"Paradise Lost is a book that, once put down, is very hard to pick up again," Samuel Johnson wrote of Miltons massive work, and added that no one ever wished it to be any longer than it is. I for one wish it were so much shorter that it hadnt been written at all. Milton was a man of extreme arrogance. He thought one way was right, and that was his way, in religion, in politics, and in poetry. Disregarding that English is not an inflected language, that its sounds are more various and therefore less melodious than those of Latin, Greek or even Italian, he blasted rhymed poetry with his blunderbuss of a pen and launched forth in an endless barrage of blank verse.
And with which subject did he choose to invade our ears and sense? Only the one which (according to believers of the Biblical tradition) was handed down to Moses from God himself. Ill just say: the original story in Genesis is *much* better. Milton puts words in Gods mouth. He creates a cartoonish scene of Satans fall from heaven. And Adam is a philosopher with long and flowing locks (very pretty, like those which Milton himself proudly wore). Eve is not a well-drawn woman but the narrow fantasy of his cramped mind.
A good plot with sympathetic characters in a vivid setting is not the point of Miltons attack. This is Milton creating a universe-- a God, an earth, a human race-- with which he can be comfortable. Any lack of freshness in the story is obscured in the clanging bells of his language, in his love of exotic proper nouns: "Sinai," "Sion," "Siloa" he rattles off in the opening lines. "Horrible dungeon" is too commonplace, but invert it and "Dungeon horrible" is downright impressive.
Even Reverend Lovejoy of Springfield couldnt keep up with Miltons fire and brimstone: "fiery Deluge" and "ever-burning Sulphur" are part of the place "Eternal Justice" has prepared for the "rebellious." Is it now? Well, who rebelled against the King of England, but Milton with his friend Cromwell? Oh, but thats different, because it was the *right* way, Miltons way, such as his own form of the English language, one in which word order and syntax matter no more.
No-- there is not a compelling moral to be gained from this grave work. It is Miltons tribute to his own ego, his vast learning in Vergil and Homer, in Hebrew, and his dogmatic views in politics and religion.
The title is the best part. For centuries women and men who have never read the work have used the words "paradise lost" in conversation. But dive into the pages and prepare to be disappointed by a string of place-names-- "Rabba" and "Argob" and "Basan" and "Arnon"-- and a cherub telling Adam everything that will happen on earth (for two whole books!), a necessary device because after all, the story in Genesis is so very brief!
Other than the title, _Paradise Lost_ is a failure, but because it is on such a grand scale, because it is so ambitious, it is a magnificent one at that. Miltons learning was very deep, and his mind clever, so Ill grant him two stars for those qualities. Otherwise, avoid this like Eve should have avoided that nasty piece of fruit.
I enjoyed it
A magnificent failure.
Bad Book