Paradise Lost

Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)

an epic poem by John Milton. It is one of the masterpieces of English poetry and one of the great epics of the world. Paradise Lost was published in 1667. It was written probably between 1658 and 1665. Milton had made a list before he was thirty-five years old of about a hundred possible subjects for the great poem he felt himself destined to write. One of these subjects was King Arthur and his Knights; but Paradise Lost held the first place on the list and was the subject chosen. Four different drafts are preserved, showing the different ways in which the poet thought of treating his subject. He intended to use the dramatic form, but decided finally on the epic. The poem consists of twelve books containing over 12,000 lines, and deals with the fall of man, the subject being set forth in the first lines of the poem: 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, till one greater man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, Sing, Heavenly Muse. Many readers get no further, sharing the sentiments of Waller, one of Milton's envious contemporaries: "The old blind poet hath published a tedious poem on the fall of man. If its length be not considered as a merit, it hath no other." Paradise Lost is an account of the rebellion of Satan against the power of the Almighty and of his banishment with all his followers. Satan, the hero of the poem, is universally conceded to be one of the most heroic characters in literature. One's only regret is that Satan was on the wrong side. Paradise Lost not only mirrors the Puritanic view of the Creator and of punishment, but such was the influence of this poem that is practically fixed theological views on these subjects for two centuries. See Epic ; Milton Was there ever anything so delightful as the music of the Paradise Lost? It is like that of a fine organ; has the fullest and the deepest tones of majesty, with all the softness and elegance of the Dorian flute; variety without end, and never equaled, unless, perhaps, by Virgil.--Cowper. After I have been reading the Paradise Lost I can take up no other poet with satisfaction. I seem to have left the music of Handel for the music of the street.--Landor. Paradise Lost is perhaps the loftiest monument of human genius.--Channing.