Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained

Thou Spirit, who ledst this glorious Eremite Into the Desert, his Victorious Field Against the Spiritual Foe, and broughtst him thence [ 10 ] By proof th' undoubted Son of God, inspire, As thou art wont, my prompted Song else mute, And bear through highth or depth of natures bounds, With prosperous wing full summ'd to tell of deeds Above Heroic , though in secret done, [ 15 ] And unrecorded left through many an Age, Worthy t' have not remain'd so long unsung.

Now had the great Proclaimer with a voice More awful then the sound of Trumpet, cried Repentance, and Heavens Kingdom nigh at hand [ 20 ] To all Baptiz'd: Before him a great Prophet, to proclaim [ 70 ] His coming, is sent Harbinger, who all Invites, and in the Consecrated stream Pretends to wash off sin, and fit them so Purified to receive him pure, or rather To do him honour as their King; all come, [ 75 ] And he himself among them was baptiz'd , Not thence to be more pure, but to receive The testimony of Heaven, that who he is Thenceforth the Nations may not doubt; I saw The Prophet do him reverence; on him rising [ 80 ] Out of the water, Heav'n above the Clouds Unfold her Crystal Dores , thence on his head A perfect Dove descend, what e're it meant, And out of Heav'n the Sov'raign voice I heard, This is my Son belov'd , in him am pleas'd.

His first- begot we know, and sore have felt, When his fierce thunder drove us to the deep; [ 90 ] Who this is we must learn, for man he seems In all his lineaments, though in his face The glimpses of his Fathers glory shine. Ye see our danger on the utmost edge Of hazard, which admits no long debate, [ 95 ] But must with something sudden be oppos'd , Not force, but well couch't fraud, well-woven snares, E're in the head of Nations he appear Their King, their Leader, and Supream on Earth.

I, when no other durst, sole undertook [ ] The dismal expedition to find out And ruine Adam , and the exploit perform'd Successfully; a calmer voyage now Will waft me; and the way found prosperous once Induces best to hope of like success. He ended, and his words impression left Of much amazement to th' infernal Crew, Distracted and surpriz'd with deep dismay At these sad tidings ; but no time was then For long indulgence to their fears or grief: So to the Coast of Jordan he directs His easie steps, girded with snaky wiles , [ ] Where he might likeliest find this new- declar'd , This man of men, attested Son of God, Temptation and all guile on him to try, So to subvert whom he suspected rais'd To end his Raign on Earth so long enjoy'd: Gabriel , this day by proof thou shalt behold, [ ] Thou and all Angels conversant on Earth With man or mens affairs, how I begin To verifie that solemn message late, On which I sent thee to the Virgin pure In Galilee , that she should bear a Son [ ] Great in Renown, and call'd the Son of God; Then toldst her doubting how these things could be To her a Virgin, that on her should come The Holy Ghost, and the power of the highest O're -shadow her: He now shall know I can produce a man, [ ] Of female Seed, far abler to resist All his sollicitations , and at length All his vast force, and drive him back to Hell, Winning by Conquest what the first man lost By fallacy surpriz'd.

But first I mean [ ] To exercise him in the Wilderness, There he shall first lay down the rudiments Of his great warfare, e're I send him forth To conquer Sin and Death the two grand foes, By Humiliation and strong Sufferance: So spake the Eternal Father, and all Heaven Admiring stood a space, then into Hymns Burst forth, and in Celestial measures mov'd , [ ] Circling the Throne and Singing, while the hand Sung with the voice, and this the argument.

Victory and triumph to the Son of God Now entring his great duel , not of arms, But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles. Be frustrate, all ye stratagems of Hell, [ ] And devilish machinations come to nought. So they in Heav'n their Odes and Vigils tun'd: Mean while the Son of God, who yet some days Lodg'd in Bethabara where John baptiz'd , Musing and much revolving in his brest , [ ] How best the mighty work he might begin Of Saviour to mankind, and which way first Publish his God-like office now mature, One day forth walk'd alone, the Spirit leading; And his deep thoughts, the better to converse [ ] With solitude, till far from track of men, Thought following thought, and step by step led on, He entred now the bordering Desert wild, And with dark shades and rocks environ'd round, His holy Meditations thus pursu'd.

