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Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained
Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds - heaven, hell, and earth - as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the center of the conflict are Adam and Eve, motivated by all too human temptations, but whose ultimate downfall is unyielding love.
Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition is a work epic both in scale and, notoriously, in ambition. For nearly 350 years it has held generation upon generation of scholars, students and readers in rapt attention and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture.
Marked by Milton's characteristic erudition is a work epic both in scale and, notoriously, in ambition. For nearly 350 years it has held generation upon generation of scholars, students and readers in rapt attention and its profound influence can be seen in almost every corner of Western culture.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1667
853 people are currently reading
9407 people want to read
About the author
John Milton
3,697 books2,209 followersPeople best know John Milton, English scholar, for
Paradise Lost
, the epic poem of 1667 and an account of fall of humanity from grace.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 293 reviews
May 12, 2019
i just had to add this. i HAD to.
“Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n.”
Did I buy it because our king Magnus Bane quoted it, bitch maybe. I ain’t admitting shit. “Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is’’
I can’t even with the poetry part. Also Paradise Regained is not as good as Paradise Lost… Why am I trying to get into poetry? ... Lately I’ve been really into demons and ‘satanic’ shit in general.
Bitch honestly I get Eve. If God had told me to not eat the apple I would have devoured the whole tree.
“Better to reign in Hell, then serve in Heav’n.”
Did I buy it because our king Magnus Bane quoted it, bitch maybe. I ain’t admitting shit. “Abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is’’
I can’t even with the poetry part. Also Paradise Regained is not as good as Paradise Lost… Why am I trying to get into poetry? ... Lately I’ve been really into demons and ‘satanic’ shit in general.
Bitch honestly I get Eve. If God had told me to not eat the apple I would have devoured the whole tree.
October 10, 2019
I read both of these in high school, what feels like millennia ago. I remember enjoying them a lot - the blank verse, the vivid description of Satan and Pandemonium, his palace in Hell (which is portrayed with dismaying terror in a painting by John Martin preserved at Musée du Louvre). Milton's blank verse does tend to keep the story vivid and alive. Admittedly, having re-read Dante's Divine Comedy, I owe myself to reread this classic sometime in 2017. OK, I never got around to re-reading this in 2017 (or 2018 or 2019), but its the thought that counts, right?
October 13, 2021
The mind that is well-established in its place can turn hell into heaven, heaven into a nightmare.
From what place did it come?
From what place did it come?
March 30, 2018
John Milton's poems are much more than the epic account of the Fall of Man and the redemption brought by Jesus Christ.
Two factors make his work the greatest achievement in Christian epic poetry: its literary uniqueness and its religious unorthodoxy.
Its uniqueness is quite obvious: there is just no equivalent to "Paradise Lost/Regained"; no other attempt has ever been made to match Milton's poems either in their magnificence nor in their complexity.
A complexity that is less in their structure (iambic pentameters of blank verses: not rhyming) than in the maze of conflicting undertones of Milton's lyrical speech, a beautifully crafted masterpiece of English XVII century poetry, Christian theology, traditional imagery. It's hard indeed to find any flaw in Milton's writing: virtually no repetitions, long convoluted sentences skilfully juxtaposed with shorter ones, subtle changes in tone and rhythm, perfect development of the characters, well rendered dialogues and descriptions (the visions of Satan's palace and his journey through the original Chaos are pure psychedelia avant la lettre...)
What makes this poem a unique case in literature though is the way Milton deals with the protagonist, Satan, the prototype of the Romantic doomed hero - hopelessly fighting against the joined forces of destiny and nature. What the religious tale actually hints is the political turmoil of Milton's age: Satan is the metaphorical image of king Charles, defeated by God/Oliver Cromwell, and the battle for Heaven is in fact the English civil war that brought Cromwell to power.
What Satan is up to is revenge. He is perfectly aware of his desperate inferiority, but his inner nature prevents him from accepting any kind of obedience ("Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven"). Whether the struggle leads to revenge or ultimate defeat, all that matters is to fight against God's will. Rebellion for its own sake, being he
"One who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
In his "Paradise Lost" Milton goes far beyond the Protestant 'dogma' in two outstandingly episodes, in which a whole theological vision is called into question.
First of all, Eve's temptation begins as a night dream, provoked by Satan in the shape of a toad. She sees an angel plucking the Forbidden Fruit and tastes it too, savouring the deadly Knowledge of good and evil - sort of a general rehearsal of her actual temptation.
Then, the following day, God sends the Archangel Raphael to warn Adam of the Fiend's wicked intentions:
"This let him know,
Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretend
Surprisal, unadmonished, unforwarned."
The notions Milton refers to in these lines are among the essentials of Christian theology: in fact they were at the core of the religious clash of his age, in which the Reform was establishing once and for all its line with regard to free will vs predestination. Milton's interpretation is centred on our Ancestors' deliberate choice to transgress: they lose Eden and themselves as the result of a conscious decision. No predestination at all ("That thou art happy, owe to God; That thou continuest such, owe to thyself"). Quite the contrary, since they are repeatedly warned by God himself about their enemy's plans.
The poem is not exactly in line with Catholicism, either: not when its author makes a painstaking report of the war in Heaven, or imagines Creation to be His immediate reaction against the bad angels' betrayal, or makes Eve suggest suicide to escape damnation... not to mention the lines in which Milton praises the delights of physical love, basically by telling us Adam and Eve didn't waste their time under the starry sky - a notion we hardly find in the Catholic Bible... well, in any Bible:
"Far be it, that I should write tee sin or blame,
Or think tee unbefitting holiest place,
Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets..."
"Paradise Regained" is much shorter and less controversial in its contents (the temptation of Christ in the desert).
Satan takes the shape of an old man, then of a courtesan, and suggests Jesus to turn the stones into bread to escape hunger; first temptation.
After Jesus' refusal, Satan tries to lure him with the prospect of earthly glory and power, and fails again.
Then, a last desperate move: the devil brings him on the highest pinnacle of the Temple and tells him to jump into the void: the Lord will save Him and prove His holiness to the crowd. Third refusal; Jesus has resisted Satan and saved mankind, showing how patience and faith are stronger than any devilish temptation.
Except for some unusual imagery, there is nothing even remotely comprarable to the visionary quality of the previous work.
Milton's peculiar poem is not to be considered his own interpretation of the Scriptures though: it's a fervent believer's insight, his attempt to decipher their symbols and mysteries. Tradition is not rejected: what the poet does is exploring some of its innermost roads, which is a great achievement in itself.
Definitely worth a second read.
Two factors make his work the greatest achievement in Christian epic poetry: its literary uniqueness and its religious unorthodoxy.
Its uniqueness is quite obvious: there is just no equivalent to "Paradise Lost/Regained"; no other attempt has ever been made to match Milton's poems either in their magnificence nor in their complexity.
A complexity that is less in their structure (iambic pentameters of blank verses: not rhyming) than in the maze of conflicting undertones of Milton's lyrical speech, a beautifully crafted masterpiece of English XVII century poetry, Christian theology, traditional imagery. It's hard indeed to find any flaw in Milton's writing: virtually no repetitions, long convoluted sentences skilfully juxtaposed with shorter ones, subtle changes in tone and rhythm, perfect development of the characters, well rendered dialogues and descriptions (the visions of Satan's palace and his journey through the original Chaos are pure psychedelia avant la lettre...)
What makes this poem a unique case in literature though is the way Milton deals with the protagonist, Satan, the prototype of the Romantic doomed hero - hopelessly fighting against the joined forces of destiny and nature. What the religious tale actually hints is the political turmoil of Milton's age: Satan is the metaphorical image of king Charles, defeated by God/Oliver Cromwell, and the battle for Heaven is in fact the English civil war that brought Cromwell to power.
