip snow or shower,
If chance the radiant Sun, with farewell sweet,
Extend his evening beam, the fields revive,
The birds their notes renew, and bleating herds
Attest their joy, that hill and valley rings.—ii. 488-95.
The ancient poets Virgil and Ovid describe the Earth as having been created in the spring; and associated with this season, which
Vernal delight and joy—iv. 154-55,
were the Graces and the Hours, which danced hand in hand as they led on the eternal Spring.
Milton alludes to the seasons on several occasions throughout his poem, and to the natural phenomena associated with them:—
In springtime when the Sun with Taurus rides,
Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
In clusters; they among fresh dews and flowers
Fly to and fro, or on the smoothèd plank
The suburb of their straw-built citadel
New rubbed with balm, expatiate and confer
Their state affairs.—i. 768-75.
The Sun is in the constellation Taurus in April, when the warmth of his rays begins to impart new life and activity to the insect world after their long winter’s sleep.
In his description of the repast partaken by the Angel Raphael with Adam and Eve in Paradise, Milton writes:—
Their table was, and mossy seats had round,
And on her ample square, from side to side,
All Autumn piled, though Spring and Autumn here
Danced hand in hand.—v. 391-95.
In describing Beelzebub when about to address the Stygian Council, he says:—
Drew audience and attention still as night
Or summer’s noontide air, while thus he spake.—ii. 307-309.
The failing vision from which Milton suffered in his declining years was succeeded by total blindness. This sad affliction he alludes to in the following lines:—
Seasons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer’s rose.—iii. 40-43.
We are able to perceive how much Milton was impressed with the beautiful seasons, and the varying aspects of the year which accompany them, and how his poetic imagination luxuriated in the changing variety of nature observable in earth and sky that from day to day afforded him exquisite delight; and, although his poem was written when blindness had overtaken him, yet those glad remembrances remained as fresh in his memory as when in his youth he roamed among the flowery meadows, the vocal woodlands, and the winding lanes of Buckinghamshire.
The idea expressed by Milton that the primitive earth enjoyed a perpetual spring, though pleasing to the imagination, and well adapted for poetic description, is not sustained by any astronomical testimony. Indeed, the position of the Earth, with her axis at right angles to her orbit, is one which may be regarded as being ill adapted for the support and maintenance of life on her surface, just as her present position is the best that can be imagined for fulfilling this purpose.
Astronomy teaches us to rely with certainty upon the permanence and regular sequence of the seasons. The position of the Earth’s axis as she speeds along in her orbit through the unresisting ether remains unchanged, and her rapid rotation has the effect of increasing its stability. Yet, the Earth performs none of her motions with rigid precision, and there is a very slow alteration of the position of her axis occurring, which, if unchecked, would eventually produce a coincidence of the equator and the ecliptic. Instead of a succession of the seasons, there would then be perpetual spring upon the Earth, and, although it would require a great epoch of time to bring about such a change, there would result a condition of things entirely different to what now exists on the globe. But, before the ecliptic can have approached sufficiently near the equator to produce any appreciable effect upon the climate of the Earth, its motion must cease, and after remaining stationary for a time, it will begin to recede to its former position. The seasons must therefore follow each other in regular sequence, and throughout all time, reminding us of the promise of the Creator, ‘that while the Earth remaineth seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter shall not cease.’
CHAPTER VI THE STARRY HEAVENSThe celestial vault, that, like a circling canopy of sapphire hue, stretches overhead from horizon to horizon, resplendent by night with myriad stars of different magnitudes and varied brilliancy, forming clusterings and configurations of fantastic shape and beauty, arrests the attention of the most casual observer. But to one who has studied the heavens, and followed the efforts of human genius in unravelling the mysteries associated with those bright orbs, the impression created on his mind as he gazes upon them in the still hours of the night, when the turmoil of life is hushed in repose, is one of wonder and longing to know more of their being and the hidden causes which brought them forth. Here, we have poetry written in letters of gold on the sable vestment of night; music in the gliding motion of the spheres; and harmony in the orbital sweep of sun, planet, and satellite.
Milton was not only familiar with ‘the face of the sky,’ as it is popularly called, but also knew the structure of the celestial sphere, and the great circles by which it is circumscribed. Two of those—the colures—he alludes to in the following lines, when he describes the manner in which Satan, to avoid detection, compassed the Earth, after his discovery by Gabriel in Paradise, and his flight thence:—
With darkness—thrice the equinoctial line
He circled, four times crossed the car of night
From pole to pole, traversing each colure.—ix. 63-66.
Aristarchus of Samos believed the stars were golden studs, that illumined the crystal dome of heaven; but modern research has transformed this conception of the ancient astronomer’s into a universe of blazing suns rushing through regions of illimitable space. In Milton’s time astronomers had arrived at no definite conclusion with regard to the nature of the stars. They were known to be self-luminous bodies, situated at a remote distance in space, but it had not been ascertained with any degree of certainty that they were suns, resembling in magnitude and brilliancy our Sun. Indeed, little was known of those orbs until within the past hundred years, when the exploration of the heavens by the aid of greatly increased telescopic power, was the means of creating a new branch of astronomical science, called sidereal astronomy.
We are indebted to Sir William Herschel, more than to any other astronomer, for our knowledge of the stellar universe. It was he who ascertained the vastness of its dimensions, and attempted to delineate its structural configuration. He also explored the star depths, which occupy the infinitude of space by which we are surrounded, and made many wonderful discoveries, which testify to his ability as an observer, and to his greatness as an astronomer.
William Herschel was born at Hanover, November 15, 1738. His father was a musician in the band of the Hanoverian Guard, and trained his son in his own profession. After four years of military service, young Herschel arrived in England when nineteen years of age, and maintained himself by giving lessons in music. We hear of him first at Leeds, where he followed his profession, and instructed the band of the Durham Militia. From Leeds he went to Halifax, and was appointed organist there; on the expiration of twelve months he removed to Bath, and was elected to a similar post at the Octagon Chapel in that city. Here, fortune smiled upon him, and he became a busy and prosperous man. Besides attending to his numerous private engagements, he organised concerts, oratorios, and other public musical entertainments, which gained him much popularity among the cultivated classes which frequented this fashionable resort. Notwithstanding his numerous professional engagements, Herschel was able to devote a portion of his time to acquiring knowledge on other subjects. He became proficient in Italian and Greek, studied mathematics, and read
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