O what a multitude of thoughts at once Awakn'd in me swarm , while I consider What from within I feel my self, and hear What from without comes often to my ears, Ill sorting with my present state compar'd. These growing thoughts my Mother soon perceiving By words at times cast forth inly rejoyc'd , And said to me apart, high are thy thoughts O Son, but nourish them and let them soar [ ] To what highth sacred vertue and true worth Can raise them, though above example high; By matchless Deeds express thy matchless Sire.

At thy Nativity a glorious Quire Of Angels in the fields of Bethlehem sung To Shepherds watching at their folds by night, And told them the Messiah now was born, [ ] Where they might see him, and to thee they came, Directed to the Manger where thou lais't ; For in the Inn was left no better room: This having heard, strait I again revolv'd The Law and Prophets, searching what was writ [ ] Concerning the Messiah, to our Scribes Known partly, and soon found of whom they spake I am; this chiefly, that my way must lie Through many a hard assay even to the death, E're I the promis'd Kingdom can attain, [ ] Or work Redemption for mankind, whose sins Full weight must be transferr'd upon my head.

Yet neither thus disheartn'd or dismay'd , The time prefixt I waited, when behold The Baptist, of whose birth I oft had heard, [ ] Not knew by sight now come, who was to come Before Messiah and his way prepare.

If God had just gone to the trouble to keep Satan out of Eden from the beginning, he would not have had to bother, and none of this ultimately pointless history would have happened! Why not just keep it as Paradise all along? In the ages since Paradise Lost concluded, the fallen angels seem to have done well for themselves. God has apparently abandoned all effort to keep them in Hell, instead giving them almost total liberty to range the Earth and air; Satan even tells us that he has been in Heaven at times, such as when he accused Job.

Following his baptism, Jesus feels the Holy Spirit leading him, and after a brief recitation of his life thus far, wanders into the desert. Forty days pass, during which time he neither eats nor feels the need to. Finally, at the end of this period, Jesus encounters an aged man gathering sticks, who asks what bad luck has led him so deep into the wilderness and how he intends to find his way back. The old man then suggests that, if he is the Son of God, he should miraculously change the stones into bread so that he can eat.

With this, Jesus rebukes Satan, claiming he deserves his present state and was allowed into Heaven only to torment him with what he can never again have. Returning to his airy council, Satan warns that Jesus may be much more difficult to deceive than Adam was. Belial, another fallen angel, suggests that they tempt him with women, as Solomon was tempted. That night, he awakes from sleep and again encounters Satan, this time in the semblance of a more richly dressed man, who offers Jesus food, knowing he hungers; at his gesture a table laden with all sorts of food appears.

Satan encourages him to eat his fill: The table vanishes, and Satan instead offers him wealth and riches so that he can raise and feed an army of followers.

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by John Milton | www.newyorkethnicfood.com: Books

Jesus rejects this as well, listing the names of biblical and historical figures who accomplished great things despite or because of poverty, and concluding that the man who rules over his own passions is just as much a king as one who sits enthroned. Satan recovers and offers a new temptation: Pointing out that most renowned men in history had achieved their greatest deeds before they were as old as Jesus is, he asks why he wastes his time alone in the wilderness when all the nations should be listening to his counsel and eagerly following his advice.

Jesus scorns the idea that he should desire any such thing. This is a consideration well worth taking into account when it comes to explaining the prevalence of Christianity in the world today. This is an excellent moral lesson, and it is unfortunate that the Bible itself contradicts it by extolling acts of slaughter such as those of the Book of Joshua.

He seeks glory, And for his glory all things made, all things Orders and governs; nor content in Heaven, By all his Angels glorified, requires Glory from men, from all men, good or bad, Wise or unwise, no difference, no exemption. Above all sacrifice, or hallowed gift, Glory he requires, and glory he receives, Promiscuous from all nations, Jew, or Greek, Or Barbarous, nor exception hath declared; From us, his foes pronounced, glory he exacts.

