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 |
From inside the book
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... and there is another intitled Letters concerning poetical translations , and Virgil's and Milton's arts of verfe , commonly afcribed to Mr. Auditor Benfon : and of both these I have made fome ufe , as I have likewife of the learned ...
... prefixed a short advertisement of the printer to the reader concerning the argument and the reason why the poem rimes not ; and then followed the argument of the several books , and the preface concerning the kind of verfe , and the ...
And fuch a man as Bishop Burnet maketh it a fort of objection to Milton , that he affected to write in blank verfe without rime . And the fame reafon induced Dryden to turn the principal parts of Paradife Loft into rime in his Opera ...
The Dutch tranflation is in blank verfe , and printed at Harlem . The French have a tranflation by Monf . Dupré de S. Maur ; but nothing showeth the weakness and imperfection of their language more , than that they have few or no good ...
... L'Allegro and Il Penferofo , as if the fame fpirit poffeffed both mafters , and as if the God of mufic and of verfe was ftill one and the fame . There are alfo fome other pieces of Milton , for he continued publishing to the laft .
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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.