poetry

of how the malodorous oaf Milton did share in bold flatulence his heretical views and cause much stink in the bedroom of Tucker who did paw through that man of bad wind's pages, sometimes well-drawn. Sing to me, Muse, of the rage of Tucker, like that of Peleus's son Achilles, of spirited Turnus, or of earth-shaking Neptune, who, upon reading the gaseous opinions of the Arian heretic proto-Mormon poet who does reject the triune God, embrace notions strange of divine progression, draw corporeal spirits bizarre, misunderstand reason's nature and her relation to Faith, hold to a doctrine of imputed righteousness and forensic justification unregenerate, understand perversely law and authority, proudly dismiss hierarchy natural, deny creation ex nihilo, and rebel against the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, did fervently hope for an exhumation of his remains heretical followed by an auto-da-fe.

But if you must read it, tackle Books I and II, then jump to the end of Book IV where Satan is captured in paradise, then jump to the middle of Book V where Raphael begins to relate the war in Heaven which continues through Book VII, then maybe read about the Fall in Book IX. This is where all the good stuff is; although mixed with much bad, so be wary lest you be overcome by Milton's bad air and worse theology. Odors to which only the damned should be subject.

On the other hand, any guy who posits a Ptolemaic universe (at least in his prelapsarian astronomy) can't be all bad. And his drawing of the monomaniacal Satan is interesting. Read Lewis' A Preface to Paradise Lost for a more favorable opinion.

Even if you can't appreciate Classical epics and copious amounts of poetic language, this book is still written good enough for one to appreciate. Milton not only instills new life into this ancient story, but makes it just as compelling and intriguing as any modern story. The epic scope the story encompasses, including both the domains of Heaven and Hell, is enough to humble any reader. Also the unique look at the Powers' characters, especially the in depth look at the character of Satan himself, impresses the reader with a sense of something great. All in all, an excellent read if you have the patience to get through a few of the slower parts.

In response to 'A Magnificent Failure': Yes, Milton was arrogant, and his language certainly does get high-flown...but it is often very beautiful, to my taste anyway. I especially loved the descriptions of Milton's world--Hell, Eden, and Heaven--in the first few books. After that the poetry isn't quite so sublimely beautiful, but it remains quite pleasurable, and Milton's play with ideas kept me interested anyway. It is true that Eve isn't a well-drawn woman (nor is Adam really a well-drawn man in terms of psychological realism) and the male fantasy-fulfilment that contributed to her character is distracting. Nevertheless, by the end of the book I wasn't as disturbed by the character of Eve as I thought I might be. By my own 21st century standard Milton's views on women are deplorable, but his attitude seems to me more ambivalent than uniformly misogynist. You can't expect Milton to be completely independent of his culture, and 17th century England was itself ambivalent about women. Eve is one of the three dominant personalities in the book (well, four if you include Milton's!)and as a woman her role in Milton's universe is quite important, if limiting to her by modern western standards.
Overall, as long as the reader keeps in mind that he or she need not agree with Milton's ideas, reading Paradise Lost can be a pleasurable and thought-provoking experience.