The Grand Style
This chapter presents the argument of Milton's critics that Milton's Grand Style is not that it is not grand, but that its grandeur forfeits the possibility of delicacy and subtlety. It selects four important Miltonic topics — rhythm or music, syntax, metaphor, and word-play. It explains that to examine what has been said about Milton's rhythms and music is soon to realize that it provided one of the elements of the Grand Style which is both indisputably important and almost impossible to analyse. That Milton's sound-effects are magnificent is not denied even by his detractors. It notes that the key to any understanding of the Grand Style is decorum. It illuminates that it is decorum that demanded Milton to elevate his style by deviating greatly from common usage and it is decorum again which explains Milton's use of metaphor.
Keywords: Milton, Grand Style, rhythm, music, syntax, metaphor, word-play, decorum
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .