JOHN MILTON Complete Poems and Major Prose Edited, with Notes and Introduction, by Merritt Y. Hughes Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Indianapolis /CambridgeCopyright © 1957 by Prentice Hall, Inc. Reprinted 2003 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 18 17 16 15 14 56789 10 For further information, please address: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. P.O, Box 44937 Indianapolis, Indiana 46244-0937 wwwhackettpublishing.com Printed at Sheridan Books, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Milton, John, 1608-1674 [Selections. 2003] Complete poems and major prose / John Milton ; edited with notes and introduction by Merritt Y. Hughes. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87220-678-5 (cloth) I. Hughes, Merritt Yerkes, 1893- Il. Title. PR3552.H74 2003 821'4de21 2002191309 ISBN-13: 978-0-87220-678-6 (cloth) The paper used in this printing meets the minimum requirements of — American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.POEM TWELVE BOOKS. | The Author fjOHN MILTON. The Second edition Reyifed and Augmented by the fame Author. ene, —<——$—$— : LONDON, Printed by s. Simmons next door to the Golden Lion in Alder{gate-ftrect, 1674+ ———————Paradise Lost BOOK I THE ARGUMENT s, first in brief, the whole Subject, Man's disobedi ss fit Bool fe dasisa ie oa puee the ke eee a were or rather Satan in the Serpent; who revolting from God, and di ae fi, tle SUPE Tegions of Angels, was by the command of God driven out of Hees b side 0 into the great Deep. Which action past over, the Poem hasta "iat pi al it ings, presenting Satan with hus Angels now fallen into Hell, escrib'd here, bei ore (lor Heaven and Earth may be suppos'd as yet not made, certainly nar in Yt in a place of utter darkness, files calld Chaes: Here Satan with bis et eT jing on the burning Lake, thunder-struck and astonisht, after a certain space re- dye fn m confusion, calls up him who next in Order and Dignity lay by him; th ce pir miserable fall. Satan awakens all his Legions, who lay sill then in the alt vi ner confounded; They rise, thir Numbers, array of Battle, thir chie} Leaders = ‘according to the Idols known afterwards in Canaan and the Countries adjoining. i ‘hese Satan directs his Speech, comforts them with hope yet of regaining Heaven, iudls them lastly of a new World and new kind of Creature to be created, according aan ancient Prophecy or report in Heaven; for that Angels were long before this visible Ceaion, was the opinion of many ancient Fathers. To find out the truth of this Praplecy and what to determine thereon he refers to a full Council. What his Associates tiene attempt. Pandemonium the Palace of Satan rises, suddenly built out of the Deep: The infernal Peers there sit in Council. Of Man’s First Disobedience, and the Fruit Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal taste 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, ox 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 Delight thee more, and Stloa’s Brook that flow'd Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence 4. dais glBVORE thy aid to my advent'ous Song, gan in From emphati i i si . A. Sica sea swat ele a yi Rod En nf in acer det RNP ie Henny Mae, the Urn 8 Seu should portray a “vertuous man,” VIL, 1, see the Introduction 54-57. ived the ee EA say the letter to Raleigh intro- 7-8. The Shepherd is ee ee - Queene—that Homer did “in Law on Mount Oreb ot it St CONC pyod. xix Ree i! Of Agamemnon a ” Me the cl . ind Ul; Iton’s the chosen Seed, the cP ‘ trate A two pee ae Mand ax). CE XIL, 227-305, ad tA ma "at ee wee ony the Son'of God; whose portrayal Yo-ti. To be understand, Chaos CoG RGSS ne, gies The tradition culminating plored with Satan if Th re (issu), soumipated. by R. W. Conde in Siloa in Wl, 29-31 ‘on its formal side, and on 2122 PARADISE LOST That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th’ Aonian Mount, while it pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhyme. \ ‘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 Dovellike satst brooding on the vast Abyss ‘ ‘And mad’st it pregnant: What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support; ‘That to the highth of this great Argument I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men. 5 Say first, for Heav’n hides nothing from thy view Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State, Favor'd of Heav’n so highly, to fall off From thir Creator, and transgress his Will » For one restraint, Lords of the World besides? Who first seduc’d them to that foul revolt? Th’ infernal Serpent; hee it was, whose guile Stirr'd up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv’d ‘The Mother of Mankind; what time his Pride 5 Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring To set himself in Glory above his Peers, He trusted to have equall’d the most High, If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim . Against the Throne and Monarchy of God Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battle proud With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power Hurl'd headlong flaming