What Satan is up to is revenge. He is perfectly aware of his desperate inferiority, but his inner nature prevents him from accepting any kind of obedience ("Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven"). Whether the struggle leads to revenge or ultimate defeat, all that matters is to fight against God's will. Rebellion for its own sake, being he
"One who brings
A mind not to be changed by place or time.
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
In his "Paradise Lost" Milton goes far beyond the Protestant 'dogma' in two outstandingly episodes, in which a whole theological vision is called into question.
First of all, Eve's temptation begins as a night dream, provoked by Satan in the shape of a toad. She sees an angel plucking the Forbidden Fruit and tastes it too, savouring the deadly Knowledge of good and evil - sort of a general rehearsal of her actual temptation.
Then, the following day, God sends the Archangel Raphael to warn Adam of the Fiend's wicked intentions:
"This let him know,
Lest, wilfully transgressing, he pretend
Surprisal, unadmonished, unforwarned."
The notions Milton refers to in these lines are among the essentials of Christian theology: in fact they were at the core of the religious clash of his age, in which the Reform was establishing once and for all its line with regard to free will vs predestination. Milton's interpretation is centred on our Ancestors' deliberate choice to transgress: they lose Eden and themselves as the result of a conscious decision. No predestination at all ("That thou art happy, owe to God; That thou continuest such, owe to thyself"). Quite the contrary, since they are repeatedly warned by God himself about their enemy's plans.
The poem is not exactly in line with Catholicism, either: not when its author makes a painstaking report of the war in Heaven, or imagines Creation to be His immediate reaction against the bad angels' betrayal, or makes Eve suggest suicide to escape damnation... not to mention the lines in which Milton praises the delights of physical love, basically by telling us Adam and Eve didn't waste their time under the starry sky - a notion we hardly find in the Catholic Bible... well, in any Bible:
"Far be it, that I should write tee sin or blame,
Or think tee unbefitting holiest place,
Perpetual fountain of domestic sweets..."
"Paradise Regained" is much shorter and less controversial in its contents (the temptation of Christ in the desert).
Satan takes the shape of an old man, then of a courtesan, and suggests Jesus to turn the stones into bread to escape hunger; first temptation.
After Jesus' refusal, Satan tries to lure him with the prospect of earthly glory and power, and fails again.
Then, a last desperate move: the devil brings him on the highest pinnacle of the Temple and tells him to jump into the void: the Lord will save Him and prove His holiness to the crowd. Third refusal; Jesus has resisted Satan and saved mankind, showing how patience and faith are stronger than any devilish temptation.
Except for some unusual imagery, there is nothing even remotely comprarable to the visionary quality of the previous work.
Milton's peculiar poem is not to be considered his own interpretation of the Scriptures though: it's a fervent believer's insight, his attempt to decipher their symbols and mysteries. Tradition is not rejected: what the poet does is exploring some of its innermost roads, which is a great achievement in itself.
Definitely worth a second read.
August 23, 2021
Like Dante: great literature, terrible theology.
I can see why everyone says Satan is the most interesting character. I was rather disappointed when he drops out of the story halfway through.
The passages about Eve's special susceptibility to sin particularly infuriated me. As if Adam wasn't just as vulnerable to temptation or didn't rebel against God just as much. As if.
I can see why everyone says Satan is the most interesting character. I was rather disappointed when he drops out of the story halfway through.
The passages about Eve's special susceptibility to sin particularly infuriated me. As if Adam wasn't just as vulnerable to temptation or didn't rebel against God just as much. As if.
December 13, 2017
[*I won't mark spoilers but will assume that if you read this you have read Paradise Lost or know the story of the creation of the world and the fall of man as recounted in the book of Genesis.]
"Some natural tears they dropp'd, but wip'd them soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way." - Book XII Lines 645-649
I know what this book is usually based around and who it is based around and I will get to him but I think it is important to realize that the ultimate heroes of this book are Jesus and Adam. Adam is a noble yet fallen hero while the Son of God (as he is referred to during the poem) is the true hero for beating the villain once and being implied to do it again through prophecy to Adam. I think it is worth seeing that the comparisons between Adam and Jesus are everywhere in this book. both have someone they want to sacrifice their lives for to save but only Jesus has the ultimate performance in the end while Adam's attempt to not let Eve die alone dooms mankind. But the fact that we learn that Jesus was the one who ultimately kicked Satan and the rebel angels out of heaven is what should clearly tell you who the hero of the poem is. Now to the one we all want to hear:
Wow is there not a more scary, dangerous, and charming character in literary history than Milton's Satan? Anyone now adays who comes to this poem knows that Satan is bad and that he is...well Satan. yet Milton so establishes this character so dynamically. Every time he speaks it is interesting. He is intentionally slick and charming in a ominous sort of way. In the early books we see his retorical flourish on display after he and his defeated army regroup in hell and he convinces them to let him stay as leader and he puts on such a speech that you would be crazy not to make him leader. Oh but his actions could not be further from good and he is at his most frighting when he is talking to himself or thinking and we can read it because his true intentions to doom Adam & Eve are laid out and the reader is left to feel helpless as it seems (and again this is to John Milton's credit) like Satan is taunting us, "look what I'm about to do to your 'first parents' and no one will stop me."
For a good example of what I am talking about here is some dialogue from Satan after he gets a good look and takes in Adam & Eve for a while in Book IV lines 356-390; now remember that this all a soliloquy to himself, no one but the reader can hear him: "O Hell! what do mine eyes with grief behold!
Into our room of bliss thus high advanced
Creatures of other mould, earth-born perhaps,
Not Spirits, yet to heavenly Spirits bright
360Little inferiour; whom my thoughts pursue
With wonder, and could love, so lively shines
In them divine resemblance, and such grace
The hand that formed them on their shape hath poured.
Ah! gentle pair, ye little think how nigh
365Your change approaches, when all these delights
Will vanish, and deliver ye to woe;
More woe, the more your taste is now of joy;
Happy, but for so happy ill secured
Long to continue, and this high seat your Heaven," after the lines of petty sarcastic grief above he gets to business here starting at line 370,"Ill fenced for Heaven to keep out such a foe
As now is entered; yet no purposed foe
To you, whom I could pity thus forlorn,
Though I unpitied: League with you I seek,
And mutual amity, so strait, so close,
375That I with you must dwell, or you with me
Henceforth; my dwelling haply may not please,
Like this fair Paradise, your sense; yet such
Accept your Maker's work; he gave it me,
Which I as freely give: Hell shall unfold,
380To entertain you two, her widest gates,
And send forth all her kings; there will be room,
Not like these narrow limits, to receive
Your numerous offspring; if no better place,
Thank him who puts me loth to this revenge
385On you who wrong me not for him who wronged.
And should I at your harmless innocence
Melt, as I do, yet publick reason just,
Honour and empire with revenge enlarged,
By conquering this new world, compels me now
390To do what else, though damned, I should abhor." That is not a guy you want wandering around with you and even Satan himself knows that.
Of course it is all build-up to Book IX (9) where the villain protagonist reaches his peak and the story itself shifts 180 degrees. When Satan seduces Eve it is one of the most suspense and thriller-filled passages in western literature and the whole time you are (or should be William Blake!) agonizing as Eve is slowly but surely led to successfully eat the fruit and as soon as the deed is done the animals are the first to react hostilely and Satan (as the serpent) leaves quickly to get back to his squad to celebrate. He obviously did not need to stick around because his work was done.
When Adam finds out he is horrified and knows automatically that Eve is condemned but his love for her is so that he can't imagine her dying alone ("How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost,
Defac't, deflourd, and now to Death devote?
