On the Late Massacre in Piedmont

The setting of the Alpine mountains symbolizes coldness, harshness, and violence. In the sonnet, the otherwise beautiful ranges become identified with the tyranny of the Piemontese soldiers. Though Milton does not describe the mountains in great detail, spare, powerful descriptions like the bones lying scattered on the cold peaks (Lines 2-3) immediately paint the image of a bleak, dark landscape. The events’ nature as a massacre only heightens the mountains’ menace. The reader can picture the soldiers herding the Waldensians up narrow, constricting mountain passes, up the angular, jagged lines of the range. In Lines 7-8, the soldiers are described as rolling people down the slopes. The image infuses the sheer precipice with terror and vertigo. The wails of the dying ricocheting against the valleys and hills (Line 9) adds to the menace.

The symbol of blood occurs in Line 10 of the poem, marking the beginning of the volta or the sonnet-turn. Thus far in the poem, the Waldensians have been depicted as violently victimized, and it would seem that blood should symbolize their agony or death. To the contrary, blood symbolizes life: Occurring as it does at the beginning of the sestet, the “martyr’d blood” (Line 10) symbolizes the true destiny of the Waldensians, which is not to go extinct, but to proliferate through mind and spirit.