Farewell happy fields
Where Joy for ever dwells: Hail horrours, hail
Infernal world, and thou profoundest Hell
Receive thy new Possessor: One who brings
A mind not to be chang’d by Place or Time.
The mind is its own place, and in it
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.
What matter where, if I be still the same,
And what I should be, all but less then he
Whom Thunder hath made greater? Here at least
We shall be free; th’ Almighty hath not built
Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
Here we may reign secure, and in my choyce
To reign is worth ambition though in Hell
Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.
He is bidding farewell to a mindset, but which one? The last lines he mentions the power he sees of Evil, but it doesn't necessarily seem like he, himself, chooses this. Where does his freedom lie? He bids farewell to signs of Heaven and hails signs of Hell, but it is unclear whether this "choyce" is his, or where he thinks he should be. We can make heaven a hell and hell a heaven based on the thoughts we provide for each. He plays with these words so casually, yet I wonder what he really feels...
ReplyDeleteIt's all about the mindset. Heaven or hell, we should make the best of our situation. I should read this everyday.
ReplyDelete