Rather how hast thou yeelded to transgress
The strict forbiddance, how to violate
The sacred Fruit forbidd'n! som cursed fraud
905Of Enemie hath beguil'd thee, yet unknown,
And mee with thee hath ruind, for with thee
Certain my resolution is to Die;
How can I live without thee, how forgoe
Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly joyn'd,
910To live again in these wilde Woods forlorn?
Should God create another Eve, and I
Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart; no no, I feel
The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh,
915Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State
Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe." - lines 900 to 916 of Book IX) so he eats the fruit and the deed is done the rest of the events can be found hereHoly Bible: King James Version as well as the remaining books of Paradise Lost. I want to mention that I don't spoil everything and Milton has inserted some rather interesting details into what happens in the aftermath of the fall.
I want to focus on rather quickly on refuting something Eve said during her debate with Adam once they both realize they're screwed. Eve contends that if the Devil got Adam alone he would have easily have fallen but this I don't believe. I think that although Satan's ultimate goal was to get Adam to eat the fruit but he chose the correct method by simply following Eve because he correctly identified their weaknesses by spying on them. He knew that Eve was a narcissist and that Adam would second guess himself when it came to Eve. I think the way it worked was because Adam was created directly by God (like Lucifer himself) he would be wiser and more faithful and more of a problem to persuade. Eve on the other hand was created from Adam, indirectly by God, and only ever knew God through Adam or an angel and was more fascinated by her own being than anything else (she was really pretty). So Satan said get the girl and the girl gets the guy. The guy was able to convince 1/3 of heaven's best angels to rebel, poor little Eve did not stand a chance :( .
In the end though I thought especially after reading the last couple of books that this poem was about redemption (among other things like Milton's anti-monarchy, anti-Catholic message; this was put out during King Charles I/Oliver Cromwell/King Charles II years and Milton was Team Cromwell which didn't work out well for him when Charles II was restored to the throne). The last lines (see the opening quote of this review) of this poem sum up perfectly what Milton hope we ultimately took out of this review: that the fall while tragic was not the end, that Christ's intercession for mankind negates mankind's fall in the end, and do not have Kings because they make God sad-I guess.
[This space reserved for Paradise Regained review]
"Some natural tears they dropp'd, but wip'd them soon;
The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They hand in hand with wand'ring steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way." - Book XII Lines 645-649
I know what this book is usually based around and who it is based around and I will get to him but I think it is important to realize that the ultimate heroes of this book are Jesus and Adam. Adam is a noble yet fallen hero while the Son of God (as he is referred to during the poem) is the true hero for beating the villain once and being implied to do it again through prophecy to Adam. I think it is worth seeing that the comparisons between Adam and Jesus are everywhere in this book. both have someone they want to sacrifice their lives for to save but only Jesus has the ultimate performance in the end while Adam's attempt to not let Eve die alone dooms mankind. But the fact that we learn that Jesus was the one who ultimately kicked Satan and the rebel angels out of heaven is what should clearly tell you who the hero of the poem is. Now to the one we all want to hear:
Wow is there not a more scary, dangerous, and charming character in literary history than Milton's Satan? Anyone now adays who comes to this poem knows that Satan is bad and that he is...well Satan. yet Milton so establishes this character so dynamically. Every time he speaks it is interesting. He is intentionally slick and charming in a ominous sort of way. In the early books we see his retorical flourish on display after he and his defeated army regroup in hell and he convinces them to let him stay as leader and he puts on such a speech that you would be crazy not to make him leader. Oh but his actions could not be further from good and he is at his most frighting when he is talking to himself or thinking and we can read it because his true intentions to doom Adam & Eve are laid out and the reader is left to feel helpless as it seems (and again this is to John Milton's credit) like Satan is taunting us, "look what I'm about to do to your 'first parents' and no one will stop me."
For a good example of what I am talking about here is some dialogue from Satan after he gets a good look and takes in Adam & Eve for a while in Book IV lines 356-390; now remember that this all a soliloquy to himself, no one but the reader can hear him: "O Hell! what do mine eyes with grief behold!
Into our room of bliss thus high advanced
Creatures of other mould, earth-born perhaps,
Not Spirits, yet to heavenly Spirits bright
360Little inferiour; whom my thoughts pursue
With wonder, and could love, so lively shines
In them divine resemblance, and such grace
The hand that formed them on their shape hath poured.
Ah! gentle pair, ye little think how nigh
365Your change approaches, when all these delights
Will vanish, and deliver ye to woe;
More woe, the more your taste is now of joy;
Happy, but for so happy ill secured
Long to continue, and this high seat your Heaven," after the lines of petty sarcastic grief above he gets to business here starting at line 370,"Ill fenced for Heaven to keep out such a foe
As now is entered; yet no purposed foe
To you, whom I could pity thus forlorn,
Though I unpitied: League with you I seek,
And mutual amity, so strait, so close,
375That I with you must dwell, or you with me
Henceforth; my dwelling haply may not please,
Like this fair Paradise, your sense; yet such
Accept your Maker's work; he gave it me,
Which I as freely give: Hell shall unfold,
380To entertain you two, her widest gates,
And send forth all her kings; there will be room,
Not like these narrow limits, to receive
Your numerous offspring; if no better place,
Thank him who puts me loth to this revenge
385On you who wrong me not for him who wronged.
And should I at your harmless innocence
Melt, as I do, yet publick reason just,
Honour and empire with revenge enlarged,
By conquering this new world, compels me now
390To do what else, though damned, I should abhor." That is not a guy you want wandering around with you and even Satan himself knows that.
Of course it is all build-up to Book IX (9) where the villain protagonist reaches his peak and the story itself shifts 180 degrees. When Satan seduces Eve it is one of the most suspense and thriller-filled passages in western literature and the whole time you are (or should be William Blake!) agonizing as Eve is slowly but surely led to successfully eat the fruit and as soon as the deed is done the animals are the first to react hostilely and Satan (as the serpent) leaves quickly to get back to his squad to celebrate. He obviously did not need to stick around because his work was done.
When Adam finds out he is horrified and knows automatically that Eve is condemned but his love for her is so that he can't imagine her dying alone ("How art thou lost, how on a sudden lost,
Defac't, deflourd, and now to Death devote?
Rather how hast thou yeelded to transgress
The strict forbiddance, how to violate
The sacred Fruit forbidd'n! som cursed fraud
905Of Enemie hath beguil'd thee, yet unknown,
And mee with thee hath ruind, for with thee
Certain my resolution is to Die;
How can I live without thee, how forgoe
Thy sweet Converse and Love so dearly joyn'd,
910To live again in these wilde Woods forlorn?
Should God create another Eve, and I
Another Rib afford, yet loss of thee
Would never from my heart; no no, I feel
The Link of Nature draw me: Flesh of Flesh,
915Bone of my Bone thou art, and from thy State
Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe." - lines 900 to 916 of Book IX) so he eats the fruit and the deed is done the rest of the events can be found hereHoly Bible: King James Version as well as the remaining books of Paradise Lost. I want to mention that I don't spoil everything and Milton has inserted some rather interesting details into what happens in the aftermath of the fall.
I want to focus on rather quickly on refuting something Eve said during her debate with Adam once they both realize they're screwed. Eve contends that if the Devil got Adam alone he would have easily have fallen but this I don't believe. I think that although Satan's ultimate goal was to get Adam to eat the fruit but he chose the correct method by simply following Eve because he correctly identified their weaknesses by spying on them. He knew that Eve was a narcissist and that Adam would second guess himself when it came to Eve. I think the way it worked was because Adam was created directly by God (like Lucifer himself) he would be wiser and more faithful and more of a problem to persuade. Eve on the other hand was created from Adam, indirectly by God, and only ever knew God through Adam or an angel and was more fascinated by her own being than anything else (she was really pretty). So Satan said get the girl and the girl gets the guy. The guy was able to convince 1/3 of heaven's best angels to rebel, poor little Eve did not stand a chance :( .
