![]() William Blake, the most brilliant interpreter of Milton, later wrote of how “the Eye of Imagination” saw beyond the narrow confines of “Single vision”, creating works that outlasted “mortal vegetated Eyes”. As the philosopher Descartes wrote during Milton’s lifetime, “it is the soul which sees, and not the eye”. He invokes Homer, author of the first great epics in Western literature, and Tiresias, the oracle of Thebes who sees in his mind’s eye what the physical eye cannot. In Paradise Lost, Milton draws on the classical Greek tradition to conjure the spirits of blind prophets. Paradise lost series#For the final 20 years of his life, he would dictate his poetry, letters and polemical tracts to a series of amanuenses – his daughters, friends and fellow poets. But his deteriorating eyesight limited his diplomatic travels. Milton gained a reputation in Europe for his erudition and rhetorical prowess in defence of England’s radical new regime at home he came to be regarded as a prolific advocate for the Commonwealth cause. (He wrote poetry in English, Greek, Latin and Italian, prose in Dutch, German, French and Spanish, and read Hebrew, Aramaic and Syriac). A committed republican, he rose to public prominence in the ferment of England’s bloody civil war: two months after the execution of King Charles I in 1649, Milton became a diplomat for the new republic, with the title of Secretary for Foreign Tongues. Even to readers in a secular age, the poem is a powerful meditation on rebellion, longing and the desire for redemption.ĭespite being born into prosperity, Milton’s worldview was forged by personal and political struggle. Its dozen sections are an ambitious attempt to comprehend the loss of paradise – from the perspectives of the fallen angel Satan and of man, fallen from grace. In more than 10,000 lines of blank verse, it tells the story of the war for heaven and of man’s expulsion from Eden. But this epic poem, 350 years old this month, remains a work of unparalleled imaginative genius that shapes English literature even now. Present-day readers will certainly find it fascinating to decode the multitude of classical references, Biblical lore, social and cultural themes that adorn this great work.Milton’s Paradise Lost is rarely read today. Adam and Eve, God and the Son of God are portrayed in brilliant, unforgettable lines and the conflict between the forces of good and evil is represented on a cosmic scale.įor lovers of poetry and literature, Paradise Lost represents a seminal work of supreme importance in English literature. Satan and his unholy legions are described in great detail as are their rebellion and malevolence. The action shifts to the rebellion of Lucifer and from then on, to familiar episodes like the temptation of Adam and Eve and their disobedience to God's laws. It begins with a prologue that describes the subject of the epic, much like an introduction. Each one is devoted to a particular Biblical episode. Paradise Lost consists of twelve smaller volumes divided into Books. The entire work, consisting of nearly ten thousand individual lines of blank verse was dictated by Milton from memory, to a series of scribes. He completed it after five years of tremendous effort, since he was already totally blind when he began working. When the monarchy was restored, Milton found himself on the wrong side and he retreated into hiding where he began working on his dream of creating an epic to match the best in Latin and Greek. Milton was deeply embroiled in politics and the new parliament. Tumultuous historical events intervened, like the English Civil War and the establishment of Puritan Rule. It was here that he first read Virgil and Homer and decided to create his own epic in English. Milton grew up in a privileged environment, having been schooled at home by private tutors and traveling extensively throughout Italy. His father was a wealthy merchant who had embraced Protestantism despite opposition from his Catholic family. The poet John Milton was more than sixty years old when he embarked on this immense work of literary creation. It describes an omniscient, all powerful God, the Fall of Man, the Temptation in the Garden of Eden, the disgraced angel who later becomes known as Satan, the Angelic Wars fought by Archangels Michael and Raphael and the Son of God who is the real hero of this saga. Magnificent in its scale and scope, this monumental poem by the blind poet John Milton was the first epic conceived in the English language. ![]()
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