Summary:
An analysis of lines 1-26 of John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost." Loaded with classic literary and biblical references, these lines contain a great deal of information that is pertinent to the rest of the twelve-book poem, including the introduction of Milton's proclaimed subject, identification of a muse, the referencing of Milton's blindness and the political events in England of that time, and a declaration that his epic will surpass all epics written before.
An Epic to Surpass all Epics
The epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton was written during a time of religious revolution in England. The subject matter of this epic poem, in the words of Milton, is "[o]f man's first disobedience" (line 1). In this blank verse, Milton refers to the story in Genesis where Eve tempts Adam to eat the "forbidden fruit." In the first five lines of the poem he describes the beginning of mortality, suffering, and man's restoration, as "the fruit [o]f that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste [b]rought death into the world, and all our woe, [w]ith loss of Eden, till one greater Man [r]estore us, and regain the blissful seat" (lines 1-5). "[D]eath" is human mortality, and "all our woe" is man's suffering (line 3). When he says "till one greater Man.....
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