John Milton’s Paradise Lost - Hazleton Area High School

John Milton's

Paradise Lost

Source: John Geraghty's Digital Facsimile Project

Mr. Adam Johnson Senior English 2004-2005

Epic Poetry As a Classic

Literary Form

Examples:

Homer recorded first major epic poems: The Iliad and The Odyssey Virgil tells story of Rome's founding in The Aeneid Dante describes Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory in great detail in The Divine Comedy John Milton gives account of Adam and Eve's expulsion from the Garden of Eden in Paradise Lost

Why Write It?

Wanted to surpass previous epics Deals with great deeds on a cosmic scale Attempts to address the reason for sin and suffering in the world: God is not responsible; Adam and Eve "brought death into the world, and all our woe." Asserts that God gave us free will, and we are responsible for our choosing of evil

Why Write It?

Shows the struggle between good and evil (goodness is not goodness without a struggle to overcome evil) Virtue is not virtue unless it is won in the "dust and heat" of the conflict with evil. Though Adam and Eve "lose," they gain the right to prove themselves.

Verse Style

Paradise Lost is written in blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter Example: Paradise Lost

John Milton did not think that his poem had to rhyme, since Classical poetry (e.g. The Iliad) did not You will notice when reading that perfect I.P. does not always occur in Paradise Lost

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