paradise lost lines 1 - 83

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Book 1 Lines 01 – 26 The Invocation Paradise Lost

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Book 1Lines 01 – 26

The Invocation

Paradise Lost

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Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat, 05Sing heavenly muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, In the beginning how the heavens and earth Rose out of chaos: Or if Sion hill 10Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed Fast by the oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues 15Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

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Sing, goddess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achillesand its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians,hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong soulsof heroes, but gave their bodies to be the delicate feastingof dogs, of all birds, and the will of Zeus was accomplishedsince that time when first there stood in division of conflictAtreus’ son the lord of men and brilliant Achilles. . . .The Iliad (trans 1951 Richard Lattimore)

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the storyof that man skilled in all ways of contending,the wanderer, harried for years on end,after he plundered the strongholdon the proud height of Troy.The Odyssey (trans 1961 Robert Fitzgerald)

The opening five lines state the argument or subject of the epic just as the opening lines of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad announce the subject of those classical epics.

Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,

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In classical Greek mythology, Calliope (Καλλιόπη "beautiful-voiced") was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory), and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad.

Calliope had two famous sons, Orpheus and Linus. She taught Orpheus verses for singing.

Calliope is always seen with a writing tablet in her hand. At times, she is depicted as carrying a roll of paper or a book or wearing a gold crown.

Who might be Milton’s ‘heavenly’ muse if not Calliope?

Sing heavenly muse…?

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Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.Deuteronomy 4.10 And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai,

on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.Exodus 19.20

Sing heavenly muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, In the beginning how the heavens and earth Rose out of chaos:

By adding details of Oreb and Sinai Milton associates himself with Moses the lawgiver, who brought the ten commandments from Sinai, and Moses ‘that shepherd’ and bard of the Jews, who taught them their history and revealed their future.

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…Or if Sion hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed Fast by the oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above the Aonian mount...

Here Milton invites comparison to the classical Muses who also favoured mountains and their nearby streams. The oracle at Delphi was by the Catalian spring on Mount Parnassus; the oracle of God was on Mount Zion by Siloa’s brook. The classical Muses were thought to live near the spring Hippocrene on the side of Mount Helicon, ‘th’Aonian Mount’ inhabited by the Pegasus, the winged horse that symbolized poetic inspiration as it could fly to Mount Olympus above ‘the middle flight’ - above the ordinary…

…while it pursues Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

This isn’t Milton saying he’s Charlie Big Potatoes (well, maybe a bit). This is a translation of a line from Ariosto’s Italian Renaissance epic Orlando Furioso (1532) (the Frenzy of Orlando) which is about a war that takes place between Christian Charlemagne and his paladins and the invading Saracen heathens. Milton is emphasising the greatness and seriousness of his undertaking.

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And chiefly thou O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all temples the upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for thou knowest; thou from the first Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread 20 Dove-like satst brooding on the vast abyss And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support; That to the heighth of this great argument I may assert eternal providence, 25And justify the ways of God to men.

Q. What effect does the opening ‘invocation’ have?

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An epic poem is: A long narrative poem; On a serious subject; Written in a grand or elevated style; Centred on a larger-than-life hero.

Epics also tend to have the following characteristics: An opening in medias res; An invocation to the Muse; A concern with the fate of a nation or people; A correspondingly large scale, often ranging around the world (and in Milton's case, beyond the earth and into heaven); The intervention of supernatural figures, who are interested in the outcome of the action (the system of gods, demons, angels, and such is often called machinery); Extended similes, generally called epic similes; Long catalogues, whether of ships, characters, or places; Extensive battle scenes; A few stock episodes, including a visit to the underworld.

Q. To what extent does the opening of ‘Paradise Lost’ conform to the conventions of the epic poem?

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Book 1Lines 27 – 49

The Scope

Paradise Lost

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Say first, for heav’n hides nothing from thy view Nor the deep tract of Hell, say first what cause Moved our grand parents in that happy state, Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off 30 From their Creator, and transgress his will For one restraint, lords of the world besides? Who first seduced them to that foul revolt? The infernal serpent; he it was, whose guile Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived 35The mother of mankind, what time his pride Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring To set himself in glory above his peers, He trusted to have equalled the most high, 40If he opposed; and with ambitious aim Against the throne and monarchy of God Raised impious war in Heaven and battle proud With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky 45With hideous ruin and combustion down To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In adamantine chains and penal fire, Who durst defy the Omnipotent to arms.

