Milton's Gemstones and Precious Minerals: A Lapidary

Abstract

Scintillating gems abound in Milton's poetry, not only associated with sublime, architectural marvels in heaven, from mountains to temples, but also embedded in hell's brilliance as a materialistic symbol of power. In her bestiary of Milton, Karen Edwards identifies the fauna and flora that characterize Milton's universe, emphasizing the metaphorical symbolism of the natural world. This lapidary similarly calls attention to Milton's imagery from his use of the glittering in his descriptions of heavenly realms to the glow hidden in Satanic depths. A catalogue of Milton's minerals should be interpreted against the backdrop of seventeenth-century England and its understanding of medieval and Renaissance gemology. Gems, as in Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), are bestowed with magical, therapeutic properties such as the power to dissipate nightmares. In Thomas Nichols's Arcula Gemmea, or A Cabinet of Jewels (1653), the precious diamonds could, for instance, ascertain the fidelity of one's wife. The rarity of certain precious stones invested them in the lapidaries of the time with a spiritual and mystic aura. Gems, jewels, and precious and semi-precious stones on which little has been written coruscate throughout Milton's verses. They are not only for finery; they are also talismans, esoteric symbols, and medicines charged with therapeutic virtues. Throughout the centuries, gems have become associated with symbols. They can be the expression of a chthonian energy stemming from the center of the earth or on the contrary associated with the empyrean heaven. Gemstones can be opaque (not allowing light to pass through), diaphanous (so fine and thin that light can go through), or translucent (not transparent, but clear enough to let the light go through). Whether or not they are permeable to light, and according to their chemical components, they have singular coloration as well as reflections. Through the craftsman's work, an imperfect stone is made perfect. It is worked, polished, and set by the expert hands of a gemstone cutter before resting in a casket or sparkling in the daylight. Milton frequently refers in his poetry to precious stones, to which many beliefs are attached and whose meaning is to be sought in mythology and in the Bible, along with color symbolism. They are presented here in alphabetical order. Preceding a discussion of each precious stone is a list of its occurrences in Milton's poetry. ------ Arcades 66 (“And turn the adamantine spindle round”) Paradise Lost 1.48 (“In adamantine chains”) Paradise Lost 2.436 (“gates of burning adamant”) Paradise Lost 2.646 (“Three iron, three of adamantine rock”) Paradise Lost 2.853 (“These adamantine gates”) Paradise Lost 6.110 (“armed in adamant and gold”) Paradise Lost 6.255 (“Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield”) Paradise Lost 6.542 (“His adamantine coat gird well”) Paradise Lost 10.318 (“with pins of adamant”) Paradise Regained 4.533-34 (“as a rock / of adamant”) Samson Agonistes 134 (“Adamantean proof”) ------ The adamant is a mythical metal whose property was indestructibility. In Milton's references, shields, coat of mails, chains, as well as the gates of hell are all forged with the precious metal of “impregnable hardness” (OED). ------ A Maske 893 (“Thick set with agate”) ------ The agate is a variety of quartz whose hues can be white, gray, or red. It was said to give people the ability to become invisible and to turn the swords of their enemies against them (Brewer 15). There is only one occurrence in Milton's poetry. It is used in A Maske to describe Sabrina's chariot in association with two other gems, “turquoise” and “emerald.” ------ A Maske 933 (“the beryl and the golden ore”) Paradise Lost 6.756-57 (“with eyes the wheels / of beryl”) ------ Beryl is a generic name that refers to different varieties distinguishable by their color and their chemical component. When it is of great purity, it is colorless, but it takes several hues (red, green, and yellow) under the effect of chrome or other metals. Emerald is a variety of green beryl and aquamarine of light blue. It is found in igneous rocks and is therefore associated with fire. In the water symbolism of A Maske the sequence of colors is created by the combination of “crystal,” “beryl,” and “golden.” In Paradise Lost, the wheels of the Messiah's chariot are made of beryl, just as in Ezekiel's vision (Ezek. 1.16). ------ Paradise Lost 3.596 (“If stone, carbuncle”) Paradise Lost 9.500 (“carbuncle his eyes”) ------ In the medieval period, the term carbuncle was used to refer to the ruby. The carbuncle is a mythical dark red stone similar to the garnet and ruby and whose vivid brightness is supposed “to emit light in the dark” (OED). The carbuncle is used in association with Satan, notably to refer to his mesmerizing basilisk-like gaze when seducing Eve. ------ Paradise Lost 3.596 (“chrysolite, / Ruby or topaz”) ------ Chrysolite refers to green gems such as tourmaline, zircon, and topaz. In Milton's Paradise Lost, it is used in apposition to the vivid red of the carbuncle, the red of the ruby, and the gold topaz to describe Aaron's breastplate, the ceremonial raiment of Moses's brother. The “radiant Urim” (PL 6.701) that Christ wears contributes to the diffusion of his luminosity. That part of the celestial panoply that is visible is set with twelve precious stones (among which are sardius, topaz, carbuncle, emerald, sapphire, diamond, ligure, agate, amethyst, beryl, and onyx, all set in gold enclosings), each gem corresponding to a tribe of Israel (Exod. 28.17-24). ------ A Maske 886 (“From thy coral paven-bed”) Paradise Lost 7.405 (“through groves of coral stray”) ------ Coral is a sea animal of the same class as anemones. Categorized by seventeenth-century herbalists as a plant, it was commonly thought to be a stone (Coles 106). Apothecaries recommended it to be ground and diluted in water as a remedy for melancholy. In Greek mythology, Perseus struck off the snaky head of the Medusa, one of the three Gorgons, and threw it into the sea. The seagrass that had absorbed the monster's blood turned into corals (Ovid 4.470ff). Coral was used in Roman times as a charm to ward off evil spirits (Scot Chapter 8). Sabrina, the water nymph of A Maske lies on a bed of corals. In Paradise Lost, Milton uses the term “grove,” which suggests a flower, but the word “coral” is then associated with “gold” (7.406) and “pearly shells” (407), as if to connote a transmutation of the transient flower imagery to a more sublime and permanent gem. ------ A Maske 65 (“His orient liquor in a crystal glass”) A Maske 673 (“That flames, and dances in his crystal bounds”) A Maske 931(“Thy molten crystal fill with mud”) Nativity Ode 125 (“Ring out, ye crystal spheres”) Paradise Lost 1.742 (“Sheer o'er the crystal battlements”) Paradise Lost 5.133 (“Each in their crystal sluice”) Paradise Lost 6.757 (“Over their heads a crystal firmament”) Paradise Lost 6.772 (“On the crystalline sky, in sapphire throned”) Paradise Lost 6.859-60 (“the bounds / And crystal wall of heaven”) Paradise Lost 7.270-71 (“in wide / Crystalline ocean”) Paradise Lost 7.293 (“Part rise in crystal wall, or ridge direct”) Paradise Lost 12.197 (“As on dry land between two crystal walls”) Paradise Regained 1.82 (“Unfold her crystal doors”) Paradise Regained 4.119 (“Crystal and myrrhine cups”) Samson Agonistes 546 (“allure thee from the cool crystalline stream”) ------ Crystal is a transparent mineral as hard as ice. It is a symbol of solidity and purity. In Genesis 1.7, the ninth orb was identified as “the waters which were above the firmament.” The clarity conveyed by the adjective “crystalline” (PL 6.772) gives the heavens the transparent appearance of a sea or river upon which the soul drifts like a ship. Crystal has the property of interiorizing and reflecting the sun's rays without itself changing. Then the hialin quartz, still at the level of crystals in Milton's imagination, gradually acquires the shimmering reflections of a precious stone (“sapphire”). Twice in Book 6 the association of the terms “crystal” and “sapphire” (757-58, 772) gives the firmament its brilliance and its radiant polychromy. The vault of heaven makes us think of the ornate apex of a temple or mosque and this crystallization of the heavens bears a certain resemblance to a minaret (itself resembling the ‘o φαρος [pharos] or “lighthouse”), which shines and guides the faithful toward the afterlife. Crystal can also evoke the purity of a sound or even be associated with coolness and freshness and water imagery, through the alliteration of “cool, crystalline” (SA 546). ------ Paradise Lost 4.90 (“With diadem and sceptre”) ------ The diadem is a royal crown of gems worn round the head. With the scepter, it is the attribute of kings and queens who wore diadems as a badge of royalty. Bacchus's diadem was a band that could be unfolded to be turned into a veil (Brewer 338). In Milton's Paradise Lost, it adorns Satan's head, on the throne of hell. ------ A Maske 732 (“and the unsought diamonds”) A Maske 881 (“Wherewith she sits on diamond rocks”) Paradise Lost 3.506 (“With frontispiece of diamond”) Paradise Lost 4.554 (“with diamond flaming, and with gold”) Paradise Lost 5.634 (“In pearl, in diamonds and massy gold”) Paradise Lost 5.759 (“From diamond quarries hewn”) Paradise Lost 6.364 (“in a rock of diamond”) ------ The term “diamond” originates from the Latin adamas, meaning “the hardest steel.” It is the brightest and hardest of all gems; most of the time it is colorless. The diamond cuts all other substances and can be chiselled only by another diamond. Diamonds bring their hard, shining coldness and immutability to a descriptive passage. ------ A Maske 894 (“Of turquoise blue and emerald green”) ------ The emerald is a variety of beryl that is green and diaphanous. Dedicated to Venus and called the “stone of chastity,” the emerald is supposed, according to some legends, to protect a woman's virtue as well as to ward off malevolent spirits (Brewer 390). It is also supposed to break when its owner commits an immoral act. The emerald is one of the colors associated with Sabrina's chariot and can symbolize purity and virtue. ------ A Maske 22 (“rich and various gems inlay”) A Maske 719 (“precious gems”) Paradise Lost 1.538 (“With gems and golden lustre”) Paradise Lost 2. 271 (“gems and gold”) Paradise Lost 3.507 (“thick with sparkling orient gems”) Paradise Lost 4.649 (“And these the gems of Heaven”) Paradise Lost 6.475 (“gems and gold”) Paradise Lost 7.325-26 (“or gemmed / Their blossoms”) Paradise Lost 11.583 (“In gems and wanton dress”) Paradise Regained 3.14 (“those oraculous gems”) Paradise Regained 4.119 (“embossed with gems”) ------ The word “gem” is used to refer to any type of precious and semi-precious jewel. It contrasts with the unsophisticated “stone.” The fact that the gem is not named gives vein to imagination and gives this word a polysemy and a multiplicity of colors. Indeed, in Milton's occurrences it is always found in the plural. Through phonic echoes, “gems” are associated with “gold” (PL 1.538; PL 2.271; PL 3.506-07; PL 4.642, 649; PL 6.475, 479; PR 4.118-19). ------ A Maske 933 (“The beryl, and the golden ore”) “On the Death of a Fair Infant” 57 (“of the golden-winged host”) Paradise Lost 1.538 (“With gems and golden lustre”) Paradise Lost 2.271 (“her hidden lustre, gems and gold”) Paradise Lost 5.634 (“In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold”) Paradise Lost 6.13 (“arrayed in gold”) Paradise Lost 6.28 (“From midst a golden cloud”) Paradise Lost 6.102 (“flaming cherubim, and golden shields”) Paradise Lost 6.110 (“armed in adamant and gold”) Paradise Lost 6.475 (“gems and gold”) Paradise Lost 6.527 (“Of golden panoply”) ------ This list of the occurrences of gold is far from exhaustive (see Bradshaw 144-45). The brightest of all metals, gold is the color of the sun, image of divinity and of paradise. The alchemists’ endeavor to transmute every base metal into gold, by means of the philosopher's stone, makes it a symbol of perfection. In Book 6 of Paradise Lost, the color gold is diffused in the air and stored in “a golden cloud” (28) to be spread through the universe; it colors and alchemizes the weapons and cuirasses of soldiers (“golden shields” [102]; “armed in adamant and gold” [110]; “golden panoply” [527]). Its metallic colors add to the aesthetic quality of the scene as in a painting by Uccello in which the splintered spears, plumed horses, cavalrymen, helmets, and shields serve to raise a battle to the height of art. Milton transmutes pure “gold” (“highest heaven arrayed in gold” [13]) into the merely “golden” (“From mist a golden cloud thus mild” [28]). The symbolism of gold can, however, be ambivalent; it is part of two different worlds, one sublime (e.g., Aeneas's bow, Apollo the mitered god of gold), the other material. An object of fascination, it can be perverted into a