Milton's Psalm Translations: Petition and Praise

• Published in: English literary renaissance 1972-03, Vol.2 (2), p.243-259
• Main Author: COLLETTE, CAROLYN P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Christian history; Christianity; Church music; Divinity; Laments; Meditation; Prayer; Protestantism; Psalms; Theology
• ISSN: 0013-8312; 1475-6757
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-6757.1972.tb00738.x

Milton's psalm translations have been a source of puzzlement to scholars and critics. An examination of Reformation theology reveals, however, that the Book of Psalms played a central role in Protestant worship. An analysis of the psalms Milton chose to translate and of the standard explications of the Book of Psalms advanced by such accepted authorities as Calvin and Beza, together with an analysis of the public events at the time Milton worked on the translations, indicate that he translated the Psalms as an act of worship, meditation, and penance. Psalms 80-88, translated in 1648, are about the dangers the Congregation of the Lord faces from the arbitrary and tyrannical use of civil power and from unbelievers; here Milton's acceptance of and use of typology indicates that he may well have agreed with Beza that the dangers the psalmist warns of were types of the dangers facing the Reformed Church. Psalms 1-8, translated in 1651, were rendered while Milton was involved in a pamphlet controversy which slandered him, the Independents, and the Commonwealth. Thus the two groups of translations appear to have been done in response to the pressure of civil events as well as in response to the urgings of Milton's conscience which found comfort and the means of praise in the Psalms.