Sarah Gibbard Cook
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact

Agony into Art

1/9/2017

2 Comments

 
The biblical judge Samson, betrayed by Delilah, was blinded and imprisoned by the Philistines. John Milton, blind and briefly imprisoned for his politics, published the dramatic poem Samson Agonistes in 1671. (The Greek Agonistes means a wrestler or person engaged in a struggle.) George Frederick Handel, recently bankrupt and beginning to lose his eyesight, based his oratorio Samson on Milton’s poem. The oratorio premiered in 1743.

Milton’s and Handel’s take on the Samson story gives scope for endless debate on their views of disability, violence, and women. What struck me, hearing Samson on public radio, was how both men transmuted personal struggle into art through the words they put in Samson’s mouth. Milton: “Light, the prime work of God, to me is extinct.” Handel: “Total eclipse! No sun. No moon. All dark amidst the blaze of noon.”

​It doesn’t belittle suffering to appreciate whatever beauty may emerge from it. In these months that have proved so difficult for so many, we can use all the art and beauty we can get.
2 Comments
Rhonda Peterson
1/9/2017 11:55:48 pm

Thanks, Sarah. Good reminder for our times!

Reply
Sarah link
1/10/2017 08:09:59 am

Thanks, Rhonda. Along with awaiting the return of the light, I wonder what unexpected art or beauty may emerge from these dark times.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. 

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016

    RSS Feed


      ​get updates

    Sign up
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Writing
  • Contact