Paradise Lost by John Milton

John Milton (1608-1674) was arguably one of the best-read persons of his epoch. Miltonâ¿¿s commonplace book reveals that in addition to the thoroughly humanistic education that he received at Trinity College Cambridge (1625-1632), he also conducted an extensively broad reading program of his own immediately after concluding his university studies which included forays into nearly every branch of learning in a period that he affectionately referred to as his â¿¿studious retirementâ¿¿ (1632-38). For over 400 years, many literary critics have declared this monumental work, Paradise Lost, to be the greatest poem in the English language. Dr. Stallard contends that a full understanding of the Bible as the poemâ¿¿s primary inter-text is essential to appreciating the poem in its Puritan context. John Miltonâ¿¿s Bible is lavishly annotated with Biblical references that demonstrates that Milton was mining a wide variety of translations including the 1540 Great Bible, the 1560 Geneva Bible, the Bishops Bible of 1568, the Douay-Rheims of 1582, and the revised Authorized Version of 1612. This Biblically annotated edition of Paradise Lost will be useful to all scholars and students of Milton alike. That a lack of familiarity with the Bible should discourage students of English literature from reading the pinnacle achievement of one of the finest poets and minds in the English language is both sad and avoidable. This edition makes Milton more accessible, comprehensible, and enjoyable for everyone.

I don't have many thoughts to add to the book and I do not think anything I could say would do it justice so here are some of my favourite quotes instead. Hopefully they'll convince you to read it :)

(Narrator)
“To Paradise the happy seat of man,His journey's end and our beginning woe.”

(Satan)
“Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” “So farewell hope, and with hope farewell fear,Farewell remorse: all good to me is lost;Evil be thou my good;”“Farewell happy fields,Where joy forever dwells: hail, horrors!”“Me miserable! Which way shall I flyInfinite wrath and infinite despair?Which way I fly is hell; myself am hell;“The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

(Adam)
“Did I request thee, Maker, from my clayTo mould me man? Did I solicit theeFrom darkness to promote me?” — also quoted in Frankenstein

(Raphael)
“Freely we serve,Because we freely love, as in our willTo love or not; in this we stand or fall.”“God made thee perfect, not immutable;”

✨And my favourite passage of all✨:

(God the Son)
“Behold me then, me for him, life for lifeI offer; on me let thine anger fall; Account me man: I for his sake will leave Thy bosom, and this glory next to thee Freely put off, and for him lastly dieWell pleased: on me let death wreak all his rage;”

(God the Father)
So man, as is most just,Shall satisfy for man, be judged and die,And dying rise, and rising with him raiseHis brethren, ransomed with his own dear life.So Heavenly love shall outdo Hellish hate,Giving to death, and dying to redeem,So dearly to redeem what Hellish hateSo easily destroyed, and still destroysIn those who, when they may, accept not grace.

Random notes: This was difficult to get through but it's not impossible. The poetry can be read in several ways but I found the fastest and most enjoyable way was walking around reciting the poetry out loud to myself, the trees and anyone who would listen. Switching to the audiobook was also helpful for especially dense passages. Honestly, like 85% of the references went over my head and I got through it fine but if that really bothers you (or if you're a nerd or something) there are dozens of annotated versions out there. I was just here for the poetry ✌️. It's also very similar to a play and once you start really imagining it on stage, it flows quiet nicely.
-Book III was amazing.
-God the Son was my favourite character
-Abdiels insults to Satan should be taught in sunday school

My rating may not be strictly fair because I didn't understand half of what was being written. I had to read the cliffs notes guide along side the book to get any understanding.

Also I know it's a different time and everything but massively struggled with Milton's views particularly around women and his ideas that your death matches how “good” you are in life.