PARADISE LOST
1674 Edition
JOHN MILTON
JOHN MILTON (1608-1674)
John Milton was born in London in 1608 at the height of the Protestant Reformation in England. Milton brought up Protestant, with a heavy tendency toward Puritanism. His first published poems were "Comus" (1634) and "Lycidas" (1638). When the Puritan Revolution broke out Milton wrote mainly political and religious pamphlets supporting the cause of Puritanism. For a time, he served as Secretary for Foreign Tongues under Cromwell. At the end of the war, Milton was imprisoned for a short time for his views. In 1660, he emerged blind and disillusioned with the England he saw around him. His greatest work Paradise Lost was published in 1667, followed by Paradise Regained in 1671. His writings were influenced by classical authors such as Homer, Ovid, and Virgil. He died in 1674.
PLOT
The poem begins with the description of hell, where Satan and his army of fallen angels find themselves chained. Satan clalls the other fallen angels to join him. They create a great and terrible temple on a volcano top, and Satan calls a council there to decide on their course of action. The fallen angels make different suggestions. Finally, Beezlebub suggests that another battle with the forces of God should take place on earth where, it is rumoured, God has created a new being called man. Man is not as powerful as the angels, but he is God's favourite creation. Beezlebub suggests that they take their revenge upon God by seducing man to their corrupted side. Satan volunteers to explore this new place himself and find out more about man so that he may corrupt him.
Satan flies to the gates of hell, guarded by his daughter, Sin, and their son, Death. Sin agrees to open the gates for her creator (and rapist), knowing that she will follow him and reign with him in whatever kingdom he conquers. Satan then travels through chaos, and finally arrives at earth, connected to heaven by a golden chain.
God witnesses all of this and points out Satan's journey to his Son. God tells his Son that Satan will corrupt man. His Son offers to die to bring man back into the grace of God. God agrees and makes his Son the king of man, son of both man and God. Meanwhile, Satan disguises himself as a handsome cherub in order to get to the Garden of Eden. He is greatly impressed by the beauty of Eden and of the handsome couple of Adam and Eve. For a moment, he regrets his fall from grace, but regret soon turns to hatred. God sends Raphael to warn Adam and Eve about Satan. Raphael tells them about Satan's rebellion and the subsequent battle in Heaven. Satan first sin was pride. Being one of the most important angles, he did not want to bow to God's Son. A three-day battle followed between Satan's forces and God's forces. On the first day, Satan's forces were beaten back by the army led by the archangels Michael and Gabriel. On the second day, Satan fought back by attacking God's army with cannons, but on the third day God's Son defeated Satan's forces alone. Raphael then informs Adam and Eve of how God created man and all the universe in seven days. The next morning, Eve insists on working separately from Adam. Satan, disguised as a serpent starts to flatter her. Eve asks where he learned to speak, and Satan shows her the Tree of Knowledge. Although Eve knows that this was the one tree God had forbidden that they eat from, she is told by Satan that this is only because God knows she will become a goddess herself. Eve eats the fruit and then decides to share it with Adam. Adam is upset but he cannot imagine a life without her so he eats the apple as well. They both satisfy their new-born lust in the bushes and wake up ashamed, aware of the difference between good and evil. They spend the afternoon blaming each other for their fall. God sends the Son down to judge the two disobediant creatures. The Son condemns Eve, and all of womankind, to painful childbirths and submission to her husband. He condemns Adam to a life of a painful battle with nature and hard work at getting food from the ground. He condemns the serpent to always crawl on the ground on its belly, always at the heel of Eve's sons. Satan returns to hell victorious. On the way, he meets Sin and Death, who have built a bridge from hell to earth, to mankind, whom they will now reign over. When Satan arrives in hell, however, he finds his fallen compatriots not cheering as he had wished, but hissing, as they have been transformed into monsters and reptiles. Satan finds is turned into a horrible snake. Adam and Eve decide to turn to God and ask for forgiveness. God hears them and agrees with his Son that he will not lose mankind completely to Sin, Death and Satan. Instead, he will send his son as a man to earth to sacrifice himself for human sins. Michael is sent by God to escort Adam and Eve out of the Garden. He tells Adam what will become of mankind unitl the Son comes down to earth. The history of mankind will be a series of falls from grace and acceptance back by God. Adam is thankful that the Son will come down and right what he and Eve have done wrong. He holds Eve's hand as they are escorted out of the Garden
Syllabus
Paradise Lost as an epic poem.
setting/spatio-temporal organisation of the poem: cosmic setting - Paradise, Hell, Eden; Hell as the exact opposite of Heaven (high-low, light-darkeness, beauty-ugliness, order-chaos, joy-unhapinness, virtue-sin); the temporal dimension - biblical/universal time;
characters: Satan as an inverted hero or hero-villain (fallen angel); his characterisation (energy, power of command, intelligence, resolution, physical strength, enterprise); God's Son as the epic hero;
events - the Fall of Angels as the prefiguration of the Fall of Man, battles, plots, creation of man, life in Eden, temptation of Eve, the Fall of Man, expulsion from Eden;
values: obedience to God, loyalty, courage, resistance to temptation, renunciation of personal ambition;
language - characteristics of Milton's epic style (long sentences, complex epic similes, Latinate syntax, elevated diction and imagery, references and allusions to the Bible, ancient mythology, classical authors, Jewish and Christian theology, contemporary knowledge, geography);
the universal dimension of the poem.
Milton's contribution to the development of epic poetry:
introduction of allegorical characters;
complex presentation of the key characters (Satan, Adam and Eve);
the use of blank verse;
varied language (lofty, learned, argumentative, colloquial).
Questions
1. Paradise Lost as a Christian epic.
2. Invocation: the opening statement of the theme and function of the poem.
Book I
1 Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
2 Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
3 Brought death into the World, and all our woe,
4 With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
5 Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
6 Sing, Heavenly Muse,
I thence
13 Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
14 That with no middle flight intends to soar
15 Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues
16 Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
17 And chiefly thou, O Spirit, that dost prefer
18 Before all temples th' upright heart and pure,
19 Instruct me, for thou know'st; thou from the first
20 Wast present, and, with mighty wings outspread,
21 Dove-like sat'st brooding on the vast Abyss,
22 And mad'st it pregnant: what in me is dark
23 Illumine, what is low raise and support;
24 That, to the height of this great argument,
25 I may assert Eternal Providence,
26 And justify the ways of God to men.
3. What kind of light/vision is perceived by the speaking subject? Consider the biographical references in the poem (i.e. Milton's blindness as reflected in the poetic utterance).
(BIII)
1 Hail, holy Light /.../
19 Taught by the heavenly Muse to venture down
20 The dark descent, and up to re-ascend,
21 Though hard and rare: Thee I revisit safe,
22 And feel thy sovran vital lamp; but thou
23 Revisit'st not these eyes, that roll in vain
24 To find thy piercing ray, and find no dawn;
25 So thick a drop serene hath quench'd their orbs,
Or dim suffusion veil'd.
***
/.../ Thus with the year
41 Seasons return; but not to me returns
42 Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
43 Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer's rose,
44 Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
45 But cloud instead, and ever-during dark
46 Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
47 Cut off, and for the book of knowledge fair
48 Presented with a universal blank
49 Of nature's works to me expung'd and ras'd,
50 And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.
51 So much the rather thou, celestial Light,
52 Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
53 Irradiate; there plant eyes, all mist from thence
54 Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
55 Of things invisible to mortal sight.
4. The spatial structure of the universe in Paradise Lost.
a) Point to the structure and distinctive features of Hell. Consider the traditional imagery associated with infernal regions.
- what sub-spaces constitute the infernal regions? how do they differ from one another? what makes them alike?
- what atmosphere predominates in the infernal regions?
- what is the function of the Hell's gate and `fiery concave' (l.635)? who guards the exit from Hell? consider the allegorical dimension of the two guardians and point to the significance of the `unholy trinity' (Satan=father; Death=his son; Sin=Death's mother and Satan's lover);
- what is built in the centre of Hell? how is it related to the City of God?
61 A dungeon horrible, on all sides round,
62 As one great furnace flamed; yet from those flames
63 No light; but rather darkness visible
64 Served only to discover sights of woe,
65 Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
66 And rest can never dwell, hope never comes
67 That comes to all, but torture without end
68 Still urges, and a fiery deluge, fed
69 With ever-burning sulphur unconsumed.
70 Such place Eternal Justice has prepared
71 For those rebellious; here their prison ordained
72 In utter darkness, and their portion set,
73 As far removed from God and light of Heaven
74 As from the centre thrice to th' utmost pole.
75 Oh how unlike the place from whence they fell!
***
180 Seest thou yon dreary plain, forlorn and wild,
181 The seat of desolation, void of light,
182 Save what the glimmering of these livid flames
183 Casts pale and dreadful?
***
(BII)
570 Another part, in squadrons and gross bands,
571 On bold adventure to discover wide
572 That dismal world, if any clime perhaps
573 Might yield them easier habitation, bend
574 Four ways their flying march, along the banks
575 Of four infernal rivers, that disgorge
576 Into the burning lake their baleful streams--
577 Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate;
578 Sad Acheron of sorrow, black and deep;
579 Cocytus, named of lamentation loud
580 Heard on the rueful stream; fierce Phlegeton,
581 Whose waves of torrent fire inflame with rage.
582 Far off from these, a slow and silent stream,
583 Lethe, the river of oblivion, rolls
584 Her watery labyrinth, whereof who drinks
585 Forthwith his former state and being forgets--
586 Forgets both joy and grief, pleasure and pain.
587 Beyond this flood a frozen continent
588 Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms
589 Of whirlwind and dire hail, which on firm land
590 Thaws not, but gathers heap, and ruin seems
591 Of ancient pile; all else deep snow and ice,
***
Through many a dark and dreary vale
619 They passed, and many a region dolorous,
620 O'er many a frozen, many a fiery alp,
621 Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death--
622 A universe of death, which God by curse
623 Created evil, for evil only good;
624 Where all life dies, death lives, and Nature breeds,
625 Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things,
626 Obominable, inutterable, and worse
627 Than fables yet have feigned or fear conceived,
***
629 Meanwhile the Adversary of God and Man,
630 Satan, with thoughts inflamed of highest design,
631 Puts on swift wings, and toward the gates of Hell
632 Explores his solitary flight: sometimes
633 He scours the right hand coast, sometimes the left;
634 Now shaves with level wing the deep, then soars
635 Up to the fiery concave towering high.
/.../ At last appear
644 Hell-bounds, high reaching to the horrid roof,
645 And thrice threefold the gates; three folds were brass,
646 Three iron, three of adamantine rock,
647 Impenetrable, impaled with circling fire,
648 Yet unconsumed. Before the gates there sat
649 On either side a formidable Shape.
650 The one [Sin] seemed woman to the waist, and fair,
651 But ended foul in many a scaly fold,
652 Voluminous and vast--a serpent armed
653 With mortal sting.
/.../ The other Shape [Death]--
667 If shape it might be called that shape had none
668 Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb;
669 Or substance might be called that shadow seemed,
670 For each seemed either--black it stood as Night,
671 Fierce as ten Furies, terrible as Hell,
672 And shook a dreadful dart: what seemed his head
673 The likeness of a kingly crown had on.
And now great deeds
723 Had been achieved, whereof all Hell had rung,
724 Had not the snaky Sorceress, that sat
725 Fast by Hell-gate and kept the fatal key,
726 Risen, and with hideous outcry rushed between.
727 O father, what intends thy hand, she cried,
728 Against thy only son? What fury, O son,
729 Possesses thee to bend that mortal dart
730 Against thy father's head? And know'st for whom?
731 For him who sits above, and laughs the while
732 At thee /.../
758 [Sin to Satan:] Out of thy head I sprung. Amazement seized
759 All th' host of Heaven; back they recoiled afraid
760 At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign
761 Portentous held me; but, familiar grown,
762 I pleased, and with attractive graces won
763 The most averse--thee chiefly, who, full oft
764 Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing,
765 Becam'st enamoured; and such joy thou took'st
766 With me in secret that my womb conceived
767 A growing burden. /.../
781 At last this odious offspring whom thou seest,
782 Thine own begotten, breaking violent way,
783 Tore through my entrails, that, with fear and pain
784 Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew
785 Transformed: but he my inbred enemy
786 Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart,
787 Made to destroy. I fled, and cried out Death!
***
[Sin to Satan:]
864 Thou art my father, thou my author, thou
865 My being gav'st me; whom should I obey
866 But thee? whom follow? Thou wilt bring me soon
867 To that new world of light and bliss, among
868 The gods who live at ease, where I shall reign
869 At thy right hand voluptuous, as beseems
870 Thy daughter and thy darling, without end.
871 Thus saying, from her side the fatal key,
872 Sad instrument of all our woe, she took;
873 And, towards the gate rolling her bestial train,
874 Forthwith the huge portcullis high up-drew,
875 Which, but herself, not all the Stygian Powers
876 Could once have moved; then in the key-hole turns
877 Th' intricate wards, and every bolt and bar
878 Of massy iron or solid rock with ease
879 Unfastens. On a sudden open fly,
880 With impetuous recoil and jarring sound,
881 Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate
882 Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
883 Of Erebus. She opened; but to shut
884 Excelled her power: the gates wide open stood,
885 That with extended wings a bannered host,
886 Under spread ensigns marching, mibht pass through
887 With horse and chariots ranked in loose array;
888 So wide they stood, and like a furnace-mouth
889 Cast forth redounding smoke and ruddy flame.
***
(BX)
/.../ The other way Satan went down
415 The causey to Hell-gate: On either side
416 Disparted Chaos overbuilt exclaimed,
417 And with rebounding surge the bars assailed,
418 That scorned his indignation: Through the gate,
419 Wide open and unguarded, Satan passed,
420 And all about found desolate; for those,
421 Appointed to sit there, had left their charge,
422 Flown to the upper world; the rest were all
423 Far to the inland retired, about the walls
424 Of Pandemonium; city and proud seat
425 Of Lucifer, so by allusion called
426 Of that bright star to Satan paragoned;
b) Compare the traditional image with the new conception of Hell as a state of mind.
(BI)
242 Is this the region, this the soil, the clime,
243 Said then the lost Archangel, this the seat
244 That we must change for Heaven?--this mournful gloom
245 For that celestial light? Be it so, since he
246 Who now is sovereign can dispose and bid
247 What shall be right: farthest from him is best
248 Whom reason hath equalled, force hath made supreme
249 Above his equals. Farewell, happy fields,
250 Where joy for ever dwells! Hail, horrors! hail,
251 Infernal world! and thou, profoundest Hell,
252 Receive thy new possessor--one who brings
253 A mind not to be changed by place or time.
254 The mind is its own place, and in itself
255 Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.
256 What matter where, if I be still the same,
257 And what I should be, all but less than he
258 Whom thunder hath made greater? Here at least
259 We shall be free; th' Almighty hath not built
260 Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:
261 Here we may reign secure; and, in my choice,
262 To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell:
263 Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
c) What distinguishes Chaos from Hell? Why can't we analyse its distinctive features or point to the centre, external and internal boundaries, sub-spaces of this region?
890 Before their eyes in sudden view appear
891 The secrets of the hoary Deep--a dark
892 Illimitable ocean, without bound,
893 Without dimension; where length, breadth, and height,
894 And time, and place, are lost; where eldest Night
895 And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold
896 Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise
897 Of endless wars, and by confusion stand.
898 For Hot, Cold, Moist, and Dry, four champions fierce,
899 Strive here for mastery, and to battle bring
900 Their embryon atoms: they around the flag
901 Of each his faction, in their several clans,
902 Light-armed or heavy, sharp, smooth, swift, or slow,
903 Swarm populous, unnumbered as the sands
904 Of Barca or Cyrene's torrid soil,
905 Levied to side with warring winds, and poise
906 Their lighter wings. To whom these most adhere
907 He rules a moment: Chaos umpire sits,
908 And by decision more embroils the fray
909 By which he reigns: next him, high arbiter,
910 Chance governs all. Into this wild Abyss,
911 The womb of Nature, and perhaps her grave,
912 Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
913 But all these in their pregnant causes mixed
914 Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight,
915 Unless th' Almighty Maker them ordain
916 His dark materials to create more worlds--
d) Analyse the image of Heaven:
- the aesthetic qualities of the eternal regions: consider colours, sounds, illumination, ornamentation;
- the predominant atmosphere of Heaven; pay attention to the vocabulary expressing Heavenly concord; how is this concord sustained by the relationships between God, his Son and angels?
(BIII) /.../ But, all ye Gods,
345 Adore him, who to compass all this dies;
346 Adore the Son, and honour him as me.
347 No sooner had the Almighty ceased, but all
348 The multitude of Angels, with a shout
349 Loud as from numbers without number, sweet
350 As from blest voices, uttering joy, Heaven rung
351 With jubilee, and loud Hosannas filled
352 The eternal regions: Lowly reverent
353 Towards either throne they bow, and to the ground
354 With solemn adoration down they cast
355 Their crowns inwove with amarant and gold;
356 Immortal amarant, a flower which once
357 In Paradise, fast by the tree of life,
358 Began to bloom; but soon for man's offence
359 To Heaven removed, where first it grew, there grows,
360 And flowers aloft shading the fount of life,
361 And where the river of bliss through midst of Heaven
362 Rolls o'er Elysian flowers her amber stream;
363 With these that never fade the Spirits elect
364 Bind their resplendent locks inwreathed with beams;
365 Now in loose garlands thick thrown off, the bright
366 Pavement, that like a sea of jasper shone,
367 Impurpled with celestial roses smiled.
368 Then, crowned again, their golden harps they took,
369 Harps ever tuned, that glittering by their side
370 Like quivers hung, and with preamble sweet
371 Of charming symphony they introduce
372 Their sacred song, and waken raptures high;
373 No voice exempt, no voice but well could join
374 Melodious part, such concord is in Heaven.
e) Analyse the image of Paradise:
- point to the elements of Nature; what makes this enclosed space of Nature `civilised'?
- prove that Heaven on Earth is presented as the Garden of God; consider the `supernatural' elements in Paradise and their role (e.g. the tree of life, eternal Spring, etc.)
205 Beneath him with new wonder now he [Satan] views,
206 To all delight of human sense exposed,
207 In narrow room, Nature's whole wealth, yea more,
208 A Heaven on Earth: For blissful Paradise
209 Of God the garden was, by him in the east
210 Of Eden planted; Eden stretched her line
211 From Auran eastward to the royal towers
212 Of great Seleucia, built by Grecian kings,
213 Of where the sons of Eden long before
214 Dwelt in Telassar: In this pleasant soil
215 His far more pleasant garden God ordained;
216 Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow
217 All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste;
218 And all amid them stood the tree of life,
219 High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit
220 Of vegetable gold; and next to life,
221 Our death, the tree of knowledge, grew fast by,
222 Knowledge of good bought dear by knowing ill.
223 Southward through Eden went a river large,
224 Nor changed his course, but through the shaggy hill
225 Passed underneath ingulfed; for God had thrown
226 That mountain as his garden-mould high raised
227 Upon the rapid current, which, through veins
228 Of porous earth with kindly thirst up-drawn,
229 Rose a fresh fountain, and with many a rill
230 Watered the garden; thence united fell
231 Down the steep glade, and met the nether flood,
232 Which from his darksome passage now appears,
233 And now, divided into four main streams,
234 Runs diverse, wandering many a famous realm
235 And country, whereof here needs no account;
236 But rather to tell how, if Art could tell,
237 How from that sapphire fount the crisped brooks,
238 Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold,
239 With mazy errour under pendant shades
240 Ran nectar, visiting each plant, and fed
241 Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice Art
242 In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon
243 Poured forth profuse on hill, and dale, and plain,
244 Both where the morning sun first warmly smote
245 The open field, and where the unpierced shade
246 Imbrowned the noontide bowers: Thus was this place
247 A happy rural seat of various view;
248 Groves whose rich trees wept odorous gums and balm,
249 Others whose fruit, burnished with golden rind,
250 Hung amiable, Hesperian fables true,
251 If true, here only, and of delicious taste:
252 Betwixt them lawns, or level downs, and flocks
253 Grazing the tender herb, were interposed,
254 Or palmy hillock; or the flowery lap
255 Of some irriguous valley spread her store,
256 Flowers of all hue, and without thorn the rose:
257 Another side, umbrageous grots and caves
258 Of cool recess, o'er which the mantling vine
259 Lays forth her purple grape, and gently creeps
260 Luxuriant; mean while murmuring waters fall
261 Down the slope hills, dispersed, or in a lake,
262 That to the fringed bank with myrtle crowned
263 Her crystal mirrour holds, unite their streams.
264 The birds their quire apply; airs, vernal airs,
265 Breathing the smell of field and grove, attune
266 The trembling leaves, while universal Pan,
267 Knit with the Graces and the Hours in dance,
268 Led on the eternal Spring.
f) Paradise as seen through Satan's eyes and its effect on him:
- in what sense does the shape Satan assumes suit the nature of Paradise and in what sense does it contrast with the surrounding?
- does Paradise look less attractive through Satan's eyes? consider direct evaluation - epithets, imagery, comparisons;
- what tempts the Tempter? consider the allegorical aspect of Eve's gardening; how does the essence (i.e. innocence, goodness, beauty) of Paradise and its female inhabitant influence the lord of Hell?
- what stops the influence? why does Hell win?
(BIX)
411 For now, and since first break of dawn, the Fiend,
412 Mere serpent in appearance, forth was come;
413 And on his quest, where likeliest he might find
414 The only two of mankind, but in them
415 The whole included race, his purposed prey.
416 In bower and field he sought, where any tuft
417 Of grove or garden-plot more pleasant lay,
418 Their tendance, or plantation for delight;
419 By fountain or by shady rivulet
420 He sought them both, but wished his hap might find
421 Eve separate; he wished, but not with hope
422 Of what so seldom chanced; when to his wish,
423 Beyond his hope, Eve separate he spies,
424 Veiled in a cloud of fragrance, where she stood,
425 Half spied, so thick the roses blushing round
426 About her glowed, oft stooping to support
427 Each flower of slender stalk, whose head, though gay
428 Carnation, purple, azure, or specked with gold,
429 Hung drooping unsustained; them she upstays
430 Gently with myrtle band, mindless the while
431 Herself, though fairest unsupported flower,
432 From her best prop so far, and storm so nigh.
433 Nearer he drew, and many a walk traversed
434 Of stateliest covert, cedar, pine, or palm;
435 Then voluble and bold, now hid, now seen,
436 Among thick-woven arborets, and flowers
437 Imbordered on each bank, the hand of Eve:
438 Spot more delicious than those gardens feigned
439 Or of revived Adonis, or renowned
440 Alcinous, host of old Laertes' son;
441 Or that, not mystick, where the sapient king
442 Held dalliance with his fair Egyptian spouse.
443 Much he the place admired, the person more.
444 As one who long in populous city pent,
445 Where houses thick and sewers annoy the air,
446 Forth issuing on a summer's morn, to breathe
447 Among the pleasant villages and farms
448 Adjoined, from each thing met conceives delight;
449 The smell of grain, or tedded grass, or kine,
450 Or dairy, each rural sight, each rural sound;
451 If chance, with nymph-like step, fair virgin pass,
452 What pleasing seemed, for her now pleases more;
453 She most, and in her look sums all delight:
454 Such pleasure took the Serpent to behold
455 This flowery plant, the sweet recess of Eve
456 Thus early, thus alone: Her heavenly form
457 Angelick, but more soft, and feminine,
458 Her graceful innocence, her every air
459 Of gesture, or least action, overawed
460 His malice, and with rapine sweet bereaved
461 His fierceness of the fierce intent it brought:
462 That space the Evil-one abstracted stood
463 From his own evil, and for the time remained
464 Stupidly good; of enmity disarmed,
465 Of guile, of hate, of envy, of revenge:
466 But the hot Hell that always in him burns,
467 Though in mid Heaven, soon ended his delight,
468 And tortures him now more, the more he sees
469 Of pleasure, not for him ordained: then soon
470 Fierce hate he recollects, and all his thoughts
471 Of mischief, gratulating, thus excites.
472 Thoughts, whither have ye led me! with what sweet
473 Compulsion thus transported, to forget
474 What hither brought us! hate, not love;nor hope
475 Of Paradise for Hell, hope here to taste
476 Of pleasure; but all pleasure to destroy,
477 Save what is in destroying; other joy
478 To me is lost.
g) How does the Fall of Man influence the structure of the universe?
- who builds the bridge between Hell and the world?
- how do the opening of the Hell's gate (compare the description of Hell in 3a/, BX, ll 418-419) and the construction of the bridge change the image of the world?
298 And with Asphaltick slime, broad as the gate,
299 Deep to the roots of Hell the gathered beach
300 They [Sin and Death] fastened, and the mole immense wrought on
301 Over the foaming deep high-arched, a bridge
302 Of length prodigious, joining to the wall
303 Immoveable of this now fenceless world,
304 Forfeit to Death; from hence a passage broad,
305 Smooth, easy, inoffensive, down to Hell.
5. The characterisation of the main protagonist of Paradise Lost and other characters of the poem.
a) Discuss Satan as a hero-villain (an inverted heroic figure), a rebel and a tempter:
- how does his appearance confirm and violate the traditional image of a hero? why does his appearance change?
- which of his features of character are typical of a hero? which make him a hero-villain?
- what does his rebellion against God result in? analyse the change in his residence, `social' position and emotional state; what does the failure teach him?
- what is the reason behind his temptation of Man? what methods does he devise to seduce Eve? why are they anti-heroic?
- consider Satan as a tragic figure;
(BI)
34 Th' infernal Serpent; he it was whose guile,
35 Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived
36 The mother of mankind, what time his pride
37 Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host
38 Of rebel Angels, by whose aid, aspiring
39 To set himself in glory above his peers,
40 He trusted to have equalled the Most High,
41 If he opposed, and with ambitious aim
42 Against the throne and monarchy of God,
43 Raised impious war in Heaven and battle proud,
44 With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
45 Hurled headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky,
46 With hideous ruin and combustion, down
47 To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
48 In adamantine chains and penal fire,
49 Who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms.
***
But his doom
54 Reserved him to more wrath; for now the thought
55 Both of lost happiness and lasting pain
56 Torments him: round he throws his baleful eyes,
57 That witnessed huge affliction and dismay,
58 Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate.
***
What though the field be lost?
106 All is not lost--the unconquerable will,
107 And study of revenge, immortal hate,
108 And courage never to submit or yield:
109 And what is else not to be overcome?
110 That glory never shall his wrath or might
111 Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace
112 With suppliant knee, and deify his power
113 Who, from the terror of this arm, so late
114 Doubted his empire--that were low indeed;
115 That were an ignominy and shame beneath
116 This downfall;
***
/.../ Thither let us tend
186 And, re-assembling our afflicted powers,
187 Consult how we may henceforth most offend
188 Our enemy, our own loss how repair,
189 How overcome this dire calamity,
190 What reinforcement we may gain from hope,
191 If not, what resolution from despair.
192 Thus Satan, talking to his nearest mate,
193 With head uplift above the wave, and eyes
194 That sparkling blazed; his other parts besides
195 Prone on the flood, extended long and large,
196 Lay floating many a rood, in bulk as huge
197 As whom the fables name of monstrous size,
198 Titanian or Earth-born, that warred on Jove,
199 Briareos or Typhon, whom the den
200 By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast
201 Leviathan, which God of all his works
202 Created hugest that swim th' ocean-stream.
***
But he, his wonted pride
528 Soon recollecting, with high words, that bore
529 Semblance of worth, not substance, gently raised
530 Their fainting courage, and dispelled their fears.
***
589 Their dread Commander. He, above the rest
590 In shape and gesture proudly eminent,
591 Stood like a tower. His form had yet not lost
592 All her original brightness, nor appeared
593 Less than Archangel ruined, and th' excess
594 Of glory obscured: as when the sun new-risen
595 Looks through the horizontal misty air
596 Shorn of his beams, or, from behind the moon,
597 In dim eclipse, disastrous twilight sheds
598 On half the nations, and with fear of change
599 Perplexes monarchs. Darkened so, yet shone
600 Above them all th' Archangel: but his face
601 Deep scars of thunder had intrenched, and care
602 Sat on his faded cheek, but under brows
603 Of dauntless courage, and considerate pride
604 Waiting revenge. Cruel his eye, but cast
605 Signs of remorse and passion, to behold
606 The fellows of his crime, the followers rather
607 (Far other once beheld in bliss), condemned
608 For ever now to have their lot in pain--
609 Millions of Spirits for his fault amerced
610 Of Heaven, and from eteranl splendours flung
611 For his revolt--yet faithful how they stood,
612 Their glory withered;
***
(BII)
