The above quotation is taken from John Milton's epic poem, "Paradise Lost", which BBC Radio 3 is broadcasting every afternoon this week and next at 5pm. Now here's some real "fear and loathing", to use those well known words of Hunter S Thompson, from Satan's "crew" !
Earlier this year, as it happens, I briefly attended - being short of time and attention span - an exhibition entitled "Citizen Milton" at the Bodleian Library (one of my all time favourite places) in Oxford. Near the start of this exhibition, I was perplexed to find the following quotation from our Prime Minister :
"At the core of British history, the very British ideas of 'active citizenship,' 'good neighbour', civic pride and the public realm." — Gordon Brown, 2007
This may well be true, but what has it got to do with Milton ?, I asked myself : Oxford Establishment cosying up to the Government, perhaps. Then as I listened to "Paradise Lost" yesterday, another thought occurred.
What particularly strikes me about Gordon Brown and his Cabinet is the pride and arrogance of some (not all, admittedly) of its key members, including the Prime Minister, himself. I wonder what "Citizen Milton" would have made of them ?
Postscript 24.12.2008 : If anyone is wondering where God is in my "argument" (to use Milton's word), let them look to Citizen Williams, although the Poet would, I think (had he been alive today) looked more to Citizen Tutu for his inspiration.
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