Paradise Lost: Difference between revisions
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'''Paradise Lost''' was [[John Milton]]'s great epic in blank verse, a form of poetry which had been very little used in English until then. | '''Paradise Lost''' was [[John Milton]]'s great epic in [[blank verse]], a form of poetry which had been very little used in English until then. | ||
== Publication == | == Publication == | ||
The first edition of ''Paradise Lost'', in ten books, was published in 1667; the now standard twelve book version was published in 1674. In his lifetime Milton received a total of £10.00 for his work on ''Paradise Lost''.<ref>Gordon Campbell, "Milton, John (1608–1674)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (2008).</ref> | The first edition of ''Paradise Lost'', in ten books, was published in 1667; the now standard twelve book version was published in 1674. In his lifetime Milton received a total of £10.00 for his work on ''Paradise Lost''.<ref>Gordon Campbell, "Milton, John (1608–1674)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', (2008).</ref> | ||
== Verse - form and character == | |||
The first poet to have used blank verse in English is said to have been the Tudor poet [[Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey]] (1517-1547), in a translation of the second book of [[Virgil]]'s [[Aeneid]]. It was scarcely used after that, except in the drama, so that when Milton took it up for Paradise Lost it was in effect an innovation.<ref>Johnson, S. Lives of the Poets. 1779</ref> He defended it strongly in a prefatory note: "The measure is ''English'' Heroic Verse, without Rime, as that of ''Homer'' in ''Greek'', and of ''Virgil'' in ''Latin''; Rime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works expecially, but the invention of a barbarous Age, to set off wretched matter and lame Meeter; grac't indeed since by the use of some famous modern Poets, carried away by Custom, but much to their own vexation, hindrance and constraint to express many things otherwise, and for the most part worse then else they would have exprest them." | |||
== Outline == | == Outline == | ||
| Line 34: | Line 37: | ||
== Reputation == | == Reputation == | ||
From the beginning, the book had steady sales, despite its author being out of political favour. [[John Dryden]], although politically and religously opposed to Milton, described it as “undoubtedly one of the greatest, most noble, and most sublime poems which either this age or nation has produced.”<ref>See the Prefatory Essay in Dryden’s ''The State of Innocence'', 1674.</ref> In the next century, [[Samuel Johnson]] called it "a poem, which, considered with respect to design, may claim the first place, and with respect to performance the second, among the productions of the human mind", asking "what other author ever soared so high, or sustained his flight so long?"<ref>Johnson, S. Lives of the Poets. 1779</ref> The poetry of Milton served as a profound inspiration to the Romantic poets, including [[William Wordsworth|Wordsworth]], [[Percy Bysshe Shelley|Shelley]] (e.g., ''Prometheus Unbound''), [[John Keats|Keats]] (e.g., the two ''Hyperion'' poems) and [[William Blake]] (e.g., ''The Four Zoas''). In the 20th century, Milton's poetry fell out of favour, as the [[Metaphysical poets]] came into fashion, though [[T.S. Eliot]] rather condescendingly noted that poets can study Milton “with profit to their poetry and to the English language”,<ref>Eliot, T.S., "Milton II" in ''Selected Prose of T.S. Eliot'' (London: Faber and Faber, 1980), p. 274.</ref> but Christopher Ricks decisively restored his reputation with his extended essay on Milton's Grand Style.<ref>Ricks, C. Milton's Grand Style. Oxford University Press. 1978</ref> | From the beginning, the book had steady sales, despite its author being out of political favour. [[John Dryden]], although politically and religously opposed to Milton, described it as “undoubtedly one of the greatest, most noble, and most sublime poems which either this age or nation has produced.”<ref>See the Prefatory Essay in Dryden’s ''The State of Innocence'', 1674.</ref> In the next century, [[Samuel Johnson]] called it "a poem, which, considered with respect to design, may claim the first place, and with respect to performance the second, among the productions of the human mind", asking "what other author ever soared so high, or sustained his flight so long?"<ref>Johnson, S. Lives of the Poets. 1779</ref> The poetry of Milton served as a profound inspiration to the Romantic poets, including [[William Wordsworth|Wordsworth]], [[Percy Bysshe Shelley|Shelley]] (e.g., ''Prometheus Unbound''), [[John Keats|Keats]] (e.g., the two ''Hyperion'' poems) and [[William Blake]] (e.g., ''The Four Zoas''). In the 20th century, Milton's poetry fell out of favour, as the [[Metaphysical poets]] came into fashion, though [[T.S. Eliot]] rather condescendingly noted that poets can study Milton “with profit to their poetry and to the English language”,<ref>Eliot, T.S., "Milton II" in ''Selected Prose of T.S. Eliot'' (London: Faber and Faber, 1980), p. 274.</ref> but Christopher Ricks decisively restored his reputation with his extended essay on Milton's Grand Style.<ref>Ricks, C. Milton's Grand Style. Oxford University Press. 1978</ref> | ||
== Controversial features == | |||
===Theology=== | |||
=== Misogyny === | |||
===Artillery=== | |||
== References == | |||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
Revision as of 10:34, 16 January 2014
Paradise Lost was John Milton's great epic in blank verse, a form of poetry which had been very little used in English until then.