In the end though I thought especially after reading the last couple of books that this poem was about redemption (among other things like Milton's anti-monarchy, anti-Catholic message; this was put out during King Charles I/Oliver Cromwell/King Charles II years and Milton was Team Cromwell which didn't work out well for him when Charles II was restored to the throne). The last lines (see the opening quote of this review) of this poem sum up perfectly what Milton hope we ultimately took out of this review: that the fall while tragic was not the end, that Christ's intercession for mankind negates mankind's fall in the end, and do not have Kings because they make God sad-I guess.
[This space reserved for Paradise Regained review]
August 13, 2017
I think this was my seventh reading of PL, only my second of Regained. I never get tired of them.
April 10, 2022
Uno spettacolare poema sul peccato, la tentazione e la libertà nella rivisitazione di due episodi biblici: Adamo ed Eva e le tentazioni di Cristo. Un inglese strepitoso, che ammalia il lettore e risulta estremamente immaginifico, con un cambio di stile fra il Lost e il regained seguendo il cambio fra antico e nuovo testamento, fra caduta e integrità, fra distruzione e redenzione.
Personalmente ho preferito il primo, trovando affascinante soprattutto la figura del diavolo.
Importante per comprendere questo testo è conoscere un po' la teologia, infatti le conoscenze base mi hanno fatto capire che mi stavo perdendo un mondo durante la lettura, ma credo sia comunque apprezzabile per le riflessioni, sia contestualizzare all'epoca che attualizzate, estrapolabili al di là dei riferimenti e soprattutto per lo stile.
Inevitabile è pensare alla commedia di Dante, ai canti profetici di Blake, ma anche, forse soprattutto, a Caino e il vangelo secondo Gesù Cristo di Saramago dove il libero arbitrio e il diavolo la fanno da padroni della scena.
Personalmente ho preferito il primo, trovando affascinante soprattutto la figura del diavolo.
Importante per comprendere questo testo è conoscere un po' la teologia, infatti le conoscenze base mi hanno fatto capire che mi stavo perdendo un mondo durante la lettura, ma credo sia comunque apprezzabile per le riflessioni, sia contestualizzare all'epoca che attualizzate, estrapolabili al di là dei riferimenti e soprattutto per lo stile.
Inevitabile è pensare alla commedia di Dante, ai canti profetici di Blake, ma anche, forse soprattutto, a Caino e il vangelo secondo Gesù Cristo di Saramago dove il libero arbitrio e il diavolo la fanno da padroni della scena.
December 31, 2021
I actually finished the whole thing!!! Was pretty epic.
August 7, 2012
Paradise Lost is bar-none the greatest work of literature in the English language, and I suspect it stands up pretty well against what the rest of the world has to offer. Milton took a handful of Bible verses and expanded them into 10,000 near-perfect lines on the nature of sin, temptation, good and evil. In it, he creates a powerfully sympathetic Lucifer, posits the single most persuasive argument for Human free-will ever attempted, and paints the fall of Man as the greatest tragedy of all time.
If there is argument about who the story's hero is, it is because the story is told so objectively. Every character is treated as though he has something to offer and a story worth telling. Lucifer plays martyr to what he sees as a battle for independence from Tyranny, and is martyred a second time in a heroic final strike against his oppressor. God's story is the tragedy of creating a being who he knows is destined to disappoint him. Eve's story is the tragedy of embracing her weakness in a desire to be stronger. And Adam is given the ultimate choice: to continue in Paradise alone or fall with the woman he loves. Every aspect of the story has the potential to resonate with every reader, and every line is a study in expression and verse. There is simply nothing better.
Paradise Regained, on the other hand, is probably actually better. That is its tragedy. It is not as accessible by half as Paradise Lost, it is not as exciting or as varied, and at barely a third the length, it still will not find as many readers. It is a more beautiful poem and an even more perfect expression of a great thinker's ideas and talent, but it does not have the reach or appeal of its companion piece. It is the Seventh Seal to Paradise Lost's Citizen Kane.
If you have not read Paradise Lost, read it. If your mind is still young, it can be difficult at first. Push through, it's worth it. Then read Paradise Regained, if not for yourself, for Milton. He would've wanted you to.
If there is argument about who the story's hero is, it is because the story is told so objectively. Every character is treated as though he has something to offer and a story worth telling. Lucifer plays martyr to what he sees as a battle for independence from Tyranny, and is martyred a second time in a heroic final strike against his oppressor. God's story is the tragedy of creating a being who he knows is destined to disappoint him. Eve's story is the tragedy of embracing her weakness in a desire to be stronger. And Adam is given the ultimate choice: to continue in Paradise alone or fall with the woman he loves. Every aspect of the story has the potential to resonate with every reader, and every line is a study in expression and verse. There is simply nothing better.
Paradise Regained, on the other hand, is probably actually better. That is its tragedy. It is not as accessible by half as Paradise Lost, it is not as exciting or as varied, and at barely a third the length, it still will not find as many readers. It is a more beautiful poem and an even more perfect expression of a great thinker's ideas and talent, but it does not have the reach or appeal of its companion piece. It is the Seventh Seal to Paradise Lost's Citizen Kane.
If you have not read Paradise Lost, read it. If your mind is still young, it can be difficult at first. Push through, it's worth it. Then read Paradise Regained, if not for yourself, for Milton. He would've wanted you to.
June 1, 2021
it was decent, just hard to read/listen to. Not one of my favorites
October 10, 2024
How does one write a review of such an epic work?
I think I will start by setting aside its historical and theological value, which as a foundational moment in Western literature cannot really be disputed. 7 out of 5 starts on that front.
But now as a contemporary read? Perhaps a bit less so. Milton's lush and allusion-heavy blank verse was at many levels a signpost experience and even a revelation, not for its ambition to explain the ways of God (which it certainly undertakes if at times unevenly) but for how his elucidation of the story of Creation has rooted itself into this civilization's psyche.
We can argue with his interpretations (and we should), we can resist the subservient role of Eve as a representative of women (and we should), and we can even raise eyebrows at Milton's self-stated ego (and I do). But we can also examine the anti-heroic Promethean role assigned to Satan, the delicate balancing act Milton plays with his many references to Greco-Roman mythology, the strategic thinking he does to sort out free will from God's "fated" plan.
For me, what was often at work was a narratological problem: every time you have to "fill in all the details" of a story that is itself brief allegory, a metaphor, readers are bound to focus on failed plotting. Why are the angels driving in chariots and marshalling spears? Why do God and Son both wonder/worry if Satan will achieve victory if the story is already foreordained? Why does Adam allow Eve to go off on her own when they were specifically warned there is a proverbial and literal snake in the grass? And why is the innocent serpent (itself merely a victim of devilish possession) also punished?
The answer has to be at some level, Who cares? It makes the plot go forward. And that is the trouble that Milton had to contend with: How do we make a large story-led argument about God's purposes that also adds trivial events/details while it expounds grander motivations? At some level, we might say, Genesis works because it is brief, parable-like. It allows us to recognize its places for reflection. Milton wanted to fill them in, and in so doing, perhaps, created a whole new set of challenges for Christian thinking while he answered questions.
Unpopular opinion, too, that I appreciated Paradise Regained in several ways more than Paradise Lost.