Though Milton depicts Satan as stunned and speechless as a result of this argument, in reality it is poor and does not hold up. What exactly does God deserve glory for, according to this theology? Allowing Satan to escape Hell and drag others down to ruin with him? Allowing humans to fall when he could easily have prevented it? Inflicting the curse of suffering and death on people who were not born yet for the crimes of their parents? Condemning untold millions of souls to eternal agony for finite misdeeds?

Does he deserve to be glorified for the fact that, after allowing countless ages of terrible suffering, he will finally restore the world to the paradisical state it was originally in, although he could have prevented this change from the beginning? This would be like praising a doctor who made a person deathly sick and only later cured him. Power alone does not merit worship, and the biblical God has done little else to show himself worthy of it.

What good are his attributes of goodness and wisdom if he will not use them to bring about the best outcome? Following this conversation, Satan catches Jesus up and carries him to a high mountaintop, where he shows him the great kingdoms and armies of the world. He offers Jesus control of any of them in order to establish his own kingdom on Earth and free his people the Israelites, including the ten tribes deported by the Assyrians, from their captivity. Jesus rejects this as well, saying the Israelites deserve to be enslaved and suffer for their sins, and says he will establish his kingdom in his own way and at his own time.

From the mountaintop, Satan shows Jesus the capitol city of imperial Rome, and asks if he will not overthrow the wicked current emperor, Tiberius Caesar, and take the throne. Satan makes one more offer — all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus will bow down to him — and Jesus rejects this as well. A flurry of further offers follows.

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In one last effort, he brings Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, tempting him to prove his divinity by casting himself down and having angels catch him. Jesus refuses, and Satan is the one who falls, fleeing back to the council of devils. When viewed as two parts of a whole, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained give a very consistent message. That message is this: Critical thinking is evil.

Reason is to be denied and denigrated. Seeking to understand the world is at best unprofitable and pointless and at worst a straight road to eternal torment. Instead, virtue consists of absolute obedience and blind belief: As has been noted, the arguments given by Satan in these books make sense , more so than the replies. Why should God have let the devils out of Hell when the only purpose that served was to allow them to drag others down to damnation?

Why should God value ignorance and envy those who gain knowledge? Yet we are not to give these arguments any serious consideration; the appropriate response is to dismiss them out of hand. For those who do seek to question and learn, the story of others who did the same and fell into misery for it — bringing upon us all the misery that anyone has ever experienced in the process — is presented as a cautionary tale.

The message is as subtle as a sledgehammer blow. As human beings, we should all be appalled by this kind of willfully ignorant superstition. Our rational, reasoning mind is the most precious thing we possess, and used in the right ways, it can achieve astounding things. In the centuries that have passed since Milton first set pen to paper, the previously inconceivable advances we have made as a result of our dedicated quest to understand the universe through science more than vindicate the humanist philosophy and discredit anti-intellectualism such as this.

Even in an epic where the author offers himself ample opportunity for apologetics and self-justification, the logical problems with this theology shine through. Of course, in real debates against knowledgeable opponents where the outcomes cannot be so easily scripted and controlled, Christian apologists rarely fare as well. I am aware that not all Christians believe the same as John Milton. I realize that many reject the doctrines of the inequality of women, condemnation for honest questioning, and the literal interpretation of Genesis altogether.

I applaud this courage, but it cannot be denied that many of these ideas are explicitly taught in the Bible. The solution is not merely to discard them and retain belief in the rest of the Bible — the solution is to set the Bible and its anti-humanistic claims aside entirely. There was no past Paradise from which we fell for the crime of wanting to understand the world. There is no future Hell awaiting those who dare to question and think for themselves.

There is nothing for an honest investigator to fear. We are not fallen, we are not sinners, we are not wretches. We are human beings, all equal, and when we finally awake from the mythological dreams of our past, we will know and understand the much brighter light of the world as it truly is — and in that understanding lie the true keys to an earthly paradise. Oh, preacher, give us a good word. Saudi Arabia is the Worst Country in the World for Get newsletters and updates Close.

