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On the Late Massacre in Piedmont
Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones
Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold,
Even them who kept thy truth so pure of old,
When all our fathers worshiped stocks and stones;
Forget not: in thy book record their groans
Who were thy sheep and in their ancient fold
Slain by the bloody Piedmontese that rolled
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans
The vales redoubled to the hills, and they
To Heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow
O’er all th’ Italian fields where still doth sway
The triple tyrant; that from these may grow
A hundredfold, who having learnt thy way
Early may fly the Babylonian woe.
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Here is a little more on John Milton:
https://hitchhikeamerica.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/john-milton-writer-and-revolutionary/
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Dear Tim, because of you I will research Milton. Thank you! Will come back to comment again…
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Tim,
Thank you for the link to your post on John Milton. Dr. Hill’s treatment of Milton’s thought and life is complex, and I wonder how other historians see Milton. I read a couple of pieces on Hill too. It’s been a long time since I read Milton’s major works, with lots of annotations, in school. Milton lived in interesting times. The excerpts from Dr. Hill made me wonder what Milton believed that was unorthodox, and whether he really was unorthodox. This isn’t a quick study, for sure. Thanks again – I enjoyed learning but was a little troubled by Hill’s treatment. Lord bless you!
Maria
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Maria: A while back, I did some research on Christopher Hill on Wikipedia and it said that he was a Marxist (I am not a Marxist) (I am sure that Milton would not subscribe to Marxist thought). Marxists and non-Marxists would probably describe Milton as somewhat revolutionary. Charles I had his head chopped off, which is fairly revolutionary and Milton did not care too much for Charles I.
Here is a link to Christopher Hill’s Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hill_(historian)
I wrote a paper at Iowa State University on John Milton back in 1995. I believe that the 1600s in England was one of the most important centuries in the history of this planet. The United States is an offspring of the English Civil War (1642-1651) and the Glorious Revolution (1688-1689).
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Thanks for the link, Tim! I read the Wiki article about Hill. Yes, you’re right that the events of 17th century England were so very significant. The events in Scotland with the Covenanters were also. History isn’t dusty books but what real people lived through – it still affects all of us.
Lord bless you!
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Speaking of Scotland. You may want to read:
How the Scots Invented the Modern World
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Scots_Invented_the_Modern_World
I have read only two chapters, but it is excellent.
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Hi, Tim – thank you! I’ll go take a look. The title is intriguing.
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