Structure In Milton's Poetry. From the Foundations to the Pinnacles.

Milton's skill in constructing poems whose structure is determined, not by rule or precedent, but by the thought to be expressed, is one of his chief accomplishments as a creative artist. Professor Condee analyzes seventeen of Milton's poems, both early and late, well and badly organized, in order to trace the poet's developing ability to create increasingly complex poetic structures.

Three aspects of Milton's use of poetic structure are stressed: the relation of the parts to the whole and parts to parts, his ability to unite actual events with the poetic situation, and his use and variation of literary tradition to establish the desired structural unity.

Ralph Waterbury Condee is Professor of English Literature and Humanities at The Pennsylvania State University, coauthor of The Case for Poetry, and author of articles on Milton in The Yale Review, Philological Quarterly, Studies in the Renaissance, and The Journal of General Education.