THE CONFLICT OP OLD AND NEW IDEAS 39 



In her essay on philosophy and physics she has interpolated ver- 

 sified passages. One sample is enough. 



"The Earth, Sun, Moon, the rest of Planets all 

 Are moved by that, we Vitall Spirits cal. 

 And like to Animals, some move slow. 

 And other some by quicker motion go. 

 And so some Creatures by their shapes do flye. 

 Some swim, some run, some creep, some riseth high. 

 So Planets by their shapes about do winde. 

 All being made, like Circles, round we finde."*" 

 Aside from these uninspired attempts, her verse contains the most 

 conventional imagery. She was obviously eager to learn the new 

 philosophy, she was highly delighted with the experiments which 

 the Royal Society performed for her; but she did not contribute 

 anything toward the literary interpretation of the new science. 

 On the contrary, she offered a splendid target for the "Wits and 

 Railleurs". 



This struggle between the old and the new ideas was also in 

 the mind of John Milton, the belated Puritan. In his university 

 days he was taught the old Ptolemaic doctrines which were held 

 by both Cam])ridge and Oxford at that time.^" That his imagina- 

 tion first built upon the old physical conceptions can be demon- 

 strated from his early poems. ^^ Behind The Hymn of the Nativity, 

 The Arcades, and Comus lie the old scientific beliefs. It is true 

 that much freedom should be granted the poet in the matter of 

 poetic imagery; "he cherishes the old idols long after they have lost 

 their sanctity and have been disowned by philosophers". The 

 poetic use of Greek and Roman myths does not postulate an ac- 

 ceptance in the poet's mind. And yet, such lines as the following 

 show an undistrubed confidence in the old science. 

 "When the sons of the morning sung, 

 Wliile the Creator great 

 His constellation set, 

 And the well-balanced world on hinges hung."^- 



*' Of the Motion of Planets, Phil, and Phys. Opinions, p. 24. 

 ^ Masson, David, Life of Milton, vi, p. 534. 

 ^ Ibid. "Milton also inherited the Ptolemaic cosmology". 

 ''2 Hymn on the Nativity, St. XII. 