1 High on a throne of royal state, which far
2 Outshone the wealth or Ormus and of Ind,
3 Or where the gorgeous East with richest hand
4 Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold,
5 Satan exalted sat, by merit raised
6 To that bad eminence; and, from despair
7 Thus high uplifted beyond hope, aspires
8 Beyond thus high, insatiate to pursue
9 Vain war with Heaven; and, by success untaught,
10 His proud imaginations thus displayed:--
11 Powers and Dominions, Deities of Heaven!--
***
(BII Belzebub:) What if we find
345 Some easier enterprise? There is a place
346 (If ancient and prophetic fame in Heaven
347 Err not)--another World, the happy seat
348 Of some new race, called Man, about this time
349 To be created like to us, though less
350 In power and excellence, but favoured more
351 Of him who rules above; /.../
368 Seduce them to our party, that their God
369 May prove their foe, and with repenting hand
370 Abolish his own works. This would surpass
371 Common revenge, and interrupt his joy
372 In our confusion, and our joy upraise
373 In his disturbance;
Thus Beelzebub
379 Pleaded his devilish counsel--first devised
380 By Satan, and in part proposed: for whence,
381 But from the author of all ill, could spring
382 So deep a malice, to confound the race
383 Of mankind in one root, and Earth with Hell
384 To mingle and involve, done all to spite
385 The great Creator?
***
(BIV) /.../ For now
9 Satan, now first inflamed with rage, came down,
10 The tempter ere the accuser of mankind,
11 To wreak on innocent frail Man his loss
12 Of that first battle, and his flight to Hell:
13 Yet, not rejoicing in his speed, though bold
14 Far off and fearless, nor with cause to boast,
15 Begins his dire attempt;
/.../ horrour and doubt distract
19 His troubled thoughts, and from the bottom stir
20 The Hell within him; for within him Hell
21 He brings, and round about him, nor from Hell
22 One step, no more than from himself, can fly
23 By change of place: Now conscience wakes despair,
24 That slumbered; wakes the bitter memory
25 Of what he was, what is, and what must be
26 Worse; of worse deeds worse sufferings must ensue.
***
73 [Satan:] Me miserable! which way shall I fly
74 Infinite wrath, and infinite despair?
75 Which way I fly is Hell; myself am Hell;
76 And, in the lowest deep, a lower deep
77 Still threatening to devour me opens wide,
***
107 So farewell, hope; and with hope farewell, fear;
108 Farewell, remorse! all good to me is lost;
109 Evil, be thou my good; by thee at least
110 Divided empire with Heaven's King I hold,
111 By thee, and more than half perhaps will reign;
***
/.../ Whereof he soon aware,
119 Each perturbation smoothed with outward calm,
120 Artificer of fraud; and was the first
121 That practised falsehood under saintly show,
122 Deep malice to conceal, couched with revenge:
***
(BIX)
663 She scarce had said, though brief, when now more bold
664 The Tempter, but with show of zeal and love
665 To Man, and indignation at his wrong,
666 New part puts on; and, as to passion moved,
667 Fluctuates disturbed, yet comely and in act
668 Raised, as of some great matter to begin.
669 As when of old some orator renowned,
670 In Athens or free Rome, where eloquence
671 Flourished, since mute! to some great cause addressed,
672 Stood in himself collected; while each part,
673 Motion, each act, won audience ere the tongue;
674 Sometimes in highth began, as no delay
675 Of preface brooking, through his zeal of right:
676 So standing, moving, or to highth up grown,
677 The Tempter, all impassioned, thus began.
***
(BX) /.../ he wondered, but not long
510 Had leisure, wondering at himself now more,
511 His visage drawn he felt to sharp and spare;
512 His arms clung to his ribs; his legs entwining
513 Each other, till supplanted down he fell
514 A monstrous serpent on his belly prone,
515 Reluctant, but in vain; a greater power
516 Now ruled him, punished in the shape he sinned,
517 According to his doom: he would have spoke,
518 But hiss for hiss returned with forked tongue
519 To forked tongue; for now were all transformed
520 Alike, to serpents all, as accessories
521 To his bold riot: Dreadful was the din
522 Of hissing through the hall, thick swarming now
523 With complicated monsters head and tail,
b) The characterisation of Satan's companions.
- the fallen angels as warriors; consider their appearance and the heroic context in which they are presented;
- analyse the scene of their transfiguration from warriors to serpents.
76 There the companions of his fall, o'erwhelmed
77 With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire,
78 He soon discerns; and, weltering by his side,
79 One next himself in power, and next in crime,
80 Long after known in Palestine, and named
81 Beelzebub.
***
[Satan to Belzebub:] O how fallen! how changed
85 From him who, in the happy realms of light
86 Clothed with transcendent brightness, didst outshine
87 Myriads, though bright!--if he whom mutual league,
88 United thoughts and counsels, equal hope
89 And hazard in the glorious enterprise
90 Joined with me once, now misery hath joined
91 In equal ruin; into what pit thou seest
92 From what height fallen: so much the stronger proved
93 He with his thunder; and till then who knew
94 The force of those dire arms?
***
125 So spake th' apostate Angel [Satan], though in pain,
126 Vaunting aloud, but racked with deep despair;
127 And him thus answered soon his bold compeer [Belzebub]:--
128 O Prince, O Chief of many throned Powers
129 That led th' embattled Seraphim to war
130 Under thy conduct, and, in dreadful deeds
131 Fearless, endangered Heaven's perpetual King,
132 And put to proof his high supremacy,
133 Whether upheld by strength, or chance, or fate,
134 Too well I see and rue the dire event
135 That, with sad overthrow and foul defeat,
136 Hath lost us Heaven, and all this mighty host
137 In horrible destruction laid thus low,
***
271 So Satan spake; and him Beelzebub
272 Thus answered:--Leader of those armies bright
273 Which, but th' Omnipotent, none could have foiled!
274 If once they hear that voice, their liveliest pledge
275 Of hope in fears and dangers--heard so oft
276 In worst extremes, and on the perilous edge
277 Of battle, when it raged, in all assaults
278 Their surest signal--they will soon resume
279 New courage and revive, though now they lie
280 Grovelling and prostrate on yon lake of fire,
281 As we erewhile, astounded and amazed;
282 No wonder, fallen such a pernicious height!
***
314 He called so loud that all the hollow deep
315 Of Hell resounded:--Princes, Potentates,
316 Warriors, the Flower of Heaven--once yours; now lost,
317 If such astonishment as this can seize
318 Eternal Spirits! /.../
330 Awake, arise, or be for ever fallen!
331 They heard, and were abashed, and up they sprung
332 Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch
333 On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread,
334 Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake.
