Poetry Tuesday: John Milton’s Paradise Lost
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The Long Journey Begins
After the stillness of Spenser’s Mutability, and after meeting the Master face to face, we now begin a new and longer road together — Paradise Lost by John Milton.
If Spenser brought us to quiet submission, Milton brings us into cosmic conflict.
If Mutability whispered of change and rest, Paradise Lost opens with thunder.
Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the World, and all our woe…
Those are among the most solemn opening lines in all of English poetry.
Milton tells us plainly what he is about to do:
He intends to “justify the ways of God to men.”
That is no small task.
Why Paradise Lost?
Milton wrote this epic in the aftermath of political collapse.
England had executed a king, tried a republic, and restored the monarchy.
Milton himself had defended the Commonwealth and lost both position and eyesight in the struggle. Blind, disgraced, and physically broken, he dictated this poem.
And what did he choose to write about?
Not politics.
Not his enemies.
Not his suffering.
He went back to Genesis.
He went back to the beginning.
The Story We Think We Know
Most of us know the outline:
Satan rebels.
Heaven erupts in war.
Satan falls.
Adam and Eve are tempted.
They fall.
Paradise is lost.
But Milton slows the story down. He makes us see it.
He lets us overhear the speeches of angels and demons.
He paints Eden not as a fairy tale garden but as a living, breathing world filled with beauty and order.
And at the center stands a terrifying figure — Satan himself.
Milton’s Satan is proud, wounded, defiant:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.
These are dangerous words.
They stir something in the fallen human heart.
Milton knows that. He does not glorify Satan — he exposes him.
Pride sounds strong. It is actually hollow.
As the poem unfolds, Satan grows smaller. His bold speeches shrink into hissing self-deception.
Sin gives birth to Death. Rebellion turns into ruin.
Adam, Eve, and the Shape of Obedience
Milton gives Adam and Eve dignity. They are not childish or foolish.
They are intelligent, loving, and capable of real obedience.
That is what makes the fall tragic.
Eve listens.
Adam chooses.
And in that choice, the world fractures.
Yet even in judgment, there is promise.
O happy fault, that brought so great a good.
Milton sees beyond Genesis 3.
He sees the Son — the One who will step forward and offer Himself before the foundation of the world.
The cross is not an afterthought in this poem. It is the hidden center.
Why Read This Now?
We live in a time that questions everything — authority, obedience, truth itself. Paradise Lost asks us to consider:
What is freedom?
What is pride?
What is true obedience?
What does it mean to serve God?
Milton reminds us that the greatest battles are not political but spiritual. The war begins in the will.
And the remedy is not self-assertion, but surrender.
How We Will Walk Through It
This is a long poem — twelve books in its final form. We will not rush.
Over the coming weeks, we will:
Enter Heaven’s rebellion.
Walk through Eden.
Listen carefully at the moment of temptation.
Watch the fall.
And follow Adam and Eve out of the garden — not without hope.
We will move steadily, calmly, and without haste.
For now, let these opening lines settle in your mind:
Sing, Heavenly Muse…
Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the World, and all our woe…
Milton does not begin with himself. He begins with prayer.
That may be the best place for us to begin as well.
Closing Prayer
Lord God,
Guard us from pride.
Teach us obedience.
Open our eyes to see both the ruin of sin and the greater glory of redemption in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
***************************
Let Us With A Joyful Mind
Praise The Lord For He Is Kind:
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
He, With All-Commanding Might,
Filled The New-Made World With Light:
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
All Things Living He Doth Feed;
His Full Hand Supplies Their Need:
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
He His Chosen Race Did Bless
In The Wasteful Wilderness:
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
He Hath, With A Piteous Eye,
Looked Upon Our Misery:
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
Let Us Blaze His Name Abroad,
For Of Gods He Is The God.
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
He The Golden Tressed Sun
Caused All Day His Course To Run.
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
Th’horned Moon To Shine By Night;
‘Mid Her Spangled Sisters Bright.
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
Let Us Then With Gladsome Mind,
Praise The Lord For He Is Kind:
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
Let Us Therefore Warble Forth
His High Majesty And Worth;
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
Let Us With A Joyful Mind
Praise The Lord For He Is Kind:
For His Mercies Aye Endure,
Ever Faithful, Ever Sure.
==John Milton
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