On the Morning of Christ's Nativity

"On the Morning of Christ's Nativity": A Close Reading

                                    XXIII

                        And sullen Moloch, fled,

                        Hath left in shadows dread

                                    His burning Idol all of blackest hue;

                        In vain with Cymbals' ring

                        They call the grisly king,

                                    In dismal dance about the furnace blue;

                        The brutish gods of Nile as fast,

                        Isis and Orus, and the Dog Anubis haste.

                                                ("On the Morning of Christ's Nativity", lines 205-212)

            This stanza continues the imagery that Milton is providing throughout the poem of false gods fleeing at the arrival of Christ in the world.  The most interesting element in this opening line is that Milton uses "sullen" to describe Moloch.  The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests that the usage at the time of writing included the idea of sluggishness and stubbornness.  If considered in this manner, the reader gets the impression that Moloch fled reluctantly. So involved was he with accepting babies as sacrifices into his consuming fire that he was resistant in leaving his post.  This serves to underscore the evil that he possessed as a god/king and the seeming delight he had in human sacrifice.  The comma after Moloch and before fled reveals that in the current sense, Moloch has already fled and thus this line can be read as "And sullen Moloch, having fled."  Moloch is at this point already departed, perhaps from the anticipation of Christ's coming; Moloch perhaps knows what a light such as Christ will make of his darkness.

            This idea of light and darkness continues in the next line with a burning idol left in shadows.  The OED defines a shadow as "comparative darkness, esp. that caused by interception of light; a tract of partial darkness produced by a body intercepting the direct rays of the sun or other luminary."  This suggests to the reader that Moloch, a false god/king, has fled and left his idol, that is his fiery furnace by which to accept sacrifices, burning in "blackest hue," and that it now lies in shadows caused by an interception of light.  In using "burning Idol" instead of furnace, Milton differentiates this furnace from a normal fire and describes it as an altar.  The idea that some sort of worship, however false it may be, is taking place and sacrifices are being made serves to underscore the severity and seriousness of what is happening at this place.  Back to light, then, it is true that one could very well read this as light from the sun, but the language Milton uses suggests that the light is Christ himself come into the world; only His light could penetrate the darkness of evil sacrifices and crush false idols.  One must also note that Milton uses the word "dread" when referring to the shadows.  An ordinary light may cast a shadow, but for a shadow to be dreaded indicates that Moloch, in the present case, feared, and rightly so, the coming of Christ and his light.  Light, after all, shines and fills darkness, not the other way around.  When a door is opened, for example, light floods the next room, not darkness.  Likewise, Milton is suggesting that Christ's light fills the earth, revealing sin- which is associated with darkness- and the reader finds that Moloch has fled, terrified of the light that would expose his evil.

            The cymbals ring, as the note in the Hughes edition says, "to drown the cries of the suffering infants" (49).  If understood in this manner, these few lines (208-210) can be read to mean that the "they" in line 209 refers to the screaming infants who are calling on the "grisly king," but doing so in vain, as the cymbals are masking their cries.  The "grisly king," then, could mean Christ and the children's cries are calling him to their rescue and redemption.  That "grisly king" could refer to Christ seems out of place, unless the reader reads these lines from the point of view of Moloch and the other false gods who in previous stanzas have been defeated by Christ's birth.  In this sense, then, one can certainly read Christ as "grisly king," because of course these false gods would see Him in this manner- He would lead to their death (or at least reign on earth) and they would feel terror at this- as "grisly" denotes.

            Another reading of these same lines (208-210), however, may suggest a different view.  The "they" who are calling the "grisly king" could also be read as the false gods themselves, but instead of calling out to Christ, they are calling out to Moloch, having fled already- who is one who has certainly caused horror and terror- or at least calling out to a ruler of the underworld or otherworld, as "grisly" is often associated with death and the otherworld (OED).  This calling out, then, would signify the false gods themselves seeking rescue by their ruler from Christ and His light which would inevitably mean their destruction.  Their cries being drowned by the cymbals, however, would of course be in vain, as they would not be able to be saved and would thus be defeated. 

            Line 210 is interesting as it is related to the vain calls being muffled.  They call the grisly king in vain with cymbals ringing, in a dismal dance around the burning furnace.  The "they" in this, if read as the children, evokes the horror of children being offered (dancing, more of a moving about and thrashing than joyous movement) as sacrifices with such an air of despondency.  Likewise, this despondency carries to the other reading as well, if one considers the false gods, or followers of Moloch, whomever they may be, calling out to either Moloch himself, who, one remembers, has already fled, or another ruler of the otherworld by whom they may be rescued.  Dismal is the operative word in this line, however, as it does strongly suggest despondency and illustrates the scene as one of gloom and despair from which no one can be saved.  The stanza finishes with the brutish gods of Nile fleeing just as fast as Moloch did  for fear of Christ and His light.

            The language that Milton uses in this stanza is dark, and it is fitting to the imagery that he wants to convey to his reader.  The idea of Moloch sacrificing babies and the cymbals masking their cries is unnerving, but also serves to underscore the light of Christ come into the world.  Words like "sullen," "shadows dread," "burning," "blackest," "vain," "grisly," "dismal," and "furnace" all bring to mind the fallen world that Milton wants to show his reader.  Set against Christ, this darkness as related to light provides a great contrast for the reader and draws attention to the two extremes of darkness and light, a fallen world and redemption. 

            As an aside, there also seems to be here in this stanza, as well as in others, certainly, an exchange from the old to the new.  It seems that Milton may have had in mind the idea of discarding tradition for truth.  If the reader sees Moloch and corresponding sacrifices as a tradition that has continued unrivalled, then it is easy to understand the poem representing Christ's reign on earth as crushing idols and altars and chasing off false gods.  It seems like Milton, in both this stanza and poem, is standing on the Reformation idea of Solus Christus and elevating Christ and his nature, that is light, as the only element that can truly destroy idols, blackened, unpleasing altars, and false gods and kings.

Works Cited

Milton, John.  "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity." Complete Poems and Major Prose. Ed. Merritt Y. Hughes. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 2003. 42-50. Print.

The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2013. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.