Paradise Lost (1667) is an epic poem in blank verse by John Milton, telling the rebellion of Satan, the creation of the world and the Fall of Adam and Eve. Composed by Milton after he had gone blind, it is considered one of the greatest poems in the English language.
The story
The poem opens in Hell, where Satan and the rebel angels, defeated and cast out of Heaven, debate what to do. Satan decides to travel to the newly created world and corrupt God's latest creation, mankind.
In Eden, the angel Raphael tells Adam of the war in Heaven and of the creation. Satan, in the form of a serpent, tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; Adam eats it too, and after the angel Michael has shown Adam the future of humanity, they leave Paradise hand in hand.
Writing and publishing
Milton had planned an epic since his youth, first on King Arthur. He composed Paradise Lost in the late 1650s and early 1660s, blind, dictating some forty lines at a time to helpers.
The first edition, in ten books, appeared in 1667; the second, in 1674, rearranged it into twelve books, like Virgil's Aeneid, and added short prose summaries, the 'Arguments'.
Influence
Milton's grand blank verse, without rhyme, was new for an English epic and shaped later English poetry. His portrait of Satan, proud and eloquent, fascinated readers; William Blake wrote that Milton was 'of the Devil's party without knowing it'.
The poem has inspired painters such as Blake and Gustave Doré, musicians such as Haydn in The Creation, and countless writers.
Anecdotes
Why no rhyme?
When printers asked for an explanation, Milton added a short note to later copies of the first edition defending his choice of blank verse. He called rhyme 'the invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched matter and lame metre'.
Forty lines a morning
According to early biographers, Milton composed verses at night and in the morning dictated them to whoever was at hand, sometimes some forty lines at a time, which he then cut down to fewer.
Frequently asked questions
How many books does Paradise Lost have?
Ten in the first edition of 1667, twelve in the second edition of 1674, which is the usual text today.
Who is the hero of Paradise Lost?
Readers have long disagreed: Adam, the Son of God, or Satan, whose speeches are among the most powerful of the poem.
Is there a sequel?
Yes, Paradise Regained (1671), on the temptation of Christ in the wilderness.