from th’ Ethereal Sky 6 With hideous ruin and combustion down, To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire, Who durst defy th’ Omnipotent to Arms, Nine times the Space that measures Day and Night ” To mortal men, hee with his horrid crew Lay vanquisht, rolling in the fiery Gulf Confounded though immortal: But his doom 16. The line ironically paraphrases Ariosto's open- 7 het : ses Ariosto’s open- sense that he is doomed to the punishment a ing of the Grlando Furioro. The reason why is or “the bottomless ite” where Milton imagines 3 lained in 1X, 29-31, 0, the devils as dramatically turned into serpents (% he te word ed by the tansators 509-40), ct ‘estament into Greek for the Hebrew 8. The first of the rare lines ending in a0 U eo a ranlaed as “the deep” in Genesis i, 2. CE stressed, redundant syllable Less than one per cet eee A of the lines in PL have feminine endingt. sed in RnR! iF ued a more evidently is“ gseybe The “Hane Henk tie soca! ent of the poor mfan the subject and develop: stretching from leah siv, 1a"Hlow att at enon ef Coe ae oot fel only to the justihe fallen from foster sa casita of te mort ton of God's ways. See the Introduction 46 to the picture of “the angels which kept not et ee horde 8) ake who ag Was that first estate « «in everlasting chains, under rough diord ams recks and instantly ness,” in Jude i, 6 angers that it wat Apola : Se. Here“anl Sv Vi, Bn, he devils fl “that old serpent, whieh aannne 2a in XID, 383, is many days ar Hesiod (T heog 6640735) 8% b te. a, 33) on hs, Dele and RISB, thE Tans fall from heaven after thir oer an he is the oF a introduction ference Ee. Heike cal Sy Qian fle Soe eIPARADISE LOST Reserv’d him to more wrath; for now the thought Beth of lost happiness and lasting pain FRerments him; round he throws his baleful eyes ‘That witness'd huge affliction and dismay Tat with obdrate pride and steadfast hate: Mir onee as far as Angels’ ken he views ‘The dismal Situation waste and wild, A Dungeon hoes nae ohgeesl round ‘one great Furnace flam’d, yet from those flames As Sight, but rather darkness visible serv'd only to discover sights of woe, Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace vAnd rest can never dwell, hope never comes ‘That comes to all; but torture without end Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed With everburning Sulphur unconsum’d: Such place Eternal Justice had prepar'd For those rebellious, here thir Prison ordained In utter darkness, and thir portion set ‘As far remov'd from God and light of Heav'n As from the Center thrice to th’ utmost Pole. O how unlike the place from whence they fell! There the companions of his fall, o’erwhelm’d With Floods and Whirlwinds of tempestuous fire, He soon discerns, and welt’ring by his side One next himself in power, and next in crime, Long after known in Palestine, and nam’d Beéizebub. To whom th’ Arch-Enemy, And thence in Heav'n call’d Satan, with bold words Breaking the horrid silence thus began. If thou beest hee; But O how fall’n! how chang’d From him, who in the happy Realms of Light Cloth’d with transcendent brightness didst outshine Myriads though bright: If he whom mutual league, United thoughts and counsels, equal hope, 22 Esty eitions are irregular in their use of Mark il, 22, and Luke ‘apostrophe to indicate the possessive case, which reviewed by Milton's frier 213 55 65 jo 5 85 15) were skeptically John Selden, in his ane in them after Angels. It is inserted here Syrian Gods (De Dis Syris syntagmata Il—London, Se asumption that Aen is a noun and is used — 1617—I1, b), ‘and the literal meaning of the name, 6 ah Xt 379. “‘god of flies,” was compared with some titles of af“%, Te though goes back to Job's description Jupiter and other deities who were sometimes ie. World of the dead asa realm where “the shipped as deliverers from insect pests, ‘or as lords Ii darkness""(x, 29). See the Introduction of altars that, were either avoided or infested by 5 A deliber a berate echo of Dante's inscription over the prince of the af din "All hope abandon ye who enter here” made him inthe Anatomy (Li, 7 Noy unmistakable, Tp. 187) of the monarch of Sen of dine tPlisitly, Dante made hell the crea- Marlowe, m Uhl ny" gngy, sie power, wisdom, and love Doctor Paves 34 2 pass (8 parapnaé® of Aratus’ Phainomena which was, in general, 20Y Snore c visible World (Athens, 1939)» {heaven towers up to the celestial north Occult Philosophy of Comnelins ilton's readers Beelzebub was vaguely eee first order of demons that Burton 2; Everyman Ed. ‘Baming hell that ade him in Faust’s first invocation in R. H. West notes in The In- p. 69 that in the ‘Agrippa Beelzebub ged in the “alse 87, the literal fall— ‘whom be 5-76)+ W aigijPhSed in On the Narnre of the Gode assumption of Weary ak the scone gists od the Gods nption off nl 3H directl i” ning: tan is agai eae M beavey ANE#OUS a8 twice is Et anier ie aS gg 85. Satan's first words recall peat, won Ra, oe den. Vi srp—75). Gh Vs ofthe thst of MEET th mah Tey ‘ hanged from the li “ULM wadions behind Beeacbub's had fought agunet the Greeks (den Th 27 © devils” in Matthew x, a5 (cf.