***
356 Forthwith, form every squadron and each band,
357 The heads and leaders thither haste where stood
358 Their great Commander--godlike Shapes, and Forms
359 Excelling human; princely Dignities;
360 And Powers that erst in Heaven sat on thrones,
361 Though on their names in Heavenly records now
362 Be no memorial, blotted out and rased
363 By their rebellion from the Books of Life.
374 Then were they known to men by various names,
375 And various idols through the heathen world.
***
544 All in a moment through the gloom were seen
545 Ten thousand banners rise into the air,
546 With orient colours waving: with them rose
547 A forest huge of spears; and thronging helms
548 Appeared, and serried shields in thick array
549 Of depth immeasurable. Anon they move
550 In perfect phalanx to the Dorian mood
551 Of flutes and soft recorders--such as raised
552 To height of noblest temper heroes old
553 Arming to battle,
***
(BX)
504 So having said, a while he [Satan] stood, expecting
505 Their universal shout, and high applause,
506 To fill his ear; when, contrary, he hears
507 On all sides, from innumerable tongues,
508 A dismal universal hiss, the sound
509 Of publick scorn;
/.../ down their arms,
542 Down fell both spear and shield; down they as fast;
543 And the dire hiss renewed, and the dire form
544 Catched, by contagion; like in punishment,
545 As in their crime. Thus was the applause they meant,
546 Turned to exploding hiss, triumph to shame
547 Cast on themselves from their own mouths.
c) God as the ideal and omnipotent Lord of the universe:
- what emphasises God's superiority to other beings? where does he sit? what is the scope of His vision?
- how does His essence influence his creation?
(BIII)
56 Now had the Almighty Father from above,
57 From the pure empyrean where he sits
58 High thron'd above all highth, bent down his eye
59 His own works and their works at once to view:
60 About him all the Sanctities of Heaven
61 Stood thick as stars, and from his sight receiv'd
62 Beatitude past utterance; on his right
63 The radiant image of his glory sat,
64 His only son; on earth he first beheld
65 Our two first parents, yet the only two
66 Of mankind in the happy garden plac'd
67 Reaping immortal fruits of joy and love,
68 Uninterrupted joy, unrivall'd love,
69 In blissful solitude; he then survey'd
70 Hell and the gulf between, and Satan there
71 Coasting the wall of Heaven on this side Night
72 In the dun air sublime, and ready now
73 To stoop with wearied wings, and willing feet,
74 On the bare outside of this world, that seem'd
75 Firm land imbosom'd, without firmament,
76 Uncertain which, in ocean or in air.
77 Him God beholding from his prospect high,
78 Wherein past, present, future, he beholds,
79 Thus to his only Son foreseeing spake.
80 Only begotten Son, seest thou what rage
81 Transports our Adversary?
d) Adam and Eve as the perfect couple who lost Paradise;
- analyse the presentation of Adam and Eve;
- what is responsible for their original concord? pay attention to their features of character;
- what makes the ending of the poem (ll.632-649) similar/different from the biblical narrative?
/.../ the Fiend
286 Saw, undelighted, all delight, all kind
287 Of living creatures, new to sight, and strange
288 Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall,
289 Godlike erect, with native honour clad
290 In naked majesty seemed lords of all:
291 And worthy seemed; for in their looks divine
292 The image of their glorious Maker shone,
293 Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure,
294 (Severe, but in true filial freedom placed,)
295 Whence true authority in men; though both
296 Not equal, as their sex not equal seemed;
297 For contemplation he and valour formed;
298 For softness she and sweet attractive grace;
299 He for God only, she for God in him:
300 His fair large front and eye sublime declared
301 Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks
302 Round from his parted forelock manly hung
303 Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad:
304 She, as a veil, down to the slender waist
305 Her unadorned golden tresses wore
306 Dishevelled, but in wanton ringlets waved
307 As the vine curls her tendrils, which implied
308 Subjection, but required with gentle sway,
309 And by her yielded, by him best received,
310 Yielded with coy submission, modest pride,
311 And sweet, reluctant, amorous delay.
312 Nor those mysterious parts were then concealed;
313 Then was not guilty shame, dishonest shame
314 Of nature's works, honour dishonourable,
315 Sin-bred, how have ye troubled all mankind
316 With shows instead, mere shows of seeming pure,
317 And banished from man's life his happiest life,
318 Simplicity and spotless innocence!
319 So passed they naked on, nor shunned the sight
320 Of God or Angel; for they thought no ill:
321 So hand in hand they passed, the loveliest pair,
322 That ever since in love's embraces met;
323 Adam the goodliest man of men since born
324 His sons, the fairest of her daughters Eve.
***
/.../ High in front advanced,
633 The brandished sword of God before them blazed,
634 Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,
635 And vapour as the Libyan air adust,
636 Began to parch that temperate clime; whereat
637 In either hand the hastening Angel caught
638 Our lingering parents, and to the eastern gate
639 Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast
640 To the subjected plain; then disappeared.
641 They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld
642 Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,
643 Waved over by that flaming brand; the gate
644 With dreadful faces thronged, and fiery arms:
645 Some natural tears they dropt, but wiped them soon;
646 The world was all before them, where to choose
647 Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
648 They, hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,
649 Through Eden took their solitary way.
e) Christ as a Hero and the Victor of the battle between the loyal angels and rebels:
- analyse the imagery used in the description of the battle (a typical event in heroic epic);
- what makes the intervention of God and His Son necessary? point to the passage which proves that God controls the situation from the beginning;
- analyse the heroic pattern of behaviour followed by Christ;
- how does the description of the battlefield change when Christ appears among the fighting angels? consider the aesthetic quality of the image.
