John Milton LOVE POETRY, Literature, writers, authors, books, literature   SONNET XXIII. ON HIS DECEASED WIFE.1 METHOUGHT I saw my late espoused saint     Brought to me like Alcestis,2 from the grave,     Whom Jove's great son3 to her glad husband4 gave,     Rescued from death by force, though pale and faint. Mine, as whom wash'd from spot of child-bed taint     Purification in the old Law did save,     And such, as yet once more I trust to have     Full sight of her in Heaven without restraint, Came vested all in white, pure as her mind:     Her face was veil'd;5 yet to my fancied sight     Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shin'd So clear, as in no face with more delight.     But O, as to embrace me she inclin'd,     I wak'd; she fled; and day brought back my night.   5 10 1 This sonnet was written about the year 1656, on the death of his second wife, Catharine, the daughter of Captain Woodcock of Hackney.  She died in child-bed of a daughter, within a year after their marriage.  Milton had now been some time totally blind.— 2 'Alcestis:' see Euripides.— 3 'Great son:' Hercules.— 4 'Glad husband:' Admetus.— 5 'Veil'd:' so was Alcestis.         Milton's Poetical Works. Vol II.         Rev. George Gilfillan, ed.         Edinburgh: James Nichol, 1853. 198. to Milton Site copyright ©1996-2006 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved. Created by Anniina Jokinen on October 22, 2006. love, love poetry, love sonnet, sonnets, Renaissance, English, History, Paradise, Seventeenth, 17th, century, Cavalier, metaphysical, poem, poems, poet, poetry, poets, drama, literature, plays, Elizabethan, Jacobean, SCA, Costume, Music, Lute, Songs, Sonnets, Heaven, Hell, royalist, prose, religion, classics, epic, miltonian, Paradise Lost, Satan, Restoration, Secret, Masons, Freemasonry, New World, wisdom, history, ancient, texts, books, book, literature, conspiracy, costume, SCA, armor, philosophy, reason, statesman, author, writer, university, college, learning, symbology, alchemy, mysteries, magic, Shakespeare, philosopher, philosophy, scientist, social, authorship, writer, Elizabethan, Jacobean, Da Vinci, Secret, Masons, Freemasonry, New World, wisdom, history, ancient, texts, books, book, literature, conspiracy, costume, SCA, armor, philosophy, reason, statesman, author, writer, mysticism, freemasons, secret, secrets, secret society, secret societies, education, universities, symbology, alchemy, history, ancient, texts, books, book, literature, cryptography, conspiracy, costume, SCA, armor, author, writer, reasoning, mysticism, freemasons, historical fiction, novel, advisor, King James, England, Britain, UK, English, British, authors, writers, books, literature, novels, historical novel, BBC, History Channel, history, A&E, movie, film, Renaissance, Cavalier, metaphysical, Paradise Lost, epic, classic, classics, old books, used books, out of print books, poem competition, sonnet contest, Love, monarchy, queen, king, educational, university, education, Encyclopedia Britannica, intimate poetry, autobiographical, wife, marriage, Shakespeare, HBO, film, series, Elizabeth, Showtime, Tudor,