Paradise Lost

by John Milton

Of wisdom; hope no higher, though all the stars

  Thou knew’st by name, and all th’ ethereal powers,

  All secrets of the deep, all nature’s works,

  Or works of God in heav’n, air, earth, or sea,

  And all the riches of this world enjoyedst,

  And all the rule, one empire; only add581

  Deeds to thy knowledge answerable582, add faith,

  Add virtue, patience, temperance, add love,

  By name to come called charity, the soul

  Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath

  To leave this Paradise, but shalt possess

  A paradise within587 thee, happier far.

  Let us descend now therefore from this top

  Of speculation; for the hour precise

  Exacts our parting hence; and see the guards,

  By me encamped on yonder hill, expect

  Their motion, at whose front a flaming sword,

  In signal of remove, waves fiercely round;

  We may no longer stay: go594, waken Eve;

  Her also I with gentle dreams have calmed

  Portending good, and all her spirits composed

  To meek submission: thou at season fit

  Let her with thee partake what thou hast heard,

  Chiefly what may concern her faith to know,

  The great deliverance by her seed to come

  (For by the woman’s seed) on all mankind.

  That ye may live, which will be many days,

  Both in one faith unanimous though sad,

  With cause for evils past604, yet much more cheered

  With meditation on the happy end.”

  He ended, and they both descend the hill;

  Descended, Adam to the bower where Eve

  Lay sleeping ran before608, but found her waked;

  And thus with words not sad she him received.

  “Whence thou return’st, and whither went’st, I know;

  For God is also in sleep, and dreams advise,

  Which he hath sent propitious, some great good

  Presaging, since with sorrow and heart’s distress

  Wearied I fell asleep: but now lead on;

  In me615 is no delay; with thee to go,

  Is to stay here; without thee here to stay,

  Is to go hence unwilling; thou to me

  Art all things under Heav’n, all places thou,

  Who for my willful crime art banished hence.

  This further consolation yet secure

  I carry hence; though all by me is lost,

  Such favor I unworthy am vouchsafed,

  By me the promised seed shall all restore.”

  So spake our mother Eve, and Adam heard

  Well pleased, but answered not; for now too nigh

  Th’ Archangel stood, and from the other hill

  To their fixed station, all in bright array

  The Cherubim descended; on the ground

  Gliding meteorous629, as ev’ning mist

  Ris’n from a river o’re the marish630 glides,

  And gathers ground fast at the laborer’s heel631

  Homeward returning. High in front advanced,

  The brandished sword of God before them blazed

  Fierce as a comet; which with torrid heat,

  And vapor as the Libyan air adust635,

  Began to parch that temperate clime; whereat

  In either hand the hast’ning Angel caught

  Our ling’ring parents, and to th’ eastern gate

  Led them direct, and down the cliff as fast

  To the subjected640 plain; then disappeared.

  They looking back, all th’ eastern side beheld

  Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,

  Waved over by that flaming brand643, the gate

  With dreadful faces thronged and fiery arms:

  Some natural tears they dropped, but wiped them soon;

  The world was all before them, where to choose

  Their place of rest, and providence their guide:

  They hand in hand648 with wand’ring steps and slow,

  Through Eden took their solitary way.

  1–5. This passage first appeared in 1674, where the long Book 10 of 1667 was divided into the current Books 11 and 12.

  1. bates: pauses at an inn for refreshment.

  7. second stock: Noah now takes the place of Adam, but the passage also glances at Christ, the stock onto which we are grafted in Rom. 11.17–27.

  11. I will relate: Adam’s instruction switches from visions to narrations, and the pace doubles, since the visions of Book 11 were first described and then explained. The six visions in Book 11 are structurally balanced by Michael’s six main speeches in Book 12.

  24. one shall rise: Nimrod; as in Book 11, proper names and place names are for the time being withheld.

  27. arrogate dominion: In biblical history, Nimrod is the first tyrant; see Ralegh, History of the World, 1.10.1.

  30. Hunting: In Gen. 10.9, Nimrod is “a mighty hunter before the Lord.”

  34–35. as in despite … sov’reignty: Michael says that Nimrod’s epithet (see previous note) means that he either brazenly defies God or invents the blasphemous doctrine of the divine right of kings.

  36. Nimrod was sometimes said to derive from the Hebrew marad, “to rebel.” The sense is that he is rebelling against God.

  38–62. In presenting Nimrod as the builder of Babel, Milton follows the view of Josephus (Antiq. 1.4.2).

