ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY

Milton- Christ’s Nativity


IGNOU MEG-1 Block-4 Unit-20 -


ON THE MORNING OF CHRIST'S NATIVITY


Written in 1629 when Milton was 21 years old.


Nativity meaning - the occasion of a person's birth. - Nativity of Christ and Milton’s own nativity in the adult world as he turned 21 now.


The poem consists of four opening stanzas of seven lines each, followed by the main 'Hymn' of twenty-seven stanzas of eight lines each, 


The opening four stanzas follow a rhyme scheme different from the rest of the poem and the rhymes themselves are not very consistently accurate.


For the most part the foot remains iambic, swinging between the rather rare trimeter and the hexameter.


the introductory stanzas are composed of seven lines each, following an a-b-a-b-b-c-c rhyme scheme, the remaining stanzas are of eight lines each, using the rhyme scbe~ne a-a-b-c-c-b-d-d.


Poetic device - Alliteration, enjambment, personification


The alliterative first line- The Windes, with wonder whist, 


The first four stanzas introduce the poem's topic, the birth of Christ, and offer it as a song in celebration of this event. The third stanza characteristically invokes the 'Heav'nly Muse'


Words:


  • Perpetual - never ending or changing.

  • Trinal - Having 3 parts or threefold (The christian holy trinity)

  • Untrod - Pathless, trackless

  • Spangled - Covered with small sparkling objects

  •  Squadrons - an operational unit in an air force consisting of two or more flights of aircraft and the personnel required to fly them.

  • Manger - a long trough from which horses or cattle feed.

  • Daff’d - A piece of clothing

  • Wanton - of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked.

  • Paramour - lover

  • Harbinger - a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another.

  • Myrtle - an evergreen shrub 

  • Rave - talk incoherently, as if one were delirious or mad.

  • Orb - a spherical object or shape

  • Wonted - Habitual, usual

  • Ere - before

  • Loth - reluctant

  • Cynthia - Moon Goddess

  • Oracle - in greek history someone who gives prophecies

  • Consecrated - been made sacred

  • Hearth - the floor of a fireplace

  • Plaint - charged with accusation 



Block-4 Studying Milton


You can check out my YouTube videos on the same topic where I have explained everything in Hindi in detail. Links are below-


Other Poems of Milton - explained in Hindi on my YouTube channel


Lycidas 1/2
Lycidas 2/2 

More related and helpful links in the description box of my YouTube channel.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Letters to ARBUTHNOT

Letters to ARBUTHNOT Unit-25 Pope: A Background to An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/22187/1/Unit-25.pdf   Unit-26 Pope: The Study of An Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot http://egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/22189/1/Unit-26.pdf Read the Poem here - https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44895/epistle-to-dr-arbuthnot Difficult words and explanation-  Bedlam - a scene of uproar and confusion. 2. an institution for the care of mentally ill people. Parnassus - 1. poetry or poets collectively. 2. any center of poetic or artistic activity. thicket - a dense group of bushes or trees. grit - small loose particles of stone or sand. maudlin - self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental. nostrum - a medicine prepared by an unqualified person, especially one that is not considered effective. coxcomb - a vain and conceited man; a dandy. 2. a man unduly concerned with looking stylish and fashionable. Codrus - Semi mythical king of Ahens Fib - a lie, typically an unimpor
Read more

Age of Chaucer

  Age of Chaucer: IGNOU MEG - Block 1: unit 1-4:          Chaucer Topics cover ed - Chaucer's time Background Names and Titles Writing Period The poetry of Chaucer and his contemporaries is best understood in the context of the transition in European society from declining feudalism to an emerging money control characterized by the rise of the middle classes. Because of the lucrative wool trade, agricultural land was being converted at many p1ace into pasture for rearing sheep. This required fewer farm-hands, giving rise to a gradual exodus of labor from country to town, from farming to the craft-guilds. Of course, such processes of social transformation do not take place abruptly: in the reign of Henry VIII, Thomas More continues to attack the 'enclosure' system, that is, the conversion of arable land into pasture.  Age of Chaucer 14th century: 1-    100 years war 1337-1453 in France and England (116 yrs)        War with France and Scotland brought honor to the English mo
Read more

Epithalamion and Prothalamion Summary & Analysis plus Notes

  IGNOU MEG-1 Block 2 Unit 11: IGNOU MEG-1 Block-2 Undertaking A Study of Spenser Unit 11: Epithalamion and Prothalamion Nuptial songs Both the wedding poems deal with the celebration of marriage The term literally means 'at the bridal chamber', and earlier referred to the song sung in celebration of the bride's wedding night, literally at her bridal chamber. 'Prothalamion' is a term invented by Spenser, in order to differentiate his poem by that name from his own and earlier written bridal song, but the meaning remains essentially unchanged, with the prefix 'pro-' (or prior to) standing in for 'epi-' (or outside of). Written in 1594. Differences: While Spenser's own epithalamion carries elements of this eroticism, the Prothalamion is a qualitatively different poem, almost completely devoid of eroticism, and in fact, actually, little more than a thinly disguised complaint poem significant and far-reaching differences in treatment, style and inten
Read more