Paradise Lost: A Poem, in Twelve Books, Volume 1J. and R. Tonson and S. Draper; and for S. Birt, C. Hitch, J. Hodges [and seven others in London], 1750 |
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Of Mr. Richardfon's notes it must be faid that there are ftrange inequalities in them , fome extravagances , and many excellences ; there is often better fenfe than grammar or English ; and he he fometimes hits the true meaning of the ...
he fometimes hits the true meaning of the author furprisingly , and explains it properly . He had good natural parts but without erudition or learning , in which he was affifted by his fon , who is a man of tafte and litterature ...
His blindness no doubt was a great hindrance and inconvenience to him in his bufinefs , tho ' fometimes a political ufe might be made of it ; as men's natural infirmities are often pleaded in excufe for not doing what they have no great ...
and fimple , lefs figurative and metaphorical , and better fuited to the nature of history , has enough of the Latin turn and idiom to give it an air of antiquity , and fometimes rifes to a furprising dignity and majefty .
... lefs defcriptive , it is more argumentative ; if it doth not fometimes rife fo high , neither doth it ever fink fo low ; and it has not met with the approbation it deferves , only because it has not been more read and confidered .
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Chronicles the rise and fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. Begins with the crowning of the Son of God, moves to Lucifer's rebellion and fall, the beginning of the Earth, the birth of Adam and Eve, and how they fell prey to Satan's fraud.
Written in 10 syllable per line prose, which must have been very difficult. Milton was blind, which makes the accomplishment even more amazing. Parts of the book were wonderfully written (the battles with Satan, Eden, the creation of the Earth, the coming events as Adam and Eve are escorted from Eden by Archangel Michael), but others are difficult with many references to Greek characters. I'm sure Milton was brilliant, but those parts don't add much for me and make it seem as though he's being pretentious. I also disliked the way all the characters addressed each other: "Lo, great angel from Heaven, graceful and true of spirit." The pictures of the story in the book, while they received vast praise in the preface, were forgettable.
Still, I can't get away from the amazing work that Milton put here. My only real compliant was the blatant sexism that Adam had for Eve, assuming she was always inferior to him. That is no longer the way of the world, and I doubt Adam would have treated Eve thusly. Sin, Death. Satan, Michael and Raphael were my favorite characters, all providing memorable lines.