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Title
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Title Page: Milton (1967)
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Student Commentary:
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A muscular male figure is center of this image from Milton (1967 facsimile). He appears to be illuminated by light, while the rest of the plate contains billowing dark clouds. His arm is extended into the clouds, as if to push them back and make room for more light. The title of the work is split in half and surrounds his frame. This male is thought to be either Milton, the hero of Blake’s epic poem, or perhaps even Blake himself, pushing through the shrouds of mystery in order to get to the heart of his work.
It is unusual for Blake to identify himself as an “author” on a title page; usually he signs himself as a printer. He may have used “author” here because he was grappling with the legacy of fellow writer Milton, whose work he admired in many ways, but whose Puritan outlook he was also trying to take apart. The text at the bottom, “To Justify the Ways of God to Man” is from Paradise Lost. Blake elevates the creative or poetic imagination as justification for his own views.
