closet drama
by John Milton
. It appeared with the publication of Milton's Paradise Regain'd
in 1671, as the title page of that volume states: "Paradise Regained / A Poem / In IV Books / To Which Is Added / Samson Agonistes". It is generally thought that Samson Agonistes was begun around the same time as Paradise Regained but was completed after the larger work, possibly very close to the date of publishing, but there is no agreement on this.
Milton began plotting various subjects for tragedies in a notebook created in the 1640s.
O dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon,Irrecoverably dark, total eclipseWithout all hope of day!
The sun to me is darkAnd silent as the moon,When she deserts the night,Hid in her vacant interlunar cave.
To live a life half dead, a living death.
Ran on embattled armies clad in iron,And, weaponless himself,Made arms ridiculous.
Apt words have power to suageThe tumors of a troubled mind.
Wisest menHave erred, and by bad women been deceived.
Just are the ways of God, And justifiable to men; Unless there be who think not God at all.
What boots it at one gate to make defense,And at another to let in the foe?
My race of glory run, and race of shame,And I shall shortly be with them at rest.
But who is this, what thing of sea or land?Female of sex it seems,That so bedecked, ornate, and gay,Comes this way sailingLike a stately shipOf Tarsus, bound for th' islesOf Javan or Gadire,With all her bravery on, and tackle trim,Sails filled, and streamers waving,Courted by all the winds that hold them play;An amber scent of odorous perfumeHer harbinger?