Milton’s great seventeenth-century epic draws upon Bible stories and classical mythology to explore the meaning of existence, as understood by people of the Western world. Its roots lie in the Genesis account of the world’s creation and the first humans; its focus is a poetic interpretation “Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit / Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste / Brought death … into the world, and all our woe / With loss of Eden.”
In sublime poetry of extraordinary beauty, Milton’s poem references tales from Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” the “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” and Virgil’s “Aeneid.” But one need not be a classical scholar to appreciate “Paradise Lost.” In addition to its imaginative use of language, the poem features a powerful and sympathetic portrait of Lucifer, the rebel angel who frequently outshines his moral superiors. With Milton’s deft use of irony, the devil makes evil appear good, just as satanic practices may seem attractive at first glance.
“Paradise Lost” has exercised enormous influence on generations of artists and their works, ranging from the Romantic poets William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley to Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “The Creation” and J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.”
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Probably one of the seminal works of the English language and a masterpiece of poetry, Milton’s epic poem (in the truest sense of the word) is in the same league with Shakespeare for the number of cultural references we derive from it
3.5 out of 5 stars for Paradise Lost, the first of a two-book series, written in 1667 by John Milton. I’ve only read the first book in this series, but would like to read the second piece at some point. These are epic poems telling of the battle between Satan and God for control over the human soul. It’s truly an introspective piece, as I believe Milton threw so much of himself, as well as people in general, into this work. It’s captured the attention of so many people, and not just readers. It’s the foundation of several films and television adaptions. Some argue it loses focus on the religious aspects; others praise it for being very open to different experiences. It’s the kind of literature that pushes you to think about voice and characters. About different sides to a story and alternative opinions. How does it feel to agree with Satan? Do you accept being disappointed in something God says because it’s something you thought was OK to do? So much in the words, but also the message is even more powerful. It’s a lot to digest, but if you haven’t read it, look up a few passages to see if the lyrical tone is something you can absorb while reading the words. It may help give you some perspective on different aspects of life and death.
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I actually read the Dover Thrift edition, with introductory notes by John A. Himes, but gave up trying to find it from the various versions listed here.
Poetic (non-rhyming) interpretation of the fall of Satan and his minions and the fall of Man for his disobedience to God.
A truly amazing read. Every epic tale needs an epic villain, and Milton produces that here with a sympathetic portrayal of Lucifer, who is fleshed out with such personality and wit, he nearly steals the show as a veritable anti-hero of sorts.
Beginning with the rebel Angels’ defeat, their leaders convey and discuss what options are left them after being cast out – to regroup and attack Heaven once again, to admit they had their comeuppance and hope for eventual forgiveness, or to accept their lot and move forward from there. We later learn their rebellion was based on Lucifer’s jealousy and abject refusal to accept the authority of the Son over him:
“Receive him coming to receive from us knee-tribute yet unpaid, prostration vile! Too much to one! But double how endured – to one and to his image now proclaimed?”
The arrogance of Lucifer shines through, and if they cannot dare to confront God again – “…But he who reigns Monarch in Heaven till then as one secure, sat on his throne, upheld by old repute, consent or custom, and his regal state, put forth at full, but still his strength concealed, which tempted our attempt, and wrought our fall.” – then they will gain vengeance in another way – at the creation of Man, and thus striking back at God in that way.
Resolved, Lucifer volunteers to find this mysterious realm where Man is to be, and goes off on an adventure of his own, confronting Death and Sin at the gates of Hell, escaping into the Beyond and finally sneaking into the Garden of Eden.
Yet, instead of presenting us with a teeth gnashing, totally evil being, Lucifer is shown as feeling regret, sadness, and frustration at the path he feels he is obligated to take:
“O Sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams, that bring to my remembrance from what state I fell, how glorious once above thy sphere, till pride and worse ambition threw me down, warring in Heaven against Heaven’s matchless King! Ah wherefore? He deserved no such return from me, whom he created what I was. In that bright eminence, and with his good upbraided none, nor was his service hard. What could be less than to afford him praise…Me miserable! Which way shall I fly, infinite wrath and infinite despair…disdain forbids me, and my dread of shame among the Spirits beneath, whom I seduced with other promises and other vaunts, than to submit, boasting I could subdue The Omnipotent. Ay me! They little know how dearly I abide that boast in vain, under what torments inwardly I groan, when they adore me on the throne of Hell.”
Here we have a resigned Foe, feeling requirement as leader of the rebel Angels to continue the fight, his arrogance blinding him to his own actions. Introspectively, Lucifer compares himself to other higher Angels wondering why did he seek to rise even higher unlike they who seemed content in their current states:
“Oh, had his powerful destiny ordained Me some inferior Angel, I had stood then happy; no unbounded hope had raised ambition. Yet, why not? Some other Power as great might have aspired, and me, though mean, drawn to his part, but other Powers as great fell not, but stand unshaken, from within or from without to all temptations armed…”
Wonderful read that skillfully displays an almost tragic psyche of a being so overly confident and dissatisfied with his own elevated position and station that he becomes consumed with jealousy and a hunger for higher power and authority – (think the pandering VP hoping for a shot at the CEO spot only to balk when the CEO introduces a relative to help run the company instead) a hunger that in the end prevents him from redeeming himself even when in a moment of clarity he realizes his folly, but rather than desist, he embraces his actions all the more, although he is fully aware of the doom his choices will eventually lead him.