Also, send me the Nonreligious Newsletter and special offers. Also, send me the Nonreligious Newsletter. His reaction to this is worth quoting in full: BOOK 5 Morning comes, but Eve is unsettled — for the first time ever — by strange and disturbing dreams she had during the night, dreams about eating from the forbidden tree of knowledge. BOOK 7 Adam, curious, asks Raphael to tell him about the creation of the world, in order that he may glorify God by the knowledge.

BOOK 8 Still curious for knowledge, and desiring to detain his angelic guest in order to longer enjoy his company, Adam asks Raphael why all the innumerable stars of the vast cosmos were created for no reason other than to revolve around the Earth, which is a tiny, seemingly insignificant point in comparison. BOOK 3 Satan recovers and offers a new temptation: When Jesus concludes that it is wrong to seek glory, Satan gives a compelling rebuttal: BOOK 4 From the mountaintop, Satan shows Jesus the capitol city of imperial Rome, and asks if he will not overthrow the wicked current emperor, Tiberius Caesar, and take the throne.

It does have a whisper-sync option, so that the price is ten bucks cheaper if you buy the. The Link is on this same page. And, that Kindle is much better as well. Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained To be honest, Paradise Restored is not as good as Paradise Lost, which is grand and epic in its sorrow and all the beauty of creation. I was unsure at first if I was just thinking this because Simon Vance sounds better. So, I listened to part of Paradise Lost on this format. Yes, Simon Vance sounded better.

But, he does not do this second book. It is just simply a fact that Paradise Lost is a much more beautiful work. But, whether you choose to read this book or not, I suggest you at least read Paradise Lost.

I enjoyed both classics and highly recommend them for all ages. Milton clearly deserves his title as being a Great more for his writing style than the content, I believe , but just as his own religious leanings and beliefs clearly permeate every page of his work, so too did my agnostic and feminist leanings shape my reading of it.

It's probably best to read this and try separating some of the ideas from his actual writing, which is very impressive, despite the frequent periods of drudgery. I probably got out of this the opposite of what Milton i Not for me. I probably got out of this the opposite of what Milton intended, namely: Satan periodically came across as a hero more than as a villain, God sounds very much like a dictator, Adam literally could have said no to the apple instead of blaming Eve the way children point fingers, and Eve is a victim of 17th century sexism.

Aug 13, Carson Stones rated it it was ok. I don't think Milton intended to make Satan and hell overshadow the rest of his story, but that's precisely what he did. The imagery in the first few books is vivid and truly original but the story goes downhill after the battle in heaven.

His view of women, while nothing strange for his time, make the scenes with Eve all but unreadable. Milton may have shared Dante's gift for describing the divine, but he's a dwarf compared to Shakespeare when it comes to human nature. The writing read like a mix of Shakespeare and Tolkien. The story was a mash up of Christian belief and Ancient Greek myth. Apr 19, Antonio Simon Jr. While I hesitate to review Milton's masterpiece because it is indeed a masterpiece of Western literature, here's my best shot at it. After Lucifer is cast out of heaven for leading a revolt against God, he gets revenge by setting into motion mankind's fall from grace.

The language is necessarily dense with meaning, so don't rush through this one. In fact, in order to fully appreciate the work for its rythm and packing, it should be recited aloud, even if only to yourself. It is excellent in its own right, although it lacks the impact of "Paradise Lost. In short, definitely read "Paradise Lost", and read "Paradise Regained" only to complete the epic story told in both poems.

Well, the poetry is quite good. But there were a few parts that fell in the action department. Paradise Lost is much, much more interesting than Paradise Regained. I feel this is possibly because Milton made Satan to be such an anti-villain that you couldn't at least blame him for rising up over an overbearing monarch. There may be some values dissonance here as well, some sources say this is a very Calvinist book, which is not as popular a view nowaparts. Jul 10, Peter B. An excellent poem depicting the greatest story of tragedy and redemption ever. I especially enjoyed the last two books of the poem as Milton describes the flow of biblical history from Adam onwards.