Publication
The first edition of Paradise Lost, in ten books, was published in 1667; the now standard twelve book version was published in 1674. In his lifetime Milton received a total of £10.00 for his work on Paradise Lost.[1]
Verse - form and character
The first poet to have used blank verse in English is said to have been the Tudor poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517-1547), in a translation of the second book of Virgil's Aeneid. It was scarcely used after that, except in the drama, so that when Milton took it up for Paradise Lost it was in effect an innovation.[2] He defended it strongly in a prefatory note: "The measure is English Heroic Verse, without Rime, as that of Homer in Greek, and of Virgil in Latin; Rime being no necessary Adjunct or true Ornament of Poem or good Verse, in longer Works expecially, but the invention of a barbarous Age, to set off wretched matter and lame Meeter; grac't indeed since by the use of some famous modern Poets, carried away by Custom, but much to their own vexation, hindrance and constraint to express many things otherwise, and for the most part worse then else they would have exprest them."
Outline
Book I sets out the theme of the whole work and starts with the fallen angels, expelled from Heaven, lying on the burning lake of Hell, until Satan rouses them to build a palace in which the great ones sit in council.
Book II: The Council decides to seek the new world said to have been created by God, and Satan sets out to find it, all others having held back. He finds the gates of Hell guarded by Sin and Death, but passes through them, and through the realm of Chaos.
Book III: God sees Satan making towards this world, and predicts coming events. Satan, arriving at the new creation, disguises himself as a lesser angel and deceives the guardian Uriel.
Book IV: Satan has his first sight of Adam and Eve in Paradise, but is discovered by the angelic sentinels and expelled.
Book V: God sends Raphael to tell Adam and Eve about Satan and his revolt, occasioned by God's announcing of his Son as vice-regent. Satan's withdrawal to form his own army is described.
Book VI: In the war in Heaven, the loyal angelic forces prove incapable of overcoming the rebels, and victory is reserved to God's Son, the Messiah.
Book VII: At Adam's request, Raphael narrates the story of the creation.
Book VIII: Adam relates what he remembers of his own creation and Eve's.
Book IX: Satan returns surreptitiously into Paradise, takes the form of a serpent, and, finding Eve alone, persuades her to eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge. Adam, rather than be separated from her, does likewise.
Book X: God's Son descends to judge Adam and Eve. Satan, returning to Hell while Sin and Death create a broad bridge between Hell and this world, recounts his achievement with triumph, which is received with hissing as all the fallen angels are transformed to serpents.
Book XI (originally a continuation of Book X): Michael is sent from Heaven to reveal the future of the world and expel Adam and Eve. He shows Adam biblical events before the Flood
Book XII (originally part of Book X): Michael completes his story, and Adam and Eve are expelled from Paradise.
Reputation
From the beginning, the book had steady sales, despite its author being out of political favour. John Dryden, although politically and religously opposed to Milton, described it as “undoubtedly one of the greatest, most noble, and most sublime poems which either this age or nation has produced.”[3] In the next century, Samuel Johnson called it "a poem, which, considered with respect to design, may claim the first place, and with respect to performance the second, among the productions of the human mind", asking "what other author ever soared so high, or sustained his flight so long?"[4] The poetry of Milton served as a profound inspiration to the Romantic poets, including Wordsworth, Shelley (e.g., Prometheus Unbound), Keats (e.g., the two Hyperion poems) and William Blake (e.g., The Four Zoas). In the 20th century, Milton's poetry fell out of favour, as the Metaphysical poets came into fashion, though T.S. Eliot rather condescendingly noted that poets can study Milton “with profit to their poetry and to the English language”,[5] but Christopher Ricks decisively restored his reputation with his extended essay on Milton's Grand Style.[6]
Controversial features
Theology
Misogyny
Artillery
References
- ↑ Gordon Campbell, "Milton, John (1608–1674)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (2008).
- ↑ Johnson, S. Lives of the Poets. 1779
- ↑ See the Prefatory Essay in Dryden’s The State of Innocence, 1674.
- ↑ Johnson, S. Lives of the Poets. 1779
- ↑ Eliot, T.S., "Milton II" in Selected Prose of T.S. Eliot (London: Faber and Faber, 1980), p. 274.
- ↑ Ricks, C. Milton's Grand Style. Oxford University Press. 1978