All Hell broke loose

Book IV, Paradise Lost

. The Invocation of the Muse .......Milton opens Paradise Lost by asking a muse to inspire his writing. In ancient Greece and Rome, poets had always requested the muse to fire them with creative genius when they began long narrative poems, called epics, about godlike heroes and villains. In Greek mythology, there were nine muses, all sisters, who were believed to inspire poets, historians, flutists, dancers, singers, astronomers, philosophers, and other thinkers and artists. If one wanted to write a great poem, play a musical instrument with bravado, or develop a grand scientific or philosophical theory, he would ask for help from a muse. .......When a writer asked for help, he was said to be invoking the muse. The muse of epic poetry was named Calliope [kuh LY uh pe]. However, in Book 7, Milton identifies Uraniathe muse of astronomyas the goddess to whom he addresses his plea for inspiration. .......In Miltons time, writers no longer believed in muses, of course. Nevertheless, since they symbolized inspiration, writers continued to invoke them. So it was that when Milton began Paradise Lost, he addressed the muse in the telling of his tale, writing, I thence invoke thy aid to my adventurous Song. The Story .......Satan and his followers rebel against God. But God and his mighty angels defeat the rebels in a terrible war. God casts them into a dark abyss with a lake of fire. There, the defeated legions deplore their fate and consider their future. In a great council, the many thousands of the fallen assemble in the capital city and seat of government, Pandemonium, where Satan sits on his royal throne, to hear their leaders speak their minds on the course of action they should take. .......Moloc, a rebel leader who fought fiercely against the forces of the Almighty, calls for renewed war. Belial advises a do-nothing policy, maintaining that the horror of their hell will abate in time and that their surroundings will brighten. To challenge God would only result in another defeat and more punishment. After Mammon advises peace, Beelzebuba majestic, imposing figurenotes that God is creating a new creature, man, who will occupy a new world, earth. If they turn this new creature from his ordained course, using force or trickery, they can enjoy revenge against God, Beelzebub says. His plan is not his own; it is the plan of Satan, his master.The assembly of devils does not respond; they do not know what to say about this proposal. .......Then the leader of all the accursed, Satan, speaks up. He first bemoans their environs: Our prison strong, this huge convex of Fire, Outrageous to devour, immures us round Ninefold, and gates of burning Adamant Barred over us prohibit all egress. (Book 2, lines 444-447) But if any of them manages to break free, Satan says, he will encounter a dark void beyond which are unknown regions and unknown dangers. Nevertheless, Satan, as leader, says he will venture forth and "Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek / Deliverance for us all: this enterprise / None shall partake with me." His "enterprise," of course is to work his deceptive charms against the new creatures. He will subvert Gods plan and give hell a reason to cheer. None in the assemblage spoke against this plan. Instead, all rose with a thunderous noise to give assent: .................Towards him they bend With awful reverence prone; and as a God Extol him equal to the highest in Heaven. (Book 2, 477-479) .......And so the assembly broke up and ventured off into the regions from whence they came:. Rocks, caves, lakes, fens, bogs, dens, and shades of death, A universe of death, which God by curse Created evil, for evil only good,

Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds, Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, Abominable, inutterable, and worse. (Book 2, 621-626) .......Meanwhile, Satan "with thoughts inflamed of highest design / Puts on swift wings, and toward the Gates of Hell / Explores his solitary flight. . . " (Book 2, lines 630-632). Later, Satan's daughter, Sin, who was born from the archfiend's head, and his son, Death, who was born of Satan's union with Sin, decide to follow and assist their father. .......In heaven, God the Father and God the Son observe Satan flying in a rage toward earth. Satan will corrupt his new creatures, the Father says, even though they possess the willpower to reject sin. Their penalty will be death. However, because they will not rebel against God but instead succumb to Satans temptation, they will be redeemableif someone takes on the burden of their sin by suffering and dying on their behalf. When the Son offers himself for this task, the Father accepts the offer and approves of his incarnation in the world of man. .......To reach earth, Satan must fly past Uriel, a member of the highest-ranking order of angels, the Seraphim. Uriel watches over earth from his post at the sun. Disguising himself as one of the cherubimthe second-highest-ranking order of angelsSatan asks Uriel to point out the planet where man dwells so that he may go there, admire this new creature, and praise his great Maker. Uriel instructs him, and Satan resumes his journey and arrives at earth. .......The sight of Paradise disheartens him, for it reminds him of all that he lost in his rebellion against God. After struggling with self-recrimination and doubt, Satan regains himself and enters Paradise, taking the shape of a cormoranta web-footed sea birdand perching in the Tree of Life (a tree producing fruit which, when eaten, yields everlasting life) to observe the newly created Adam and Eve. They are beautiful, happy creatures who surprise Satan with their ability to speak and think logically. .......Later, when they are asleep, Satan whispers evil thoughts into Eves earof vain hopes and inordinate desires. When the archangel Gabriel learns of Satans presence in Eden, he sends two angels to expel him. When they confront him, Satan defiantly scorns them and prepares for a fight. An angelic squadron descends toward Eden under the command of Gabriel, and a sign appears in the heavens in which God weighs the adversaries in his golden scales. When Gabriel tells Satan to look at the scales, the archfiend sees that they tip in the favor of the celestial forces, and he flees. .......On a mission from God, the angel Raphael warns Adam and Eve about Satan. So that they understand the nature of their foe, Raphael tells them the story of Satans rebellion and the great war in which angels on both sides fought fiercely. It ended in Satans expulsion from heaven, Raphael says, after the Son of God intervened on behalf of the celestial forces. A new world with new creatures was then created to fill the void left by the rebels cast into the deep. .......Adam, a curious creature, asks Raphael about the earth and its place in creation. Raphael explains the universe but warns Adam to temper his desire for knowledge with humility. When Adam expresses his great satisfaction with Eve as a mate, Raphael again cautions him to be careful. Living with and loving a creature such as Eve, with all of her charm and beauty, is wonderful; however, Adam must not let her divert his attention from his responsibilities to God. .......Satan returns to the Garden of Eden in the form of a snake and tempts Eve to eat fruit of the Tree of Knowledge in defiance of a divine command never to do so. If she and Adam taste the fruit, he says, they will become gods. Eve eats. After Satan leaves, Adamthough reluctantalso eats. And so Adam and Eve fall from grace, and the Son of God pronounces judgment on the transgressing humans. .......When Satan returns in triumph to hell, the multitude of fiends cheer him but suddenly turn into serpents. Earth becomes a place of changing seasons; the eternal spring is no more. Adam is downcast, wishing for death, and blames Eve for leading them astray. But they reconcile and decide to go on, confessing their wrongdoing and pleading for forgiveness. .......God decrees that heaven will remain open for them. But He sends the archangel Michael down to evict them from Paradise. Before Michael leaves, he tells them about events to come in the history of the world and, from a hilltop, shows Adam his progenyCain and Abel (and the murder of Cain by Abel) and the descendants who later will form a covenant with God after a great flood. .......Michael then foretells the advent of a Redeemer, who will die for the sins of humankindthen rise from the grave and leave earth but return later in a second coming. Adam and Eve then walk into their new life.

The World was all before them, where to choose Their place of rest, and Providence their guide: They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way. (Book 10, lines 1537-1540) They enter the imperfect world, with all its perils.

Imagery
.......Milton's imagery is at times graceful and elegant, as in this memorable personification in Book 6: Morn, Waked by the circling hours, with rosy hand Unbarred the gates of light. (lines 2-4) At other times, the imagery is imposing and awe-inspiring, as in this description in Book 7 that ends with hyperbole: ..................................There Leviathan Hugest of living creatures, on the deep Stretched like a promontory sleeps or swims, And seems a moving land, and at his gills Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out a sea. (lines 412-416) .......In Book 8, Milton describes the commission of the first sin in simple, straightforward language, followed by a succinct personification summing up the terrible effects of the iniquity: [H]er rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she plucked, she eat: Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat, Sighing through all her works, gave signs of woe That all was lost. (line 780-784) Milton also uses personification in Book 4 in this beautiful passage about a quiet night, the starry sky, and the ascendancy of the moon: ..............................The wakeful Nightingale; She all night long her amorous descant sung; Silence was pleased: now glow'd the Firmament With living Sapphires: Hesperus that led..............[Hesperus: evening star which the Greeks associated with the brother The starry Host, rode brightest, till the Moon........of Atlas; later Hesperus was associated with Lucifer's brilliant light.] Rising in clouded Majesty, at length Apparent Queen unveiled her peerless light, And o'er the dark her Silver Mantle threw. (lines 602-609)

Enjambment
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.......Milton uses frequently uses enjambment (also spelled enjambement) in the poem. It is a literary device in which a poet does not complete his sentence or phrase at the end of one line but allows it to carry over to the next line, as in these passages from the poem: Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world. . . (Book 1, lines 1-3).

