This is not to cast any aspersion on this great poem, however. It has been called, with some justification, the greatest English epic poem. The line above, the first lines of the first book of the poem, is typical of the style throughout the epic, in vocabulary and syntax, in allusiveness. The word order tends toward the Latinate, with the object coming first and the verb coming after.

Milton follows many classical examples by personifying characters such as Death, Chaos, Mammon, and Sin. These characters interact with the more traditional Christian characters of Adam, Eve, Satan, various angels, and God. He takes as his basis the basic biblical text of the creation and fall of humanity (thus, 'Paradise Lost'), which has taken such hold in the English-speaking world that many images have attained in the popular mind an almost biblical truth to them (in much the same way that popular images of Hell owe much to Dante's Inferno). The text of Genesis was very much in vogue in the mid-1600s (much as it is today) and Paradise Lost attained an almost instant acclaim.

John Milton was an English cleric, a protestant who nonetheless had a great affinity for catholic Italy, and this duality of interests shows in much of his creative writing as well as his religious tracts. Milton was nicknamed 'the divorcer' in his early career for writing a pamphlet that supported various civil liberties, including the right to obtain a civil divorce on the grounds of incompatibility, a very unpopular view for the day. Milton held a diplomatic post under the Commonwealth, and wrote defenses of the governments action, including the right of people to depose and dispose of a bad king.

Paradise Lost has a certain oral-epic quality to it, and for good reason. Milton lost his eyesight in 1652, and thus had to dictate the poem to several different assistants. Though influenced heavily by the likes of Virgil, Homer, and Dante, he differentiated himself in style and substance by concentrating on more humanist elements.

Say first -- for Heaven hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of Hell -- say first what cause
Moved our grand Parents, in that happy state,
Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off
From their Creator and transgress his will,
For one restraint, lords of the world besides?

Milton drops us from the beginning into the midst of the action, for the story is well known already, and proceeds during the course of the books (Milton's original had 10, but the traditional epic had 12 books, so some editions broke books VII and X into two books each) to both push the action forward and to give developing background -- how Satan came to be in Hell, after the war in heaven a description that includes perhaps the currently-most-famous line:

Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in hell:
Better to reign in hell, that serve in heav'n.

(Impress your friends by knowing that this comes from Book I, lines 261-263 of Paradise Lost, rather than a Star Trek episode!)

The imagery of warfare and ambition in the angels, God's wisdom and power and wrath, the very human characterisations of Adam and Eve, and the development beyond Eden make a very compelling story, done with such grace of language that makes this a true classic for the ages. The magnificence of creation, the darkness and empty despair of hell, the manipulativeness of evil and the corruptible innocence of humanity all come through as classic themes. The final books of the epic recount a history of humanity, now sinful, as Paradise has been lost, a history in tune with typical Renaissance renderings, which also, in Milton's religious convictions, will lead to the eventual destruction of this world and a new creation.

A great work that takes some effort to comprehend, but yields great rewards for those who stay the course.


just incredible   September 7, 2005
 10 out of 11 found this review helpful

I rank Milton's talents which are at their very best in Paradise Lost with the all time greats of English and world literature. For centuries poets spoke of their admiration for Milton and Shakespeare as the English classics, a position he unfairly lost and to whom we can thank the feeble likes of Leavis. The epic follows the events surrounding the biblical story in genesis of the fall of man. For his epic Milton introduces the war in Heaven between the faithful and the follows of Satan; the latters entering the Serpent and seducing Eve and the couple eventual expulsion from Eden. A dry summary of what is written in the most elevated verse. Theological issues are fleshed out through the story and it is so pliable to interpretation. Shelley who was an Atheist(and annoying) thought it highlighted the incongruities in the Orthodox Christian God, Blake thought Milton was of the Devil's party without knowing it and C.S.Lewis found it a pillar of Orthodox Christendom. Im with Blake. No figure comes of especially well from the melee. Satan wallows in his own spite and God seems like an unimpassioned lawyer, whereas Adam and Eve feel like victims of two sides and ultimately God. Please dont be put off feeling its some kind of anti-religious propaganda -you can still believe in an impersonal God, read Jung,realise Hindu's see evil as part of the Ultimate Deity Brahman's nature and hosts of other ideologies didnt develop the Western fixation of making God just a big superman with a benevolent beard, I prefer a God with a dark side- I write all this because I dont want anyone to pass up the chance of reading this. As well as theology Milton tackles politics. It isn't difficult to see how someone who supported the regicide of Charles I, had an office in Cromwell's republic could have depicted the tension and difficulties between the King of Heaven and his Rebel opponent who is a mixture of admirable and reprehensible qualities.
All in all I think Milton is a writer of epics who sits comfortably on my shelf by Dante, Homer, Virgil and an English dramatist whose name escapes me.


A book that is seriously misjudjed   February 18, 2005
 15 out of 20 found this review helpful

When I first heard of Paradise Lost Ithought it would be boring and extremely hard to read. But you can imagine my shock when I started to read the first few lines and found that they flowed, which made it so effortless to read. Paradise Lost tells of Adam and Eve, Satan, God and Angels. It spans throught time and the universe from the depths of Hell and Chaos to Heaven. It tells of original sin and in a way contradicts Miltons beliefs as God as being good and Satan evil. The God in Miltons epic seems cruel and forever planning mans downfall to be used for his own measures and to redeem himself when he 'forgives' man time and time again, for something which he forwardly planned. This book is excellent if you are considering reading more classical literature as it in my opinion eases you in gently. Read it!