Caucasus Journal of Milton Studies

Editor's Note

Greetings and best wishes for a happy and healthy new year ahead. Once again we have in this first issue of the year a combination of our regular contributors and three authors who are new to our journal. Professor Edward Raupp gives us several contributions: a reflection on John Milton’s convictions about divorce; a continuation of his epic poem, Ares, Books IV and V; and in the Research section, a compendium of literary devices and figures of speech.

We thank Eter Churadze and Lela Ebralidze for their Georgian to English translations of three poems by Mirza Gelovani, a poet who was conscripted into the Soviet Army during World War II and tragically killed at age 27. Most of his poetry was published posthumously and he became one of the best-loved poets of the Georgian younger generation. Our final translation is by our Associate Editor, Nino Kvitsinadze. She has given us an Introduction and John Milton's Sonnets XI and XII, in both English and Georgian.

Thanks to Tedo Sharadenidze, a young scholar, teacher, and author from Batumi, for submitting our first short story, The Ship in the Desert, and allowing us to initiate a new section of the journal.

Our final contributors are poets from the competition held by The Milton Society of Africa. Johanna Ataman is the youngest contributor to our journal, a 15-year-old writer, poetess, and social activist. Her poem, Black Piper, tells the story of an old Black man grieving the loss of his family, at first in denial, then acceptance. Abdullahi Yahaya, who most often writes about the social and political ills of society, here writes instead about love in Touch of Love.

Our thanks to all of you; we appreciate your contributions to our journal.

Best Regards,
Danna Raupp
Editor-in-Chief