[Milton’s Cottage at Chalfont St. Giles]
I have just completed a John Milton “pilgrimage”, where I was honored and stunned to be able to hold first editions of “Paradise Lost” and other Milton texts in my bare hands (thanks to James the librarian at Christ’s College, Old Library), and visit the only house of Milton’s that is still standing (located in the pretty village of Chalfont St. Giles). Unable to even contemplate writing Miltonic verse to capture the experience, I’ve opted to distance myself with simple haiku.
Old library visit
alumnus of Christ’s College
walk in Milton’s steps
Hands hold delicate
first printed Paradise Lost
delighted voice reads
The Prelude writer
hoping to emulate
kept epic copies
[One of Wordsworth’s copies of Paradise Lost]
At Milton’s cottage
apples still hang on the tree
gleefully, I reach