symbol of opulence and warlike glory. In the Bible, the minister Heliodorus, whose name recalls the sun's light (“helios”), is the symbol of the exalted state that the color gold can create. Heliodorus received the order to despoil the temple of Jerusalem and was severely punished (Maccabees 3.7-8ff). The legend of King Midas is another warning against cupidity and all forms of excess. The gods allowed Midas the gift of changing everything he touched into gold. He understood his stupidity when the food in his mouth changed into gold ingots. Satan in hell, in armor of gold and diamonds, imitates God surrounding himself with cherubim and sitting on a “sun-bright chariot” (PL 6.100). His portrait, which becomes the counterpart of Christ's (760-80), is made heavier by the gold that makes up his too luminous armor. For him gold is cosmetic, a blurring of his image in color and a harbinger of a temporary sovereignty. In the darkness, the metal, instead of turning into gold, is changed into metals and stones lacking any refinement (“Brass, iron, stony mold” [576]). When the term “gold” is used in Milton's poetry, it often ends verse sequences (for instance PL 6.475, 9.429; PR 1.251, 4.60), which indicates a chromatic search oriented toward light. ------ Paradise Lost 3.363 (“like a sea of jasper shone”) Paradise Lost 3.518-19 (“a bright sea flowed / Of jasper”) Paradise Lost 11.209 (“Down from a sky of jasper”) ------ Jasper is a stone made of quartz and chalcedony that can be green, red, brown, or black. In Milton's verse, jasper is the color of the sea or the sky after the Fall. ------ Paradise Lost 1.235 (“Sublimed with mineral fury”) Paradise Lost 6.517 (“of mineral and stone”) ------ A stone referred to by the generic term “mineral” is in no way precious. It is only at the initial stage of its formation and, even when accompanied by the adjective “sublimed” (PL 1.235), remains colorless matter that cannot be distinguished. ------ Paradise Lost 2.1049 (“With opal towers and battlements”) ------ This semi-precious stone's name originates from Sanskrit upala, meaning “gem.” Its varieties can be opaque or translucent and with iridescent reflections. It is also called the “stone of virtue.” It is associated with grace, beauty, and wealth. The extremely rare black opal is the one that is most sought after. The towers and battlements of heaven are covered with opal and with “living sapphires” (PL 3.1050). ------ A Maske 834 (“Held up their pearled wrists”) “Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester” 43 (“And those pearls of dew she wears”) Paradise Lost 2.4 (“on her kings barbaric pearl”) Paradise Lost 3.519 (“Of jasper, or of liquid pearl”) Paradise Lost 4.238 (“Rolling on orient pearl”) Paradise Lost 5.2 (“sowed the earth with orient pearl”) Paradise Lost 5.634 (“In pearl, in diamond, and massy gold”) Paradise Regained 4.120 (“And studs of pearls”) Sonnet 12 8 (“But this is got by casting pearls to hogs”) ------ The pearl is a bright concretion that is formed by certain mollusks, most particularly oysters. The whiter the mother of pearl, the purer the pearl. Its whiteness associates it with purity. The pearl in Milton's verse is often used in association with watery images, referring to the crystallization of water into jewels. The proverb used in Milton's sonnet alludes to Matthew's “give not that which is holy unto the hogs … ” (7.6), implying that “pearl” may also have a religious connotation. ------ Paradise Lost 3.597 (“Ruby or topaz”) Samson Agonistes 543 (“the dancing ruby”) ------ The word ruby comes from the Latin rubeus meaning “red.” It is a transparent, red gem, nuanced with deep crimson or pale rose red, which is believed to be “an antidote to poison and to have the power of preserving people from plague, banishing grief, repressing the ill effects of luxuries and diverting the mind from evil thoughts” (Brewer 1021). Crystal rubies most often occur as six-sided prisms that reflect and refract light. The ruby is one of the gems that stud Aaron's breastplate. In Samson Agonistes, the ruby suggests the bright red of wine or can evoke by eucharistic analogy the image of blood. ------ A Maske 26 (“gives them leave to wear their sapphire crowns”) “At a Solemn Music” 7 (“before the sapphire-coloured throne”) Paradise Lost 2.1050 (“Of living sapphires”) Paradise Lost 