On Shakespeare by John Milton
"On Shakespeare" by John Milton is a sixteen-line epitaph that honors the legacy of the renowned playwright William Shakespeare. Written in iambic pentameter and structured in heroic couplets, this poem diverges from Milton's typical style, as heroic couplets gained prominence in English verse after his time. Originally titled "An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramaticke Poet, W. Shakespeare," the poem was composed in 1630 for the second folio of Shakespeare's works, likely at the invitation of Milton's friend Henry Lawes.
In the poem, Milton asserts that Shakespeare's works alone serve as a lasting monument, rendering traditional memorials unnecessary. Rather than focusing on death, Milton emphasizes the immortality achieved through art, celebrating Shakespeare’s ability to evoke deep emotions and impressions in his audience. He contrasts the transient nature of physical monuments with the enduring fame of Shakespeare's literary creations. Through vivid imagery and metaphor, Milton positions Shakespeare among the greats of classical literature, suggesting that his artistic genius not only secures his own legacy but also elevates the experience of readers. Ultimately, the poem encapsulates the transformative power of poetry, asserting that Shakespeare’s true monument lies in the lasting impact of his works on the hearts and minds of those who engage with them.
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On Shakespeare by John Milton
First published: 1632, as “An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramaticke Poet, W. Shakespeare,” in Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies; collected in Poems of Mr. John Milton, 1645
Type of poem: Lyric
The Poem
“On Shakespeare” is a sixteen-line epitaph written in iambic pentameter and divided into heroic couplets, an unusual meter for John Milton’s poetry. In English verse, the heroic couplet was not a smoothly honed stanza until after Milton’s poetic career had concluded. The poem was originally published under the title “An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramaticke Poet, W. Shakespeare,” though the title Milton used in the 1645 edition of his lyric poems has been accepted ever since. The epitaph is related to the classical epigram, a brief lyric that includes pithy wit and polished verses. An epitaph, usually a brief poem, deals with a serious or philosophical subject in a witty manner. The poems were often written on the occasion of a death, as in Milton’s “An Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester.” The genre designation suggests a tombstone inscription, though few known poetic epitaphs actually served that purpose. William Shakespeare’s own four-line epitaph, inscribed on his gravestone in Stratford’s Holy Trinity Church, represents a notable exception. In Milton’s lengthy epitaph on the marchioness of Winchester, he describes her family background, details the circumstances surrounding her death, and proclaims her heavenly reward for suffering. However, since Shakespeare’s death occurred fourteen years before the composition date, Milton makes no allusion to death and mourning in the poem commemorating him. Instead he centers upon the immortality that art offers.
An occasional lyric (one written for a specific event), “On Shakespeare” was composed in 1630 to appear among the many poems prefatory to the second folio of Shakespeare’s Works. In all likelihood, Milton was invited to contribute to the collection, possibly by his friend Henry Lawes. Commendatory poems were designed to set a tone of celebration for the event and to praise the author for his artistic achievement. Appropriately, the poem assumes an audience of readers rather than theatergoers. Like other contributors to the collection, Milton celebrates the power of poetry and the fame it brings its creators by endowing them with a form of immortality.
The opening six lines pose questions concerning Shakespeare’s need for a monument. Initially, the poem implies that “my Shakespeare” needs no conventional monument such as a pyramid. Laboriously piled stones and pyramids, Milton proclaims, are not needed to cover or house Shakespeare’s “hallowed relics.” The usual monuments, however elaborate, can offer only “weak witness” of Shakespeare’s name, whereas his works make him a “son of memory” and “heir of fame.” Still, these exaggerated images of elaborate memorials are fictional, and Milton would have known that Shakespeare’s actual grave was below ground, covered by a marble slab bearing a modest inscription. Milton’s second question implies that Shakespeare is preserved through memory and fame, and the imagery of relics and the hint of succession distance the poem from the poet’s death.
Shakespeare’s works are responsible for the immortality that assures undying fame. The second portion of the poem (lines 7-14) opens with the ambiguous line “Thou in our wonder and astonishment,” whose meaning is clarified within the context of subsequent lines. Initially, it would appear to mean that the bard has created his own monument to arouse the “wonder” of readers. However, “astonishment” is proleptic, foreshadowing the idea that the works affect the readers and thus create Shakespeare’s genuine monument. Before the works’ effect can be celebrated, however, the poem praises the creative power of the author. Milton asserts that the bard has surpassed “slow endeavoring art” to produce the fluent, easy numbers of genius. This achievement places him in a class above that of ordinary writers.
Having characterized the seeming ease of Shakespeare’s art, the poem shifts its focus to concentrate on the effects of poetry on the audience. Shakespeare’s art, it asserts, leaves an impression on hearts like that of an engraving on marble. Readers are so deeply impressed by the works, the “unvalued [invaluable] book,” that their imaginations are suspended as if rapt in meditation. The effect has been a kind of ecstasy that suspends all thoughts and transforms them into marble. This power to move the emotions and overwhelm the imagination (“fancy”) represents the important monument and Shakespeare’s lasting achievement. Through art, Shakespeare has attained the ability to move or transform his audience, a feat associated from antiquity with divine power. In effect, his art has become the poet’s monument, and this outcome is of greater significance than sepulchral pomp. In a witty, paradoxical conclusion (lines 15-16), the poem proclaims this ability so rare that, for a similar monument, even kings would wish to die.
Forms and Devices
In a poem concerned with fame and immortality, Milton appropriately employs an impressive number of images relating to death and monuments: “bones,” “relics,” “pyramids,” “monument,” “stones,” and “marble.” Thus the images create a sense of tangible durability associated with lasting parts of the person (“relics” and “bones”), with the materials that form monuments (“stones” and “marble”), and with the monuments themselves. They fittingly remove the tone from the immediacy of death to focus on posthumous fame. The concrete images, however, subtly shift to metaphor when the poem attributes everlasting qualities to Shakespeare’s works and their effects, denying the view that fame rests upon tangible objects. The enduring “monument” created by Shakespeare consists of his works. Thus the imagery reinforces Milton’s early denial of the need for conventional aids to fame. By contrasting the concrete images of fame to the metaphors that suggest a greater fame, the poem asserts that the more important kind of monument assures memory through successive generations.
The achievement is reinforced through an allusion to Greek “Delphic lines” (line 12), intimating that Shakespeare’s artistry rivals that of the Greek classics. The allusion may well hark back to Milton’s earlier epithet “great heir of fame,” suggesting that the bard either writes in the immortal tradition of the classics or that he merits the respect accorded classical poets. At the very least, Milton recognizes that Shakespeare, like the ancients, has staying power. For any contemporary poet, this was high praise indeed. Furthermore, references to “pomp” and “kings” in the final lines accord Shakespeare a magisterial place among poets.
The subdued point of view moves from first person singular to the plurals “our” and “us” as the poem shifts to the effects of reading the poetry. By identifying himself with others, the poem’s persona effectively becomes a spokesman for numerous readers. By the same token, through limiting and subordinating the role of the speaker, Milton achieves a tone of assurance and majesty appropriate to the power he celebrates in the subject.