Read on Twitter
When Paradise Lost was first published in 1667, Milton had it printed with line numbers. No author before Milton had ever been so confident
Even St Paul, that other great Christian egotist, was too modest to add his own verse numbers
Milton thought his vocation was to write for future generations. He had little (or no) hope for his own age. So when at last he produced his life's great work, he added line numbers for readers not yet born. Such a strange way to think about one's life and vocation
Milton believed he had arrived in the world both too early and too late. He would have to write "to aftertimes" while living in "an age too late". His own age was uniquely unpropitious. He would have to write for readers who did not exist: he would have to believe in providence
More than any other book, Paradise Lost tries to teach the reader how to read. Milton argues with us, rebukes us, anticipates & corrects our mistakes, etc. He writes for readers who don't exist, but then strives to create his own readers out of the rude & unruly mass of humanity
Edifying moral: If you ever read Paradise Lost with some degree of understanding and appreciation, then Milton's belief in providence has paid off!
Melancholy moral: In an age where we have largely forgotten how to believe in providence, what else can sustain a person to pursue a vocation in full knowledge that the age is unpropitious, that there will be no reward, no measurable "outcome", no immediate benefit to anyone?
Note: belief in "providence" isn't a claim to understand the direction of history and the meaning of my life. It means I go on living and working as if my life had meaning and as if history will amount to something even when such meaning is completely & permanently hidden from me
(That's why it's called "belief" and not "knowledge".)
