William Wordsworth – Milton, Thou Shouldst Be Living at This Hour

William Wordsworth – Milton, Thou Shouldst Be Living at This Hour

‘Milton! Thou shoulds’t be living hour’. Wordsworth is calling upon Milton, who was dead at the time to come and save England from the ‘fen of stagnant waters’ that she has become.
Milton had "a voice whose sound was like the sea; Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free."
He complains to his elder John Milton, Saying if you were here may be you would have been capable of stopping the deterioration of the health of London. You could have given us manners, virtue, freedom and power.
Wordsworth likes to live in the favorate images of his past.
He laments how man has become small and petty. They are wallowing in stagnant waters .
The speaker addresses the soul of the dead poet John Milton, saying that he should be alive at this moment in history, for England needs him. England, the speaker says, is stagnant and selfish, and Milton could raise her up again. The speaker says that Milton could give England “manners, virtue, freedom, power,” for his soul was like a star, his voice had a sound as pure as the sea, and he moved through the world with “cheerful godliness,” laying upon himself the “lowest duties.”
written in iambic pentameter.
The speaker of this poem, which takes the form of a dramatic outburst, literally cries out to the soul of John Milton in anger and frustration, “Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour”
In the octave, the speaker articulates his wish that Milton would return to earth, and lists the vices ruining the current era. Every venerable institution—the altar (representing religion), the sword (representing the military), the pen (representing literature), and the fireside (representing the home)—has lost touch with “inward happiness,” which the speaker identifies as a specifically English birthright
Wordsworth begins the poem by wishing that Milton were still alive, for "England hath need of thee." This is because England has stagnated, its people selfish and unhappy, its splendor and power lost. But Milton could change all...

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