4.237 (“How from that sapphire fount”) Paradise Lost 4.605 (“With living sapphires”) Paradise Lost 6.758 (“Whereon a sapphire throne”) Paradise Lost 6.772 (“in sapphire throned”) ------ Its name comes from the Hebrew meaning “object of beauty.” The sapphire is an extremely hard gem. It is normally transparent, blue, green—when hued by traces of cobalt—pink, yellow, or even orange. The sapphire's color is a chromatic interval for the spirit passing from the earth to heaven. Entering this precious stone's ultramarine hue means reaching reverie, taking the path where what is real becomes imaginary. In A Maske, tributary gods such as Neptune and Jove wear sapphire crowns. The blue-green color of the sapphire is reminiscent of the sea. Nevertheless, the sapphire evokes primarily the empyreal heaven. The Messiah's throne in Milton's Paradise Lost is made of sapphires whose color merges with the skies. If “the living sapphires” (PL 2.1050) that stud the sky represent eyes, their blue-green color may suggest those of Athena, goddess of thought and arts. ------ A Maske 222 (“Turn forth her silver lining on the night”) A Maske 442 (“Fair silver-shafted queen”) A Maske 865 (“Goddess of the silver lake”) Arcades 16 (“Shooting her beams like silver threads”) Arcades 33 (“Fair silver-buskined nymphs”) Paradise Lost 3.595 (“part silver clear”) Paradise Lost 3.644 (“Before his decent steps a silver wand”) Paradise Lost 4.609 (“And o'er the dark her silver mantle”) Paradise Lost 7.437 (“Others on silver lakes”) ------ Silver is, according to alchemists, the symbol of the moon, as opposed to gold, the image of the sun. Silver is associated with the symbolism of whiteness and shining. In Milton's verse, silver is often linked with the surface of water, giving it not only a preciosity but also a shimmering quality. As with the foil of a mirror, the silver of a lake has the property of reflecting or refracting light, as well as the image that it mirrors. In fairy tales, silver is often involved with initiation and purification, a silver key and the world to which it gives access being steps toward sublimation and obtaining a golden key. ------ Paradise Lost 3.596 (“carbuncle most or chrysolithe”) ------ The topaz originates from a translucid stone. Its color varies from white to golden yellow, but it can also be pink, violet, greenish, or brown. Associated with virtue and having the ability to ward off the evil eye, topaz is one of the precious stones set in Aaron's breastplate. ------ A Maske 894 (“Of turquoise blue, and emerald green”) ------ There are different varieties of turquoise whose colors range from light blue to apple-green. This mineral is praised for its gold-colored crystals. It symbolizes power and its blue-green color evokes the sea or the sky. Turquoise is contrasted with emerald in the description of Sabrina's chariot in A Maske, the blue being reinforced by its association with the green. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second sapphire, the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald. The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh chrysolite; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was one pearl; and the street of the city was pure gold, as they were transparent glass. (Rev. 21.19-21) The future city rests on twelve foundations of great richness. Each is set in a myriad of precious stones that reproduce all imaginable colors. They signify that this new universe has undergone a transmutation that confers upon it unequaled and absolutely spiritual perfection. Is it thus possible to establish a hierarchy of the precious stones, based on a sequence of colors? The stones always evolve toward greater purity, since the description in this passage climaxes in dream-like pearl and white gold with the transparency of glass. Going beyond the shining and the shimmering and following the color spectrum to its source, we reach the origin of all light: the whiteness that haloes the divinity. Milton makes no mention of chalcedony, sardonyx, or sardius, or of jacinth, but the shining light of the precious stones that stands out in his poetry is part of the transformation of the universe. The tempering of the material and the transmutation of impure into pure that occur allow us, following the thread of his verses, occasional glimpses of paradise lost.