The bold statement in line 255 seems startlingly modern in its understanding. I’m trying to imagine reading it in the 17th century with God watching. Not easy.
Good thought, Heather. 'with God watching' yes - I suppose Milton would have been thinking of sin, a concept we don't have a modern translation for? If our minds really do make heaven or hell out of the opposite, it might be, for Milton, a sign of our creative power but also our fallen degeneracy...
The bold statement in line 255 seems startlingly modern in its understanding. I’m trying to imagine reading it in the 17th century with God watching. Not easy.
Good thought, Heather. 'with God watching' yes - I suppose Milton would have been thinking of sin, a concept we don't have a modern translation for? If our minds really do make heaven or hell out of the opposite, it might be, for Milton, a sign of our creative power but also our fallen degeneracy...