Oct 15, Sarah rated it it was amazing Shelves: Interesting story behind this: I went into Strand hoping to find either a cheap, used copy of the Norton Critical Edition of Frankenstein or an even cheaper copy of Paradise Lost with decent notes. I was more interested in the former than the latter, which is only tangential research for my current story project.

Fortunately, I took the long way out of the store a Interesting story behind this: I took an interesting approach to reading this: Without even thinking about it, in both these cases, I approached fact as fact and fiction as fiction while leaving the bits that might impact my personal faith for consideration at a different time. So, with that said, shall I start with how much I sympathized with Satan? Can you blame him, as a character, for being disgruntled?

This is, in fact, the kind of thing that has started actual wars, something that still happens albeit on a much smaller scale. Plus, well, Milton starts out with him, with his fall and his fight to survive and settle his forces in Hell—and the visuals are really cool. Of course, as Milton keeps reminding us, he is, you know, the devil. Having read all those essays in the Norton Critical Edition of Frankenstein , I was keenly aware of the narrative framing, though it was less obviously nested in part, I think, because it is a poem and we expect lots of verbal and narrative play in poems.

The whole book is full of fantastic descriptions and crystal-clear imagery, describing the kinds of things that wow us when we go to see films by Chris Nolan or James Cameron.

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Take, for example, one of my favorite parts: The hills of heaven go flying through the air, crashing into each other. But the really remarkable thing was that almost every line had a word that could be interpreted in at least two different ways. Take this random line I opened to: And those were just the two most obvious ones to jump out at me! Of course, as the poem goes on, we get to meet Adam…and Eve. And then we approach the fall and the sexism gets worse and worse.

Without that, how is Eve to recognize that this talking snake might be more than it seems? And, really, you plant the tree of knowledge right next to the tree of life? On top of all that, humanity gets the seriously short end of the stick after the fall. What do Adam and Eve get? Mortality, pain and hard labor, removal of easy conversation with God and his messengers, no one fighting to protect them from supernatural harm, banishment from paradise, all of their unborn descendants equally cursed, and the hatred of the aforementioned. With the deck so heavily stacked against them, why should their punishment be so harsh?

The failure of internal logic is interesting, because a modern fictional take would probably work to close those gaps. I did get annoyed with Milton in a few places for more ordinary narrative sins. Paradise Lost is, essentially, a work of fan fiction, and commits one of my pet peeves when he narrates a few sections of exposition almost word-for-word from the Bible. This is especially annoying in the final two books, which are basically Cliff Notes for the Bible. After all the gorgeous original work he did, getting this shoehorned highlights tour kind of kills the momentum.

I actually compared it to the epilogue of the seventh Harry Potter: Narrative coherence is not at the top of his agenda. Thanks for sticking with me this far! Quote Roundup is on Tumblr , since I broke the Goodreads character limit like woah.

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained

Ahem, what I meant to say was: I was not made for reading epic poetry Milton's a supernal talent in the superlative, pompous, and biblical. This work provides the reader with John's slightly modified take on the events of Genesis and the Gospels, but while they are not exactly what the Bible tells us, they're far more entertaining and impressive.

What I really loved about this work was how the relationship between Adam and Eve was described. It works as a good allegory in any case: At Milton's a supernal talent in the superlative, pompous, and biblical. At first their thoughts are more or less pure, and they build castles in the sky. However, if they are mostly driven by lust at some point, troubles will inevitably ensue, and finally the scales will fall off their eyes.

The resulting tiffs turn into bigger arguments, during which they raise Cain and blame the Hell out of each other, but if Love deigns to sit through the show and remain on her seat, She shall triumph. But the triumph requires the acknowledgement of the obligatory hardships the future will have in store. Satan is also a magnificent character, especially since one can really root for him, despite his daemonic intent.

