On the Morning of Christ's Nativity Literary Elements

It would be wrong to say that Milton is speaking as himself in the "Nativity Ode." He's narrating through a persona, but it's a persona very close to his own position at the time he wrote the ode. His speaker's eagerness to deliver his poem to the newborn Christ mirrors Milton's own eagerness to leap into the world and begin his poetic career.

The introduction to the hymn fuses Chaucer’s "rhyme royal" (ababbcc) with the Spenserian stanza. Milton used the same rhyme scheme in an earlier poem, “Fair Infant,” which many scholars view as a precursor to the “Nativity Ode.” In the hymn, Milton uses alternating line lengths (6-6-10-6-6-10-12) rhyming aabccbdd to create an ebb and flow in the rhythm of his poem. The lines stretch out to 10 syllables, then fall back to 6, then stretch out to 10 again. The rhythm mirrors the flow of the poem’s chronology, as it reaches into the future then falls back into the present.

"And speckled vanity
Will sicken soon and die,
And lep'rous sin will melt from earthly mould,
And hell itself will pass away,"

In these lines, Milton uses patients dying of diseases as a metaphor for the obliteration of sin after the Final Judgement.

"The Sun himself withheld his wonted speed,
And hid his head for shame,
As his inferior flame
The new-enlighten'd world no more should need:
He saw a greater Sun appear
Than his bright throne or burning axle-tree could bear.”

In these lines, Milton attempts to use the sun as a metaphor for the light of Christ, calling the infant in the manger another “sun.” In making this comparison, he ultimately concludes that it is impossible to compare Christ to anything. Christ’s light is so great that it exceeds comparison, and the sun is forced to retreat with his “inferior flame.”

"And hid his head for shame"
repetition of "h" sound

"Sat simply chatting in a rustic row"
repetition of "s" and "r" sound

"The winds with wonder whist"
repetition of "w" sound

"But he her fears to cease"
repetition of "e" sound

It's ironic for Milton to use the conventions of classical poetry to tell the story of the birth of Christ, because the birth of Christ was meant to drain the classical world of its power. By narrating through the forms of the classical world, Milton implies that Christ's birth failed to banish antiquity.

nativity ode, epic poetry, pastoral poetry

The manger where Christ was born

Milton's poem has all the sweeping majesty of a classical epic poem, and also a sense of eagerness. Milton is always anticipating what comes next, pushing from the present to a moment in the distant future.

The protagonists are the speaker, Christ, and the host of angels surrounding the manger. The antagonists are the "old dragon" (Satan) and the pagan gods banished by Christ's birth.

The major event within the plot of the poem is Christ banishing the pagan gods. The moment evokes one of Milton's central emotional conflicts: whether revolutionaries can successfully transform the governments they seek to overthrow.

“Say heavenly Muse, shall not the sacred vein
Afford a present to the infant God?”

In these lines, Milton alludes to the speakers of classical epic poetry, who began their stories by invoking a muse to guide their poem. By opening his poem to epic poetry, Milton draws a parallel between the heroes of classical epics and the hero of the Bible—Christ, the infant in the manger.

“No war, or battle’s sound
Was heard the world around
The ideal spear and shield were high up hung,
The hooked chariot stood
Unstained with hostile blood”

As Milton describes how all wars momentarily ended with the birth of Christ, he alludes to the conventions of classical epic poetry; sprinkling his description with a “chariot” and “spear,” the equipment used for battle in Homer’s infamous descriptions of war in the Iliad. Milton juxtaposes his own biblical epic by describing an anti-battle—presenting Christ as a hero celebrated for ending war, not dominating the field in combat.

"But he her fears to cease,
Sent down the meek-eyed Peace,
She crowned with olive green, came softly gliding"

Milton personifies peace as a woman resembling a classical goddess, who comes down to Earth to end all wars.