The next many days I'm going to read Paradise Lost by John Milton. I have attempted to read this book a couple times in the past. But it was too challenging a read to sustain my attention. Now it's on the blog and I must achieve it. Each break in the verse will be a section. I will read and post 1 section each day, two if one is too short.
Book 1: Lines 1-26
OF Mans First Disobedience, and the
Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat, [ 5
]
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst
inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: Or if Sion Hill [ 10
]
Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues [ 15 ]
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost
prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart
and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou
from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings
outspread [ 20 ]
Dove-like satst
brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumin, what is low raise and
support;
That to the highth of this great
Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence, [ 25 ]
And justifie
the wayes of God to men.
Milton uses so many allusions it is crazy. With no internet either. It's incredible he could remember such things. From Shakespeare to Homer to Dante. Very impressive.
ReplyDeleteOver all the book is a tough read. It's hard for me to sit down and read Book 1 in one sitting. I started yesterday and reread the whole thing today. For now on I am going to break it up into smaller sections.
I went back and broke the book into smaller sections.
ReplyDeleteThis will be a lot more enjoyable to read and easier to understand.
Milton sets the story so well. It sounds perfect (because of Divine Intervention??). To justify the ways of God to men. I don't see why Christian don't consider this the word of God. Why the Bible and not this? Milton even says it was and it's written like a god of literature, which like and unlike the Bible has its good and bad writing.
"You must write this down... Milton's paradise lost is the first narrative poem in English literature that didn't rhyme." John Rogers, Professor of English
ReplyDeletehttp://oyc.yale.edu/english/engl-220/lecture-9