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Say first, for heav’n hides nothing from thy view Nor the deep tract of Hell, say first what cause Moved our grand parents in that happy state, Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off 30 From their Creator, and transgress his will For one restraint, lords of the world besides? Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?

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The infernal serpent; he it was, whose guile Stirred up with envy and revenge, deceived 35The mother of mankind, what time his pride Had cast him out from Heaven, with all his host Of rebel angels, by whose aid aspiring To set himself in glory above his peers, He trusted to have equalled the most high, 40If he opposed; and with ambitious aim Against the throne and monarchy of God Raised impious war in Heaven and battle proud With vain attempt. …

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…Him the Almighty Power Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky 45With hideous ruin and combustion down To bottomless perdition, there to dwell In adamantine chains and penal fire, Who durst defy the Omnipotent to arms.

…from morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A summer’s day; and with the setting sun Dropt from the zenith like a falling star, 745On Lemnos the Aegean isle: PL Book I

…Long is the way And hard, that out of Hell leads up to light. Our prison strong, this huge convex of fire, Outrageous to devour, immures us round 435Ninefold; and gates of burning adamant, Barred over us, prohibit all egress. PL Book 2

Q. What techniques does Milton use to introduce Satan?

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Him the Almighty PowerHurled headlong flaming from th’ ethereal sky,With hideous ruin and combustion, downTo bottomless perdition, there to dwellIn adamantine chains and penal fire,Who durst defy th’ Omnipotent to arms.

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Book 1Lines 50 – 83

Introduction to Hell

Paradise Lost

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Nine times the space that measures day and night 50 To mortal men, he with his horrid crew Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf Confounded though immortal: But his doom Reserved him to more wrath; for now the thought Both of lost happiness and lasting pain 55Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes That witnessed huge affliction and dismay Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate: At once as far as angels ken he views The dismal situation waste and wild, 60A dungeon horrible, on all sides round As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible Served only to discover sights of woe, Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace 65And rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes to all; but torture without end Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed With ever-burning sulfur unconsumed: Such place eternal justice had prepared 70For those rebellious, here their prison ordained In utter darkness, and their portion set As far removed from God and light of Heaven As from the center thrice to the utmost pole. Oh how unlike the place from whence they fell! 75There the companions of his fall, overwhelmed With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire, He soon discerns, and weltering by his side One next himself in power, and next in crime, Long after known in Palestine, and named 80Beelzebub. To whom the arch-enemy, And thence in Heaven called Satan, with bold words Breaking the horrid silence thus began.

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Nine times the space that measures day and night 50 To mortal men, he with his horrid crew Lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf Confounded though immortal: But his doom Reserved him to more wrath; for now the thought Both of lost happiness and lasting pain 55Torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes That witnessed huge affliction and dismay Mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate:

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At once as far as angels ken he views The dismal situation waste and wild, 60A dungeon horrible, on all sides round As one great furnace flamed, yet from those flames No light, but rather darkness visible Served only to discover sights of woe, Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace 65And rest can never dwell, hope never comes That comes to all; but torture without end Still urges, and a fiery Deluge, fed With ever-burning sulfur unconsumed:

A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.Job Chapter 10 Lines 20-22

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Such place eternal justice had prepared 70For those rebellious, here their prison ordained In utter darkness, and their portion set As far removed from God and light of Heaven As from the center thrice to the utmost pole.

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Oh how unlike the place from whence they fell! 75There the companions of his fall, overwhelmed With floods and whirlwinds of tempestuous fire, He soon discerns, and weltering by his side One next himself in power, and next in crime, Long after known in Palestine, and named 80Beelzebub. To whom the arch-enemy, And thence in Heaven called Satan, with bold words Breaking the horrid silence thus began.

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.Matthew 10.24

Ba'al Zebub means ‘lord of the flies’…

And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.2 Kings 1.2-3

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Q. Do we sympathise with Satan’s situation here? How pictorial is Milton’s description?

Q. Essay question on lines 1 – 83How are the opening lines similar, and different to a traditional epic poem? What similarities and differences can you draw between the opening of Paradise Lost and the opening of the Duchess of Malfi?

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http://www.paradiselost.org/8-Search-All.html

http://bible.cc/2_kings/1-2.htm