" The poet-laureate of
England echoed Milton's sentiment in 1905. He roundly asserted that
"perishable stuff" is the fit crown of monumental pedestals. "Gods for
themselves," he concluded, "have monument enough." There are ample
signs that the sentiment to which Milton and the laureate give voice
has a good deal of public support.
None the less the poet-laureate's conclusion is clearly refuted by
experience and cannot terminate the argument. At any rate, in the
classical and Renaissance eras monumental sculpture was in habitual
request among those who would honour both immortal gods and mortal
heroes--especially mortal heroes who had distinguished themselves in
literature or art.
A little reflection will show, likewise, that Milton's fervid couplets
have small bearing on the question at issue in its present conditions.
Milton's poem is an elegy on Shakespeare. It was penned when the
dramatist had lain in his grave less that fourteen years, and when the
writer was in his twenty-second year. The exuberant enthusiasm of
youth was couched in poetic imagery which has from time immemorial
been employed in panegyrics of great poets. The beautiful figure which
presents a great man's work as his only lasting monument is as old as
poetry itself.
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