L'Allegro and Il Penseroso are among Milton’s finest early poems. Companion poems were popular in the late 16th and early 17th century. I have already read L’Allegro and you can check that out in my earlier videos. In this video I will read the companion, Il Penseroso. L’Allegro (which means "the happy man" in Italian) has from its first appearance been paired with the contrasting pastoral poem, Il Penseroso ("the melancholy man"), which depicts a similar day spent in contemplation and thought. Il Penseroso” simply cannot be read without “L’Allegro.” Just as in life, we cannot just choose pure action or pure contemplation. Do we join the revolution, the ruling government, and just lay back and think about events as they unfold? Milton in life was Cromwell’s latin secretary and almost lost his head after the restauration. Likewise, we all have choice to act, join in whirlwind and counter forces that move the modern world or we can be cautious and await events…. Events may then pass us by or sweep us aside like a tornado…. Or perhaps you will be lucky like Cincinatus, and save Rome… and then retire to your farm and the pastoral life. Few of us will be so lucky. Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/caulaincourt27 Follow me on Odyssey at https://odysee.com/@caulaincourt:2 Follow me on Bitchute at https://www.bitchute.com/channel/NT6Q... Follow me on Telegram at https://t.me/caulai #milton #poetrty #ilpenseroso Please subscribe to my channel! Like this video and share it with your friends! Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended.

In this video I examine the dominant theory of law in our time, the idea that law is what the state says it is. We call this legal positivism and it emerged with the Renaissance and Enlightenment as thinkers sought out a world governed by science and reason, one where man would be in charge. Jeremy Bentham, the famous utilitarian philosopher, sought to reform the legal system by drawing clear lines between law and morality. Laws would be limited to the commands of the sovereign. In this way, by setting out clearly what the law is, he expected legal reform would be made easy. Bad laws could be changed and judges would obliged to enforce the new reformed legal system. What Enlightenment thinkers failed to understand was power. By making the state the sole source of law, the effect was to centralize power and increase vastly the power of the modern state. Bentham's best laid plans went awry and the way was paved for the modern total state. No longer were there any natural limits on what the state could do. Words were not only all powerful. Words can now change reality itself. Parliament can now indeed declare a man a woman and a woman a man. Follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/caulaincourt27 Follow me on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGDmjI7SL-ev5wIZDuMJ28w Follow me on Bitchute at https://www.bitchute.com/channel/NT6Q... Follow me on Telegram at https://t.me/caulai #jurisprudence #jeremybentham #utilitarianism #positivism #philosophy #law #modernity Please subscribe to my channel! Like this video and share it with your friends! Lex cast Episode 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnGzltWEzlQ&t=114s Lex Cast Episode 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGERYQsIyOM&t=126s Lex Cast Episode 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm5Z304pNaY&t=394s Lex Cast Episode 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DL9xSfMtaw&t=667s Lex Cast Episode 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZrSDN8ctrI&t=344s Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended.