John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667; 1674), Book II, line 555.
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In discourse more sweet, (For Eloquence the Soul, Song charms the sense,) Others apart sat on a hill retir'd, In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will and Fate, Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute; And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost.

— John Milton on Contemplation

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "In discourse more sweet, (For Eloquence the Soul, Song charms the sense,) Others apart sat on a hill retir'd, In thoughts more elevate, and reasoned high Of Providence, Foreknowledge, Will and Fate, Fixed fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute; And found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost." in the context of "John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667; 1674), Book II, line 555." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Contemplation" (Quotes, Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations: Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 133.) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Milton

About John Milton

John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is most famous for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.