Alienated Romantic
John Milton and coffee
Paradise Lost
Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden...
Look at the structure of this paper, the deep mark of the imprint of the text on the surface, the quality it still retains (this edition of mine is from 1796).
Best viewed huge
Actually, I uploaded this to shamelessly promote this blog piece on the healthy aspects of coffee that I wrote this sleepless night. Enjoy the read.
Not sure if Milton ever had coffee, but since the drink was introduced to England by an exchange student from Crete in 1637, the first coffee house in Britain opened 1650 and Milton lives 1608-1674, chances are that he wrote Paradise Lost while under the influence of this great beverage. John Milton, being a religious man (or at least writing a lot of religiously themed texts), ought to have been drinking coffee since the pope had declared it a christian drink. This is how it happened: some clerics reasoned that since coffee was produced by the heathens, it was ungodly. They presented their case to the pope. After having a sip of the beverage, he promptly stated that such a pleasant drink had to be of god and suggested the coffee should be baptized.
Oh, and if you do decide to have those recommended four cups/day and if you own editions such as this, keep them well away from potential coffee stains. There's a special hell prepared for people who ruin nice editions of wonderful literature. I ought to know, I've been known to swear loudly over the first edition Astrid Lindgren books I 'prettified' with crayons when I was a very small child. Get another copy for reading and carefully fondle them nice collectibles once in a while, but away from pets, kids, wildebeests, hippos, tornados, deluges, apocalypses, ignorant people, dust, badly ventilated cooking areas and cig smoke. And sunlight. And fingerprints (no, not smeary fingerprints, skin is always somewhat fat and fat starts bad processes in paper).
...now to try Travels of Marco Polo (the very nice Folio Society edition) to induce sleep, that never failed me before. Used it as a last resort for 10 years and in that time I've reached page 67.
Enjoy some music I uploaded now (instead of doing the Marco Polo trip, I'm as easily distracted as a kitten something predatory locked in with something soft, tender and squeaky).
Tenuous Link: poet name
John Milton and coffee
Paradise Lost
Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden...
Look at the structure of this paper, the deep mark of the imprint of the text on the surface, the quality it still retains (this edition of mine is from 1796).
Best viewed huge
Actually, I uploaded this to shamelessly promote this blog piece on the healthy aspects of coffee that I wrote this sleepless night. Enjoy the read.
Not sure if Milton ever had coffee, but since the drink was introduced to England by an exchange student from Crete in 1637, the first coffee house in Britain opened 1650 and Milton lives 1608-1674, chances are that he wrote Paradise Lost while under the influence of this great beverage. John Milton, being a religious man (or at least writing a lot of religiously themed texts), ought to have been drinking coffee since the pope had declared it a christian drink. This is how it happened: some clerics reasoned that since coffee was produced by the heathens, it was ungodly. They presented their case to the pope. After having a sip of the beverage, he promptly stated that such a pleasant drink had to be of god and suggested the coffee should be baptized.
Oh, and if you do decide to have those recommended four cups/day and if you own editions such as this, keep them well away from potential coffee stains. There's a special hell prepared for people who ruin nice editions of wonderful literature. I ought to know, I've been known to swear loudly over the first edition Astrid Lindgren books I 'prettified' with crayons when I was a very small child. Get another copy for reading and carefully fondle them nice collectibles once in a while, but away from pets, kids, wildebeests, hippos, tornados, deluges, apocalypses, ignorant people, dust, badly ventilated cooking areas and cig smoke. And sunlight. And fingerprints (no, not smeary fingerprints, skin is always somewhat fat and fat starts bad processes in paper).
...now to try Travels of Marco Polo (the very nice Folio Society edition) to induce sleep, that never failed me before. Used it as a last resort for 10 years and in that time I've reached page 67.
Enjoy some music I uploaded now (instead of doing the Marco Polo trip, I'm as easily distracted as a kitten something predatory locked in with something soft, tender and squeaky).
Tenuous Link: poet name