Slaughter Saints

In John Milton’s Poem, “Avenge, O Lord, Thy laughter’d saints, whose bones” God is portrayed in a vengeful light. The persona often uses words that are reminiscent of the psalms and Old Testament phraseology. Right from the first line, which reads, “Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints” the persona portrays a God who is able to bring retribution down up on those who have murdered his saints (1). Milton portrays God in this way because of the manner in which the Waldensians were brutally slain. Even the lives of innocent women and children were not spared from the wrath of the Duke of Savoy and his men. The persona testifies, “Slain by the bloody Piemontese that roll’d / Mother with infant down the rocks” (7-8). The way in which the Waldensians
were butchered contains echoes of Old Testament violence. The persona even goes as far as to brand the Piemontese and their Catholic authorities, “the Babylonian woe” (14). Associating the Israelite’s ancient tormentors with the murderers of the Waldensians, certainly paints a strong image of disgust towards the Catholic church. Milton, by using strong and wrathful language, expresses the outrage that the Protestant population felt after the slaughter of the peaceful Waldensians.