Like the first book, Milton focuses only a specific scene, here the temptations of Jesus in the desert. The (only) four chapters open up the challenges Satan offers and the lengthier explanations Jesus makes in rejecting them. For me, even if we disagree with the nature of the arguments, Milton is more successful because there are literally fewer "events" to detail. So we don't have to ask embarrassing questions and can focus almost exclusively on the interplay between the two, the arguments made about food, faith, and power (presented in the order of the Gospel of Luke) are worthwhile in that readers can appreciate (dangerously) the "logic" of Satan's points, saved only by Jesus's focused rejoinders.
Milton spends the most time on the temptation to power, offering Jesus several variations of what that might look like and why he might consider it to achieve his aims, even arguing that both he and Jesus might benefit from bringing the "story" of Satan to an ending. Though we do not have the full "dramatization" of the Genesis story, Regained accomplishes more absolutely what Milton stated was his purpose: to articulate the ways of God, and the rejection of Satan in the desert, of course, is the ideal mirror of the failure of mankind to do so in Paradise.
Most don't read this section of Milton, but I would argue all the more to do so, and perhaps--if you are uncertain about reading Milton at all, start with it. It will allow readers a faster read to test their capacity for enduring the blank verse of centuries before while still sampling a Master of the Canon. Then go on to read the larger first work. Trust me, by now, spoilers have to be impossible, anyway, yes?
I think I will start by setting aside its historical and theological value, which as a foundational moment in Western literature cannot really be disputed. 7 out of 5 starts on that front.
But now as a contemporary read? Perhaps a bit less so. Milton's lush and allusion-heavy blank verse was at many levels a signpost experience and even a revelation, not for its ambition to explain the ways of God (which it certainly undertakes if at times unevenly) but for how his elucidation of the story of Creation has rooted itself into this civilization's psyche.
We can argue with his interpretations (and we should), we can resist the subservient role of Eve as a representative of women (and we should), and we can even raise eyebrows at Milton's self-stated ego (and I do). But we can also examine the anti-heroic Promethean role assigned to Satan, the delicate balancing act Milton plays with his many references to Greco-Roman mythology, the strategic thinking he does to sort out free will from God's "fated" plan.
For me, what was often at work was a narratological problem: every time you have to "fill in all the details" of a story that is itself brief allegory, a metaphor, readers are bound to focus on failed plotting. Why are the angels driving in chariots and marshalling spears? Why do God and Son both wonder/worry if Satan will achieve victory if the story is already foreordained? Why does Adam allow Eve to go off on her own when they were specifically warned there is a proverbial and literal snake in the grass? And why is the innocent serpent (itself merely a victim of devilish possession) also punished?
The answer has to be at some level, Who cares? It makes the plot go forward. And that is the trouble that Milton had to contend with: How do we make a large story-led argument about God's purposes that also adds trivial events/details while it expounds grander motivations? At some level, we might say, Genesis works because it is brief, parable-like. It allows us to recognize its places for reflection. Milton wanted to fill them in, and in so doing, perhaps, created a whole new set of challenges for Christian thinking while he answered questions.
Unpopular opinion, too, that I appreciated Paradise Regained in several ways more than Paradise Lost.
Like the first book, Milton focuses only a specific scene, here the temptations of Jesus in the desert. The (only) four chapters open up the challenges Satan offers and the lengthier explanations Jesus makes in rejecting them. For me, even if we disagree with the nature of the arguments, Milton is more successful because there are literally fewer "events" to detail. So we don't have to ask embarrassing questions and can focus almost exclusively on the interplay between the two, the arguments made about food, faith, and power (presented in the order of the Gospel of Luke) are worthwhile in that readers can appreciate (dangerously) the "logic" of Satan's points, saved only by Jesus's focused rejoinders.
Milton spends the most time on the temptation to power, offering Jesus several variations of what that might look like and why he might consider it to achieve his aims, even arguing that both he and Jesus might benefit from bringing the "story" of Satan to an ending. Though we do not have the full "dramatization" of the Genesis story, Regained accomplishes more absolutely what Milton stated was his purpose: to articulate the ways of God, and the rejection of Satan in the desert, of course, is the ideal mirror of the failure of mankind to do so in Paradise.
Most don't read this section of Milton, but I would argue all the more to do so, and perhaps--if you are uncertain about reading Milton at all, start with it. It will allow readers a faster read to test their capacity for enduring the blank verse of centuries before while still sampling a Master of the Canon. Then go on to read the larger first work. Trust me, by now, spoilers have to be impossible, anyway, yes?
March 29, 2013
This book took me a long time to read. Three months to be exact. It’s some seriously dense epic poetry. Some of Paradise Lost reminded me a lot of Tolkien’s The Silmarillion, especially the lines about flames that produced darkness and the idea of Satan doing the opposite of God but God turns it to good anyway. It was hard to get used to the language, but once I did I really liked how Milton was able to use two meanings for a lot of words – the literal meaning and a figurative meaning. It was interesting that the story is mostly told through Satan’s point of view and Milton makes him a sympathetic character. Satan is also very sarcastic. Is it wrong that I found him a little funny??
The first time I tried reading this book I gave up after about 20 pages because I didn’t realize that the plot was simple and that there’s an actual story going on. I thought the whole book was just deep random thoughts about the fall of Adam and Eve.
Another thing I found interesting was how Milton incorporated a lot of Greek mythology in the story. I’m starting to see why this book is so controversial. For example, Sin pops out of Satan’s head and they become lovers. So Sin is his lover AND daughter. That is kind of similar to Athena’s birth story.
Milton lists a lot of demons by name in Book I. One demon that really caught my eye was named Dagon and he was a mermaid. Did mermaids start out as demons!? That kind of blows my mind.
And then when, towards the end of Book I, all the demons have a council. It is more civil than any political debate I have ever heard. I found that so bizarre.
Overall, I don’t think this is a very religious text (meaning that it teaches Christian doctrine). It’s an interesting mythological twist on a bible story we all know. It was like Shakespeare meets the Bible. Honestly some parts of it really dragged, but I’m glad I read it. I feel very accomplished and a little more educated than I was before.
Paradise Regained is 50 pages long. It’s kind of like an epilogue that shows how Christ defeats Satan. It’s not as good as Paradise Lost and it’s anti-climactic. It’s skippable. I wrote up a plot summary for Paradise Regained in case you want to know what it’s about.
Paradise Regained Summary
I searched everywhere for a basic plot summary for Paradise Regained and I couldn't find one. So I wrote my own.
Book 1 - John the Baptists announces that this is Christ. He's baptized and God pronounces him his son. Satan hears it and has another council on what to do. Satan is going to "snare" Jesus with fraud and tricks. God professes that Jesus will send Satan back to Hell and defeat Sin and Death. Jesus meditates in the desert on how best to defeat Satan. Satan finds him and tells him to turn the stones into bread because Jesus has been fasting for 40 days.
Book 2 - Meanwhile, the people who had been baptized were still at the river Jordan. Mary his mother starts to worry about where Jesus is. Satan has another council because Jesus is not as easy to tempt as he thought he would be. Jesus dreams of prophets being fed by God. Satan tempts Jesus with riches. Jesus: No thanks.
Book 3 - Satan tries flattery and offers glory. Jesus says glory belongs to God. Satan takes Jesus to a mountain and shows him armies he can use to become King of the Jews. Jesus says he'll wait for the right time.
Book 4 - Satan won't quit though he knows he'll probably lose. Asks Jesus to worship him. Jesus says he only worships God. Then Satan tempts him with knowledge. Jesus says he already knows what he needs to know. Satan sends Jesus nightmares. Then Satan tells him to throw himself off the mountain and angels with catch him. Angels come a knock Satan over and take Jesus to a safe place. They give him fruit from Paradise and the angels sing to him. THE END.