(BVI) /.../ Amazement seised
199 The rebel Thrones, but greater rage, to see
200 Thus foiled their mightiest; ours joy filled, and shout,
201 Presage of victory, and fierce desire
202 Of battle: Whereat Michael bid sound
203 The Arch-Angel trumpet; through the vast of Heaven
204 It sounded, and the faithful armies rung
205 Hosanna to the Highest: Nor stood at gaze
206 The adverse legions, nor less hideous joined
207 The horrid shock. Now storming fury rose,
208 And clamour such as heard in Heaven till now
209 Was never; arms on armour clashing brayed
210 Horrible discord, and the madding wheels
211 Of brazen chariots raged; dire was the noise
212 Of conflict; over head the dismal hiss
213 Of fiery darts in flaming vollies flew,
214 And flying vaulted either host with fire.
215 So under fiery cope together rushed
216 Both battles main, with ruinous assault
217 And inextinguishable rage. All Heaven
218 Resounded; and had Earth been then, all Earth
219 Had to her center shook. What wonder? when
220 Millions of fierce encountering Angels fought
221 On either side, the least of whom could wield
222 These elements, and arm him with the force
223 Of all their regions: How much more of power
224 Army against army numberless to raise
225 Dreadful combustion warring, and disturb,
226 Though not destroy, their happy native seat;
227 Had not the Eternal King Omnipotent,
228 From his strong hold of Heaven, high over-ruled
229 And limited their might; though numbered such
230 As each divided legion might have seemed
231 A numerous host; in strength each armed hand
232 A legion; led in fight, yet leader seemed
233 Each warriour single as in chief, expert
234 When to advance, or stand, or turn the sway
235 Of battle, open when, and when to close
236 The ridges of grim war: No thought of flight,
237 None of retreat, no unbecoming deed
238 That argued fear; each on himself relied,
239 As only in his arm the moment lay
240 Of victory: Deeds of eternal fame
241 Were done, but infinite; for wide was spread
242 That war and various; sometimes on firm ground
243 A standing fight, then, soaring on main wing,
244 Tormented all the air; all air seemed then
245 Conflicting fire. Long time in even scale
246 The battle hung;
***
/.../ But the sword
321 Of Michael from the armoury of God
322 Was given him tempered so, that neither keen
323 Nor solid might resist that edge: it met
324 The sword of Satan, with steep force to smite
325 Descending, and in half cut sheer; nor staid,
326 But with swift wheel reverse, deep entering, shared
327 All his right side: Then Satan first knew pain,
328 And writhed him to and fro convolved; so sore
329 The griding sword with discontinuous wound
330 Passed through him: But the ethereal substance closed,
331 Not long divisible; and from the gash
332 A stream of necturous humour issuing flowed
333 Sanguine, such as celestial Spirits may bleed,
334 And all his armour stained, ere while so bright.
335 Forthwith on all sides to his aid was run
336 By Angels many and strong, who interposed
337 Defence, while others bore him on their shields
338 Back to his chariot, where it stood retired
339 From off the files of war: There they him laid
340 Gnashing for anguish, and despite, and shame,
341 To find himself not matchless, and his pride
342 Humbled by such rebuke, so far beneath
343 His confidence to equal God in power.
344 Yet soon he healed;
***
/.../ And now all Heaven
670 Had gone to wrack, with ruin overspread;
671 Had not the Almighty Father, where he sits
672 Shrined in his sanctuary of Heaven secure,
673 Consulting on the sum of things, foreseen
674 This tumult, and permitted all, advised:
675 That his great purpose he might so fulfil,
676 To honour his anointed Son avenged
677 Upon his enemies, and to declare
678 All power on him transferred:
***
723 [Christ:] O Father, O Supreme of heavenly Thrones,
724 First, Highest, Holiest, Best; thou always seek'st
725 To glorify thy Son, I always thee,
726 As is most just:
/.../ [I] shall soon,
737 Armed with thy might, rid Heaven of these rebelled;
738 To their prepared ill mansion driven down,
739 To chains of darkness, and the undying worm;
740 That from thy just obedience could revolt,
741 Whom to obey is happiness entire.
***
/.../ Forth rushed with whirlwind sound
750 The chariot of Paternal Deity,
751 Flashing thick flames, wheel within wheel undrawn,
752 Itself instinct with Spirit, but convoyed
753 By four Cherubick shapes; four faces each
754 Had wonderous; as with stars, their bodies all
755 And wings were set with eyes; with eyes the wheels
756 Of beryl, and careering fires between;
757 Over their heads a crystal firmament,
758 Whereon a sapphire throne, inlaid with pure
759 Amber, and colours of the showery arch.
760 He, in celestial panoply all armed
761 Of radiant Urim, work divinely wrought,
762 Ascended; at his right hand Victory
763 Sat eagle-winged; beside him hung his bow
764 And quiver with three-bolted thunder stored;
765 And from about him fierce effusion rolled
766 Of smoke, and bickering flame, and sparkles dire:
767 Attended with ten thousand thousand Saints,
768 He onward came; far off his coming shone;
769 And twenty thousand (I their number heard)
770 Chariots of God, half on each hand, were seen;
771 He on the wings of Cherub rode sublime
772 On the crystalline sky, in sapphire throned,
773 Illustrious far and wide;
***
817 Therefore to me their doom he hath assigned;
818 That they may have their wish, to try with me
819 In battle which the stronger proves; they all,
820 Or I alone against them; /.../
824 So spake the Son, and into terrour changed
825 His countenance too severe to be beheld,
826 And full of wrath bent on his enemies.
827 At once the Four spread out their starry wings
828 With dreadful shade contiguous, and the orbs
829 Of his fierce chariot rolled, as with the sound
830 Of torrent floods, or of a numerous host.
831 He on his impious foes right onward drove,
832 Gloomy as night; under his burning wheels
833 The stedfast empyrean shook throughout,
834 All but the throne itself of God. Full soon
835 Among them he arrived; in his right hand
836 Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent
837 Before him, such as in their souls infixed
838 Plagues: They, astonished, all resistance lost,
839 All courage; down their idle weapons dropt:
840 O'er shields, and helms, and helmed heads he rode
841 Of Thrones and mighty Seraphim prostrate,
842 That wished the mountains now might be again
843 Thrown on them, as a shelter from his ire.