Of moral prudence, with delight received
In brief sententious precepts, while they treat
Of fate, and chance, and change in human life,
High actions and high passions best describing."

It is plainly the very voice of the poet himself, and he may have felt
certain that we should so understand it. But it is difficult not to
regret that it is the Devil who is made to pay Milton's great debt to
Athens and Christ who is made to repudiate it.

Yet, in spite of all this, in spite of its disdain of the obvious
attractions open to poetry, in spite of much in it that alienates the
sympathies of many, the _Paradise Regained_ has received very high
praise from the finest judges of English poetry. Johnson and
Wordsworth have already been quoted, and to them may be added
Coleridge, who says of it that "in its kind it is the most perfect poem
extant," and Mr. Mackail, who has spoken of its "unique poetic
qualities." Why have the poets and critics been so much {207} more
favourable to it than the public? Perhaps because artists are always
inclined to value work in proportion to its difficulties. Indeed, this
fallacy seems natural to all classes of men about their own work.
Gardeners in England tend to admire a man who grows indifferent oranges
more than a man who grows good strawberries. It is like what Johnson
said of the preaching lady: "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's
walking on his hinder legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised
to find it done at all." This tendency to let surprise sit in the seat
which belongs to judgment is greatly intensified by professional
knowledge. The architect is apt to exaggerate the merit of a building
placed on a very awkward site, the artist to think a piece of very
difficult foreshortening more beautiful than it really is. The public
may not be so good a judge either of the building or of the drawing:
but, knowing nothing of the technical difficulties, it at least forms
its judgment on the true criterion which is, of course, the value of
the product, not the surprisingness of its having been produced or the
difficulties overcome in its production.

Something of this kind may account for the fact that _Paradise
Regained_ has been more appreciated by the poets than by the public.
{208} The public finds it rather bare and dry and judges accordingly.
The poets know how infinitely hard a task it was that Milton set
himself, and find no praise too great for the man who