This book is also reviewed on my blog Books: A true story
The first time I tried reading this book I gave up after about 20 pages because I didn’t realize that the plot was simple and that there’s an actual story going on. I thought the whole book was just deep random thoughts about the fall of Adam and Eve.
Another thing I found interesting was how Milton incorporated a lot of Greek mythology in the story. I’m starting to see why this book is so controversial. For example, Sin pops out of Satan’s head and they become lovers. So Sin is his lover AND daughter. That is kind of similar to Athena’s birth story.
Milton lists a lot of demons by name in Book I. One demon that really caught my eye was named Dagon and he was a mermaid. Did mermaids start out as demons!? That kind of blows my mind.
And then when, towards the end of Book I, all the demons have a council. It is more civil than any political debate I have ever heard. I found that so bizarre.
Overall, I don’t think this is a very religious text (meaning that it teaches Christian doctrine). It’s an interesting mythological twist on a bible story we all know. It was like Shakespeare meets the Bible. Honestly some parts of it really dragged, but I’m glad I read it. I feel very accomplished and a little more educated than I was before.
Paradise Regained is 50 pages long. It’s kind of like an epilogue that shows how Christ defeats Satan. It’s not as good as Paradise Lost and it’s anti-climactic. It’s skippable. I wrote up a plot summary for Paradise Regained in case you want to know what it’s about.
Paradise Regained Summary
I searched everywhere for a basic plot summary for Paradise Regained and I couldn't find one. So I wrote my own.
Book 1 - John the Baptists announces that this is Christ. He's baptized and God pronounces him his son. Satan hears it and has another council on what to do. Satan is going to "snare" Jesus with fraud and tricks. God professes that Jesus will send Satan back to Hell and defeat Sin and Death. Jesus meditates in the desert on how best to defeat Satan. Satan finds him and tells him to turn the stones into bread because Jesus has been fasting for 40 days.
Book 2 - Meanwhile, the people who had been baptized were still at the river Jordan. Mary his mother starts to worry about where Jesus is. Satan has another council because Jesus is not as easy to tempt as he thought he would be. Jesus dreams of prophets being fed by God. Satan tempts Jesus with riches. Jesus: No thanks.
Book 3 - Satan tries flattery and offers glory. Jesus says glory belongs to God. Satan takes Jesus to a mountain and shows him armies he can use to become King of the Jews. Jesus says he'll wait for the right time.
Book 4 - Satan won't quit though he knows he'll probably lose. Asks Jesus to worship him. Jesus says he only worships God. Then Satan tempts him with knowledge. Jesus says he already knows what he needs to know. Satan sends Jesus nightmares. Then Satan tells him to throw himself off the mountain and angels with catch him. Angels come a knock Satan over and take Jesus to a safe place. They give him fruit from Paradise and the angels sing to him. THE END.
This book is also reviewed on my blog Books: A true story
February 27, 2010
To be a fan of classic literature it is imperative to read, at least once, the powerful poetic epic that is "Paradise Lost". As far as "Paradise Regained", well...this story is not so illuminating, but is still a beautifully written poem. Most everyone living in a Western Civilization already knows the story: Satan is expelled from Heaven and decides to defile the new world God created. He sneaks into the Garden of Eden and finds a way to ruin God's plans by tempting Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge. Eve convinces Adam to do the same and, eventually, they get kicked out of Eden and set on their own.
Since I'm reading this for pleasure and not for academia, it took me a few pages to adjust to the style of writing, but once accustomed, it was easy to follow. The prose and word selection are incomparably beautiful. My favorite quotes from the story include:
"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
"Who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe."
"The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.
They, hand in hand, with wand'ring steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way."
As far as "Paradise Regained", the story starts with Satan attending the Baptism of Jesus and overhears the pronouncement that Jesus is the Son of God. Angry, Satan decides to overthrow God by tempting his son. While walking through the desert, Jesus is come upon by Satan offering creature comforts, power and knowledge. Jesus rejects all. In the end, Satan is undone by his own scheming and Jesus is left to fulfill his destiny. A destiny Jesus chose for himself in "Paradise Lost".
Admittedly, I like Satan's character in " Paradise Lost" better than in "Paradise Regained". He seemed rather defeated and whiny in "Regained", whereas he appeared charismatic and multi-dimensional in "Lost". I also enjoyed the fact that even God was shown to have some petulant qualities.
Recommended for those who are patient enough to become familiar with the writing style reminiscent of Virgil and Dante, and for those who love epic poetry.
Since I'm reading this for pleasure and not for academia, it took me a few pages to adjust to the style of writing, but once accustomed, it was easy to follow. The prose and word selection are incomparably beautiful. My favorite quotes from the story include:
"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
"Who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe."
"The world was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.
They, hand in hand, with wand'ring steps and slow
Through Eden took their solitary way."
As far as "Paradise Regained", the story starts with Satan attending the Baptism of Jesus and overhears the pronouncement that Jesus is the Son of God. Angry, Satan decides to overthrow God by tempting his son. While walking through the desert, Jesus is come upon by Satan offering creature comforts, power and knowledge. Jesus rejects all. In the end, Satan is undone by his own scheming and Jesus is left to fulfill his destiny. A destiny Jesus chose for himself in "Paradise Lost".
Admittedly, I like Satan's character in " Paradise Lost" better than in "Paradise Regained". He seemed rather defeated and whiny in "Regained", whereas he appeared charismatic and multi-dimensional in "Lost". I also enjoyed the fact that even God was shown to have some petulant qualities.
Recommended for those who are patient enough to become familiar with the writing style reminiscent of Virgil and Dante, and for those who love epic poetry.
April 24, 2008
As Blake said, "The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet, and of the Devil's party without knowing it."
Milton's work is really, really good. It has epic gun battles between angels and demons, and titanic expressions of sheer will. Most remarkable, though, is Satan's character as a rebel hero. Milton's reliance on the apocrypha and the treasure trove of literary stories as his source material do him great credit.
Milton's work is really, really good. It has epic gun battles between angels and demons, and titanic expressions of sheer will. Most remarkable, though, is Satan's character as a rebel hero. Milton's reliance on the apocrypha and the treasure trove of literary stories as his source material do him great credit.
February 24, 2017
The writing read like a mix of Shakespeare and Tolkien. The story was a mash up of Christian belief and Ancient Greek myth.
March 20, 2022
I can see how this influenced Dante’s inferno and Shakespeare. I recommend the audiobook as the beauty of the blank verse is on full display giving it an epic feel. The story retells Genesis and shows the downfall of Adam and Eve while the second part is Satan tempting Christ. Satan is presented as the Classical Greek hero giving the epic poem an interesting twist. I should have listened and read at the same time to understand it better. I did drift a few times. Milton and March madness don’t always mix.
July 10, 2025
Wanted to read this ever since I was a kid reading His Dark Materials. Bucket list book ACHIEVED.
August 26, 2025
The most sexist poem I've ever read. I really liked it! the footnotes were often very helpful and interesting, but sometimes I was getting into a nice flow reading only to get derailed by a footnote that explained something that did not need explaining at all.
July 25, 2010
I read this while preparing for a cumulative exam in English literature. I had only touched Milton in a survey course of British Literature of the Renaissance. I must have gone to the bar the night before that lecture because nothing seemed familiar. I spent the better part of two weeks, sitting at work, sitting in cafes, sitting in the library, sitting in my car, announcing Milton's convoluted lines of poetry à haute voix. This was the only way I could understand what was going on, like I was publicly redressing my grievances against both early modern English and Christianity.
