Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy In sceptred pall come sweeping by, Presenting Thebes, or Pelops' line, Or the tale of Troy divine.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the beauty and significance of tragic stories in art and literature.
In this excerpt from John Milton, the author invokes the notion that tragedy, represented through grand historical narratives like those of Thebes, Pelops, and Troy, holds a transformative power. By allowing these profound tales of suffering and hardship to enter our lives, we can appreciate the depths of human experience and the artistry involved in portraying such dramatic elements.
In practice
In a conversation about the power of storytelling, one might quote this to emphasize the importance of tragedy in art.
They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand, the gate With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms: Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide; They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.
The stars, that nature hung in heaven, and filled their lamps with everlasting oil, give due light to the misled and lonely traveller.
Ev'n them who kept thy truth so pure of old, When all our fathers worshipp'd stocks and stones.
Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is and saw Virtue in her shape how lovely: and pined his loss
The end of all learning is to know God, and out of that knowledge to love and imitate Him.
Apt words have power to suage the tumors of a troubled mind.
Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.
The picture is in your head, in your imagination, everything.
In my games I have sometimes found a combination intuitively simply feeling that it must be there. Yet I was not able to translate my thought processes into normal human language.
I think of myself in the oral tradition-as a troubadour, a village tale-teller, _x000D_ the man in the shadows of the campfire. That's the way I'd like to be remembered-_x000D_ as a storyteller. A good storyteller.
I was the basest of readers. All I wanted was my own world, and myself in it, given back to me in artful shapes and accessible form.
Criticism does not disturb me, for I am my own severest critic. Always in my playing I strive to surpass myself, and it is this constant struggle that makes music fascinating to me.
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