著者

大木 富 Tom Ohki

出版者

神奈川工科大学

雑誌

神奈川工科大学研究報告.A,人文社会科学編 (ISSN:09161899)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.27, pp.23-33, 2003-03-20

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The purpose of this paper is to consider the numerology in John Milton's "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity." This poem consists of the Proem (4 7-line stanzas and 28 lines) and the Hymn (27 8-line stanzas and 216 lines). Rostvig (1975) pointed out that the overall structure of the Hymn combines two patterns, a sequence of 12-3-12 and another of 1-9-7-9-1 stanzas. Davies (1975) indicated three beginnings in this poem: (1) the actual beginning of the poem; (2) stanza 3 of the Proem, the outermost limit of the symmetrical structure centered at stanza 13 of the Hymn; (3) stanza 1 of the Hymn, the beginning of the Hymn as a sequence of 15-11-1 stanzas Empson (1974) showed the ambiguity of the symbolism of Lucifer in Milton's poetry. Lucifer (stanza 6 of the Hymn) and the total number of lines of the Hymn 216(=63) provide clues to the numerology in this poem. The first section deals with Rostvig (1975) and Davies (1975). The second section analyzes the complex and intricate symbolism of the number 6 in the Hymn. The third section interprets Milton's use of other symbolic numbers. The final section discusses anamorphosis emerging from the symbolism of the number 6.