I was in a French cafe in Chicago, disturbing other patrons my mumbling, and when the waiter dropped off my sandwich, he smirked, warning me to pay attention. He was speaking of the devil, an influential force in the poem, and it is amazing how Milton can construct an epic work that is so deeply reverent, so deeply religious, and yet imbue it with total doubt and, in moments, scorn. My notebook is filled with notes, mostly with question marks, while my copy of the poem is filled with complementary notes, mostly with exclamation marks. At the end, however, I'm not sure I have a conclusive answer, and maybe that's what Milton wanted. A pause before we barrel through with rash decisions.
I was in a French cafe in Chicago, disturbing other patrons my mumbling, and when the waiter dropped off my sandwich, he smirked, warning me to pay attention. He was speaking of the devil, an influential force in the poem, and it is amazing how Milton can construct an epic work that is so deeply reverent, so deeply religious, and yet imbue it with total doubt and, in moments, scorn. My notebook is filled with notes, mostly with question marks, while my copy of the poem is filled with complementary notes, mostly with exclamation marks. At the end, however, I'm not sure I have a conclusive answer, and maybe that's what Milton wanted. A pause before we barrel through with rash decisions.
September 16, 2016
As we trend the increasing prosperity of bookbinding gallows, haunts, prisons and data driven arrows of failing square boxed perceptions of "lost children" of civility, the greatest philosophical read is a protest poet. Few eternally burn the flames of protest Epics like 1625's John Milton, a man whose passage changed the course of humanity.
After a fall from grace's ambitious cup of challenging King Charles's Puritanical subjugation, his latter years led to a painful journey back with Paradise lost and found. A once promising elegist basking in the joys of an Italian cradle of blended academic brilliance, he soon returned home to defend his stance of civil and religious freedom- king Charles ," The infernal Serpent ; he it was whose guile,Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived" the masses of England. In times where the challenges of freedom and choice are questioned perhaps it is"Better to reign on Hell than serve in Heaven" . Relevant as much today as in 1625, we still look for the remedy to temper thee fall out of civil protest and freedom of speech. SAHNBCT2018
After a fall from grace's ambitious cup of challenging King Charles's Puritanical subjugation, his latter years led to a painful journey back with Paradise lost and found. A once promising elegist basking in the joys of an Italian cradle of blended academic brilliance, he soon returned home to defend his stance of civil and religious freedom- king Charles ," The infernal Serpent ; he it was whose guile,Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived" the masses of England. In times where the challenges of freedom and choice are questioned perhaps it is"Better to reign on Hell than serve in Heaven" . Relevant as much today as in 1625, we still look for the remedy to temper thee fall out of civil protest and freedom of speech. SAHNBCT2018
September 2, 2014
Finished Paradise Lost and started Paradise Regained. Maybe I read a bit of Milton when I was in school but don't remember any positive thoughts on poetry.
I started listening to the audible version because my son wanted to read some of the "Great Books". I decided that I didn't want to get left out. I have no words to describe how Milton can make you see the beginning of the world and feel the struggles of the first people created (and much more).
I don't focus on each individual word but listen to (audible version) the story as if a mother is reading to a child - who may not understand every word but who can follow the story - and like in a tragedy, I say, oh no, don't do it (as in listening to the lowly creature). But I know what is bound to happen. It does follow the Biblical story, generally.
It's like having a Rembrandt to read or listen to. Rich, full of color, full of ideas you could not have thought of.
I like to listen to it as I go to bed.
I started listening to the audible version because my son wanted to read some of the "Great Books". I decided that I didn't want to get left out. I have no words to describe how Milton can make you see the beginning of the world and feel the struggles of the first people created (and much more).
I don't focus on each individual word but listen to (audible version) the story as if a mother is reading to a child - who may not understand every word but who can follow the story - and like in a tragedy, I say, oh no, don't do it (as in listening to the lowly creature). But I know what is bound to happen. It does follow the Biblical story, generally.
It's like having a Rembrandt to read or listen to. Rich, full of color, full of ideas you could not have thought of.
I like to listen to it as I go to bed.
January 2, 2020
Supposedly we are to leave this book with sympathy for Lucifer/Satan. Perhaps it is because of my own perceptions and beliefs, but I just didn’t see that. Lucifer makes stupid decisions fueled by vanity and pride. That’s not really the biggest issue, though, as everyone makes mistakes. Lucifer is simply too prideful to admit defeat or ask forgiveness. So he continues down his spiral of pride induced bad decisions, worsening and worsening his situation. His trials and suffering are entirely a product of his own making. He was not wronged in any way. There was a point in the story where he appeared to feel some pangs of regret, and I find myself wondering what would have happened if he would have allowed himself to be humbled, turned from his ways, and asked forgiveness rather than hardening his heart all the more.
That point aside, the prose is as beautiful as advertised. I was surprised by this. I took several months to read this and I think I really need several more to truly dig into the text to appreciate what is there. Yes it is hard to read, yes you will struggle at times, but this book deserves your attention.
That point aside, the prose is as beautiful as advertised. I was surprised by this. I took several months to read this and I think I really need several more to truly dig into the text to appreciate what is there. Yes it is hard to read, yes you will struggle at times, but this book deserves your attention.
June 29, 2024
I want to preface this review by saying I am not religious and I've never read the Bible.
It refers to angels as ethereal.
Most men love the idea of being good more than actually doing good. Not that you need to be religious for that.
I see Belial is such a woman enjoyer. 😌
On multiple occasions Satan points out that he doesn't care at all about humans, he just wants to spite Heaven.
I am totally not surprised Sin is a woman. And afaik the only woman among demons and angels.
It refers to angels as ethereal.
Most men love the idea of being good more than actually doing good. Not that you need to be religious for that.
I see Belial is such a woman enjoyer. 😌
On multiple occasions Satan points out that he doesn't care at all about humans, he just wants to spite Heaven.
I am totally not surprised Sin is a woman. And afaik the only woman among demons and angels.
January 12, 2025
Book XII
Babel, Moses, David, Jesus. All that good stuff. Great ending: Paradise alight like LA under the flaming sword of Michael; Adam and Eve trailing out with a tear. Never will this be written again.
Babel, Moses, David, Jesus. All that good stuff. Great ending: Paradise alight like LA under the flaming sword of Michael; Adam and Eve trailing out with a tear. Never will this be written again.
January 12, 2023
¡Una obra maestra!
Es impresionante leer un libro en el cual, el personaje principal o “héroe” sea el mismísimo Satanás. No importa si crees que existe o no; o si eres creyente o no. Lo cierto es que es un arquetipo de maldad y representa todo lo opuesto a la virtud, sin embargo Milton es tan hábil que logra transmitir de alguna forma un sentimiento de empatía por él. Entendemos sus motivaciones y, aunque en definitiva no las compartamos, se vuelve un ser tan convincente en cuanto al conflicto interno que desvelamos poco a poco conforme nos adentramos en su alma, que resulta difícil no conmoverse profundamente.
La obra no tiene una estructura lineal, lo cual hace muy interesante y casi teatral, conocer lo qué pasa simultáneamente en el cielo, la tierra (principalmente en el jardín del Edén) y el recién creado infierno. Aunque sin duda las partes que me parecieron más interesantes son aquellas que siguen a Lucifer y no tanto el primitivo estado idílico de Adán y Eva.
La naturalidad con la que leo este poema épico sin duda es consecuencia de mi condición de occidental, forma de vida que descansa sobre la tradición judeocristiana. No obstante, esa familiaridad en cuanto al leitmotiv de la obra de ninguna manera conlleva algo negativo. Por el contrario, es muy intrigante conocer desde otra perspectiva los mitos fundacionales de nuestra civilización.