He seems to be the lesser evil here, and hence it's easier to relate to him I have no need to propound the problem of theodicy in this review, because everyone must be aware of it, but suffice it to say that Milton didn't manage to solve the problem by a long shot. God creates an imperfect little planet, blames the inhabitants for their imperfections and their gullibility, and eventually banishes his lovely images from Paradise while making sure they'll be informed of all the havoc and ruin their little transgression has caused. Every bad thing that happens has either been perpetrated by God, or has been enabled by Him.

And He opines that Conscience should be the key to avoid all problems created by Him in his great divine wisdom. Even the angels in heaven aren't free from the yoke of Conscience! They must continue to fight the temptation forever, or else they will come a nasty cropper. Now, Satan hates God, yet seems to care for his minions. He points out the absurdity of the fruit restriction.

Yet he's nothing but a pawn and a scapegoat, so what Satan does, is allowed by God, and hence we must thank the Maker a little bit for Milton's Satan's charm. He caused the downfall of Man, but it's much easier to feel for him, because he had to suffer the same consequences of Divine errors. And how much more nobler the Man, who contemplates suicide in order to save the posterity from eternal suffering?

Eve, you chivalrous Mother of Man, that was truly an astounding proposition to make. It's unfortunate that Adam bethought himself that it would be much more suitable to dedicate the life of Man for vengeance against Satan the Scapegoat. And thus the Divine Comedy began, providing great laughter for the Heavenly host. Paradise Regained was much more inferior to its predecessor, because it abounded in needless references, didn't seem to be inspired by as magnificent and lofty Muses, and showcased merely the futility of Satan's attempts. Jesus is not to be swayed, of course not!

He has all the power in the universe, so what could he care about piffling Romes! He merely toys with Satan for a while, scorns Mankind and its idolatry most notably the Greek culture , and basks in the approbation of angels afterwards. Of course, Milton wanted to show Jesus in much more composed light in this here text, just like he made God much more aloof and calm in Paradise Lost instead of portraying him as the cranky tyrant he was in the Old Testament. But one can ignore the obvious shortcomings of these two books, because the verses are so majestic.

Sometimes even overbearingly so the pedantic references usually served to obfuscate rather than reinforce his points, and some heavenly passages could've done with some more down-to-earth juxtapositions , but usually done in extremely good taste. Of course, I could easily appreciate someone writing it off as a pompous and over-indulgent, white-washing paean, but I simply can't resist Milton's sublime genius. By His infinite fore-knowledge, God knew what would be the result of Satan's temptation to Eve, and what Adam would do under the conditions.

Articles of Faith] 10 And in that day Adam blessed God, and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth; saying, Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again, in the flesh I shall see God. Lutes All rights reserved. One of the most relevant pieces of literature ever written. Gospel Doctrine, laid out in a romantic and intelligent, Spiritual way; years Before Joseph Smith. I tried, but only managed three parts. I realized I was bored when book four came around and it wasn't for me so I decided to drop it.

I recommend simply reading through a detailed summary and safe yourself the trouble, which I did and have not regretted once XD I quite liked the take on Satan here though, it was fresh in my eyes and don't attack me on this , but once Adam and Eve came into the picture I realized I am not interested, even with thi I tried, but only managed three parts.

XD I quite liked the take on Satan here though, it was fresh in my eyes and don't attack me on this , but once Adam and Eve came into the picture I realized I am not interested, even with this take on Satan.

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XD It was really tedious to read and half the time I couldn't understand what was being said, especially if my mind suddenly wandered elsewhere for a second, so I had to turn to the summaries anyway. I wanted to culturize myself, but I guess I will have to find something else to read to do that. XD I hear the Divine Comedy is more understandable this time of year.

XDD By no means was this a bad work, but it was just tedious. And obviously an outdated view I don't exactly understand on women, justice, being hypocritical, etc , which I think is for the best too. Satan gets the stars tho! Mar 24, Tandava Brahmachari rated it liked it Shelves: Poetry-wise, I know there is vastly more to Milton than this, but for me it was a good practical immersion in iambic pentameter.

Reading solid pages of it got me into a good flow of perceiving and understanding the rhythmic variations and figuring out the elisions and whatnot which are not always marked.