The State of Innocence The State of Innocence The State of Innocence was intended to be performed as an opera, with the libretto written in 1674, (first published in 1677) by John Dryden. It is basically a musical stage adaptation of John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost", a tribute to Milton rather than a satire of the poem. That Dryden was an admirer of Milton's is surprising as the two men were politically opposed. Milton was against the restoration of the British monarchy, while the royalist Dryden was created England’s first Poet Laureate by the restored Charles II. So great an admirer of Milton
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs For example, Kevin Crossley-Holland published his own translation of the myths, "Axe-age, Wolf-age." In 1916, during World War I, composer Edward Elgar set to music words taken from "The Story of Sigurd", producing the song "Fight for Right". It was dedicated to Members of the Fight for Right Movement, a pro-war organisation dedicated to continuation of the war until victory. William Morris' words were deemed fitting to express this idea. The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs (1876) is an epic poem of