Las imágenes que el autor puso en mi mente, serán casi imposibles de olvidar. La lucha entre el bien y el mal toma dimensiones difícilmente comparables con cualquier otra historia que jamás haya leído. Cuando no es a través de batallas a gran escala entre ángeles y demonios (qué en la obra de Milton no son otra cosa que ángeles rebeldes), lo es mediante diálogos que agudos entre rivales cuya fuerza, grandeza, virtud y poder es prácticamente el mismo.
Simultáneamente el Ángel Caído sabe perfectamente que nunca va a poder derrotar a Dios frente a frente y jura vengarse de alguna forma en que en verdad pueda hacer daño al creador. Es precisamente tentando a sus criaturas como tal vez lo consiga.
La sutilidad en este libro alcanza niveles que rozan en la perfección, sobre todo en la forma en que nuestro antihéroe logra convencer a Eva de comer del fruto prohibido.
Recomiendo ampliamente complementar su lectura con los incomparables grabados del gran Gustave Doré, sin lugar a dudas hacen de la experiencia algo aún más legendario.
En conclusión, estamos frente a una obra capital para todo lector que desee ser arrastrado a lo más sublime de la poesía épica y que no tenga reparo en subir hasta el mismo cielo, solo para dejarse caer a los rincones más profundos del abismo.
Es impresionante leer un libro en el cual, el personaje principal o “héroe” sea el mismísimo Satanás. No importa si crees que existe o no; o si eres creyente o no. Lo cierto es que es un arquetipo de maldad y representa todo lo opuesto a la virtud, sin embargo Milton es tan hábil que logra transmitir de alguna forma un sentimiento de empatía por él. Entendemos sus motivaciones y, aunque en definitiva no las compartamos, se vuelve un ser tan convincente en cuanto al conflicto interno que desvelamos poco a poco conforme nos adentramos en su alma, que resulta difícil no conmoverse profundamente.
La obra no tiene una estructura lineal, lo cual hace muy interesante y casi teatral, conocer lo qué pasa simultáneamente en el cielo, la tierra (principalmente en el jardín del Edén) y el recién creado infierno. Aunque sin duda las partes que me parecieron más interesantes son aquellas que siguen a Lucifer y no tanto el primitivo estado idílico de Adán y Eva.
La naturalidad con la que leo este poema épico sin duda es consecuencia de mi condición de occidental, forma de vida que descansa sobre la tradición judeocristiana. No obstante, esa familiaridad en cuanto al leitmotiv de la obra de ninguna manera conlleva algo negativo. Por el contrario, es muy intrigante conocer desde otra perspectiva los mitos fundacionales de nuestra civilización.
Las imágenes que el autor puso en mi mente, serán casi imposibles de olvidar. La lucha entre el bien y el mal toma dimensiones difícilmente comparables con cualquier otra historia que jamás haya leído. Cuando no es a través de batallas a gran escala entre ángeles y demonios (qué en la obra de Milton no son otra cosa que ángeles rebeldes), lo es mediante diálogos que agudos entre rivales cuya fuerza, grandeza, virtud y poder es prácticamente el mismo.
Simultáneamente el Ángel Caído sabe perfectamente que nunca va a poder derrotar a Dios frente a frente y jura vengarse de alguna forma en que en verdad pueda hacer daño al creador. Es precisamente tentando a sus criaturas como tal vez lo consiga.
La sutilidad en este libro alcanza niveles que rozan en la perfección, sobre todo en la forma en que nuestro antihéroe logra convencer a Eva de comer del fruto prohibido.
Recomiendo ampliamente complementar su lectura con los incomparables grabados del gran Gustave Doré, sin lugar a dudas hacen de la experiencia algo aún más legendario.
En conclusión, estamos frente a una obra capital para todo lector que desee ser arrastrado a lo más sublime de la poesía épica y que no tenga reparo en subir hasta el mismo cielo, solo para dejarse caer a los rincones más profundos del abismo.
December 29, 2023
Prior reading this masterpiece, I imagined it as plain old sadistic English teacher classical literature, until I got proven otherwise.
This epic poem vividly describes the fall of human kind biblically. With profound themes including sin, lust, chaos, darkness, evil & hell.
One must be aware of the intense symbolism, it was never just an apple.
Many speculations stemmed from the apple itself, was it lust? forbidden knowledge? is an apple enough to exile one from Eden?
Here are some of my favourite quotations:
“A universe of death, which god by curse
Created for evil, for evil only good;
Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds,
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things,
Abominable, inutterable, and worse”
“Or as a swarm of flies in vintage-time,
About the wine-press where sweet must is poured”
“Oft my advice by presages and signs,
And answers, oracles, portents, and dreams,
Whereby they may direct their future life.
Envy, they say, excites me, thus to gain
Companions of my misery and woe!”
This epic poem vividly describes the fall of human kind biblically. With profound themes including sin, lust, chaos, darkness, evil & hell.
One must be aware of the intense symbolism, it was never just an apple.
Many speculations stemmed from the apple itself, was it lust? forbidden knowledge? is an apple enough to exile one from Eden?
Here are some of my favourite quotations:
“A universe of death, which god by curse
Created for evil, for evil only good;
Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds,
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things,
Abominable, inutterable, and worse”
“Or as a swarm of flies in vintage-time,
About the wine-press where sweet must is poured”
“Oft my advice by presages and signs,
And answers, oracles, portents, and dreams,
Whereby they may direct their future life.
Envy, they say, excites me, thus to gain
Companions of my misery and woe!”
June 12, 2008
What can I say? I suppose I felt guilty giving "Paradise Lost" anything less than four stars! I'm certainly no serious judge of poetry, epic or other, but I'd never read Milton and felt it was time. It's amazing what you learn about a piece of literature without ever having read it. So with all the critical background noise of graduate school, I finally have Milton under my belt. The poem is impressive, to say the least, and enlightening on many levels, the most intriguing to me being Milton's voice as the, albeit rougish, seventeenth century view of the cosmic positions of Lucifer, God, and Jesus Christ, interaction between earthly and heavenly (and hellish) spheres and beings, the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the redemption offered through Christ's victory over sin, this last portrayed in "Paradise Regained." It's fascinating to see the scenes I've read in scripture so many times through Milton's historico-religious view point. Thoughts and details I'd never ventured to contemplate came to the forefront, especially when draped against my own understanding of the events Milton poeticizes. I certainly didn't try reading it in one or two sittings; I do, after all have the luxury of NOT being in school and reading on a deadline. So I took my time, and it was well worth it.
March 22, 2022
Dropped
February 27, 2020
More than a little hubris to "review" Paradise Lost. I am glad I listened to it while I followed along reading it ... that kept me going with forward progress and not get bogged down in the details. It would be so easy to want to follow every allusion, seek out every footnote, but for a first reading, just reading was exactly what I needed. Now I can dip in and out and seek out more and why Milton wrote the things he wrote.
I do have concerns with "fictionalizing" scripture and things hid from or not elaborated in scripture. At times, I was a little put off/taken aback by his portrayal of Eve, it felt ... condescending and patronizing.
Overall, though, I enjoyed reading this. I really liked reading it alongside Lewis' Space Trilogy. I feel like the end of Perelandra took many cues from Paradise Lost. There were so many connections I made as I read.
I enjoyed the Simon Vance audio from Audible. I haven't yet read Paradise Regained as it wasn't on the audiobook.
I do have concerns with "fictionalizing" scripture and things hid from or not elaborated in scripture. At times, I was a little put off/taken aback by his portrayal of Eve, it felt ... condescending and patronizing.
Overall, though, I enjoyed reading this. I really liked reading it alongside Lewis' Space Trilogy. I feel like the end of Perelandra took many cues from Paradise Lost. There were so many connections I made as I read.
I enjoyed the Simon Vance audio from Audible. I haven't yet read Paradise Regained as it wasn't on the audiobook.
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