All 3 Uses of
reprove
in
Paradise Lost
- So spake our general mother, and with eyes
Of conjugal attraction unreproved,
And meek surrender, half-embracing leaned
On our first father; half her swelling breast
Naked met his, under the flowing gold
Of her loose tresses hid: he in delight
Both of her beauty, and submissive charms,
Smiled with superiour love, as Jupiter
On Juno smiles, when he impregns the clouds
That shed Mayflowers; and pressed her matron lip
With kisses pure: Aside the Devil turned
For envy; yet with jealous leer malign
Eyed them askance, and to himself thus plained.†Book 4unreproved = not criticizedstandard prefix: The prefix "un-" in unreproved means not and reverses the meaning of reproved. This is the same pattern you see in words like unhappy, unknown, and unlucky.
- Evil into the mind of God or Man
May come and go, so unreproved, and leave
No spot or blame behind: Which gives me hope
That what in sleep thou didst abhor to dream,
Waking thou never will consent to do.†Book 5
- And, though God
Made thee without thy leave, what if thy son
Prove disobedient, and reproved, retort,
"Wherefore didst thou beget me?†Book 10 *reproved = criticized
Definitions:
-
(1)
(reprove) express disapproval or criticism -- typically in a mild manner & sometimes even in a friendly manner
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
More rarely (though often from Shakespeare), the form reproof describes punishment rather than merely criticism.