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 Fall of Saul The Fall of Saul The Fall of Saul is an epic poem by John Gunning Seymer. It was first published in London in 1839 by Stewart and Murray. The story is based on the Bible. The main hero is the king of Israel, Saul. The poem is written in blank verse that is unrhymed iambic pentameter. The tale is divided in six books. <poem style="margin-left:2em"> O! for a rapture like the sacred thrill Which shook the breast of that rebellious seer, Who thrice shook down the hope of Moab's king, With glorious visions he might not conceal! That I might