ABSTRACT
The logos are sometimes associated with masculine discourse, so that feminine discourse must choose between separatism and a renewed federalism. The “recreations of God” may seem at first a lesser activity than life’s serious business, and, as allegory, may seem only to trivialize marriage. Both John Milton in 1667 and Karl Barth in 1947 take the Wisdom figure of Proverbs 8:22–31, who is said to rejoice or play during or before creation, and both extend the word for “rejoice” or “play” to musical playing. Wisdom is said to play before God. Such a notion of play ought also to include the play or game that is music. Someone less strict can simply expand the metaphoric possibilities of the Bible in order to merge Word and Wisdom and Song, as Clement of Alexandria does. Paradise Regained is intimately involved with Wisdom and wisdom literature, both thematically and formally, so that Milton has good reason for using a specific echo.
