, Methought I Saw My Late Espoused Saint (Espous"e"d is stressed) John Milton Methought I saw my late espoused saint Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave, Whom Jove's great son to her glad husband gave, Rescued from death by force though pale and faint. Mine, as whom washed from spot of childbed taint, Purification in the old law did save, And such, as yet once more I trust to have Full sight of her in heaven without restraint, Came vested all in white, pure as her mind. Her face was veiled, yet to my fancied sight Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined So clear, as in no face with more delight. But O, as to embrace me she inclined, I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night. Milton dedicated his life to political struggles, especially during the years when England struggled domestically between 1625 to the end of the Protectorate , the restoration of Charles II. He became blind during the third set of pamphlets of which he had published to defend the reign of Cromwell, and moreover, to defend the execution of Charles I. this poem was composed after he had lost his sight, and after his first wife died. The "late espoused saint" in this poem refers to Katherine Woodcock, his second wife, who died in childbirth in 1658, six years after the death of his first wife. Milton had never seen his second wife, and hence this poem mentioned how her face was "veiled," and stresses the importance of inner virtue with the description "Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined/So clear, as in no face with more delight," rather than Robert Harrick's passionate description on the physical details. --

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