Yet Chains in Hell, not Realms expect: mean while From me returned, as erst thou saidst, from flight, This greeting on thy impious Crest receive. (Book 6, lines 186-188) Milton's use of enjambment helps the poem flow from one line to the next.

Main Theme
. ........In

Book 1 of Paradise Lost, Milton reveals the central theme of the work: to justify the ways of God to man. Justify here means to explain and defend, and ultimately to vindicate, Gods course of action in dealing with Adam and Eve after they succumbed to the temptation of Satan and ate forbidden fruit.
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Other Themes
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Inordinate pride: It leads to Satan's downfall and his continuing defiance of God. Envy: Arising from Satan's pride, it makes him jealous of God the Son, who is the favorite of God the Father. Revenge: It motivates Satan to corrupt Adam and Eve and thereby subvert God's plans. Vanity: It leads Eve to believeunder the temptation of Satanthat she can become godlike. Deceit: Satan appears in many disguises and tells many lies during his mission to trick Adam and Eve. Infidelity: Adam betrays God by siding with Eve and eating the forbidden fruit. Unbridled pursuit of knowledge: It leads Adam and Eve to seek knowledge beyond their ken, knowledge that will make them godlike. Volition: Angels and humans alike possess free will, enabling them to make decisions. Satan freely chooses to rebel against God, and Adam and Eve freely choose to eat forbidden fruit. The consequences of their actions are their own fault, not God's. Milton uses this theme to help support the central theme, "to justify the ways of God to man." Disobedience: All sins are acts of disobedience against God, impairing or cutting off the sinner's relationship with God. Adam and Eve and all of the devils disobey God through their sins. Loyalty: Loyalty to God and his ways are necessary for eternal salvation. Loyalty requires obedience. All of the good angels exhibit loyalty. Repentance: Even though Adam and Eve have disobeyed God, their repentance makes them eligible for eventual salvation. Hope: At the end of Paradise Lost, Adam and Eve enter the imperfect world with hope; they can yet attain eternal salvation. Redemption: Through the suffering and death of the Son of God, sinful man can reconcile himself with God if he is sincerely sorry for his sins.

Paradise Lost, perhaps the greatest epic poem written in the English language by the great master of verse John Milton. Milton's life in many

respects was always geared towards producing a great epic to rival that of Homer and Virgil and in Paradise Lost he achieved that aim, and to some critics he even surpassed it. Paradise Lost explosively investigates mankind's expulsion from the Garden of Eden at the hands of God. It was written, supposedly, to justify the ways of God to men however it is certainly not as straightforward as that as some suggest that Milton was of the devil's party without knowing it (Blake). What William Blake meant in this famous phrase is that interestingly, Paradise Lost seems to do much more than to explain the reasons why God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden. Paradise Lost in fact could be read, controversially, as a damning exploration of the cruelty of Christianity. What seems to support this argument, or at least to muddy the waters is that Satan's character appears to be the central character within the story and is certainly painted as not wholly bad, if not good. Satan is a complex and interesting character, and it is at the start of the epic which we see Satan, the fallen angel, so descriptively suffering in the flames of hell, as cast down in punishment by the almighty. Indeed, it is hard not to feel some sympathy for Satan as Milton describes his plight and that of his followers even. Despite of this we know the full extent of the deeds that Satan is about to undertake in his part of the corruption of Eve and the eating of the forbidden fruit. Satan upon deciding at the council in pandemonium that the way forward to punish God for his expulsion of heaven is to corrupt man, God's new creation, and he sets forth to achieve his aim. However, Satan does deliberate upon the corruption of mankind, which once again shows that he is not wholly bad. However, Satan is set upon his task of mankind's fall and as we know carries out his devilish plan, even if he is touched by the beauty and innocence of Adam and Eve. It is to be man's fall that is to require the son of God to sacrifice his life for the future salvation of the human race. Jesus, in Paradise Lost is given over to man's redemption and surrounds himself in glory because of his devotion to the human race. This does however bring into the equation another interesting factor. The all powerful and all seeing God can foresee the future and knows that Satan will corrupt