  41. The plain: the site of Babylon; gurge: whirlpool.

  52. in derision: “The Lord shall have them in derision” (Ps. 2.4).

  53–54. to raze … language: In the context of Paradise Lost, this well-known biblical episode suggests both the original names of the rebel angels razed from the Books of Life (1.362–63) and the senseless hissing and spitting of the metamorphosed devils (10.504–77).

  60. hubbub: reminiscent of Chaos, “a universal hubbub wild/Of stunning sounds and voices all confused” (2.951–52).

  62. Confusion named: Babel was sometimes said to derive from the Hebrew balal, “to confound.”

  82. Rational liberty: the freedom proper to rational animals (but not to the subjected beasts).

  84. right reason: conscience, innate knowledge of what is just and right. See Hoopes. Michael observes that this faculty was impaired by the Fall, so that true liberty, which is obedience to right reason, was lost in the microcosm of the human soul before it was lost in the macrocosm of human government. Cp. 6.42n.

  85. dividual: separate.

  103. this heavy curse: See Noah’s curse on Ham’s sons in Gen. 9.25.

  104. race: descendants.

  111. one peculiar nation: Peculiar, meaning “uniquely favored” and used of the Jews or of Christian believers in phrases such as “peculiar nation” or “peculiar people,” was once a common idiom sanctioned by Bible translation (OED B.1.1a).

  113. one faithful man: Abraham; Milton’s account of him derives from Gen. 11–25.

  115. Bred up in idol-worship: See Josh. 24.2.

  117. the patriarch: Noah lived 350 years after the Flood (Gen. 9.28).

  130. Ur: a city in ancient Babylonia.

  131. Haran: a city on the Belikh, a tributary of the Euphrates, on the border of Canaan.

  132. servitude: slaves and servants.

  136. Sechem: commercial center in Canaan, present-day Nablus.

  139–45. A precise description of the Promised Land, drawn mostly from Num. 34. Its northern border is the district of Hamath, its southern the desert of Zin, its western the Mediterranean (great western sea), and its eastern the river Jordan, double-founted because of the supposed confluence of the Jor and the Dan.

  140. Things by their names I call: Michael calls attention to the sudden reintroduction of place names and (with Abraham in line 152) proper names, hitherto missing from Adam’s second education (see 11.836–37n; 12.24n).

  153. son: Isaac; grandchild: Jacob.

&
nbsp; 160. younger son: Joseph.

  165. Suspected to: an object of suspicion to.

  166. overgrowth: excessive growth.

  173. denies: refuses.

  175. signs and judgments dire: the ten plagues of Exod. 7–12.

  179. murrain: a cattle plague.

  180. Botches: boils; blains: pustules; emboss: swell.

  188. Palpable darkness: See 2.406n.

  207. defends: prevents.

  210. craze: shatter.

  214. war: soldiers.

  216. not the readiest way: The detour was intended to circumvent the warlike Philistines (Exod. 13).

  217. alarmed: called to arms.

  225. great senate: the Seventy Elders of Exod. 24.19 and Num. 11.16–30. Milton cites the Sanhedrin as a model senate in REW (MLM 1124).

  232–33. types/And shadows: prefigurations of Christianity; cp. shadowy types (l. 303).

  241. Moses in figure bears: Moses prefigures Christ as mediator between man and God.

  247. his tabernacle: the Ark of the Covenant, which contained manna, the tables of the law, and Aaron’s rod.

  255. Seven lamps as in a zodiac: Josephus, Antiq., 3.6–7, maintained that the seven lamps of the candlestick (Exod. 25.37) represented the seven planets.

  265–67. Sun … overcome: Paraphrasing the words of Joshua when routing the five Amorite kings at Gibeon (Josh. 10.12–13). The episode appears among the subjects for a tragic poem listed in the CMS.

  267. so call the third: Jacob, who is named Israel (“he that strives with God”) by a mysterious wrestling opponent in Gen. 32.24–28.

  274. eyes true op’ning: Adam alludes to the opening of the eyes Satan falsely promised Eve upon her eating the forbidden fruit (9.706–8, 985, 1053).

  277. His: Abraham’s.

  287. therefore was law given them: It is a dictum of Christian (especially Protestant) theology, stemming from Paul, that law can discover sin but not purge it (Rom. 3.19–28, 4.15–16, 5.12–15).

  288. natural pravity: original sin. See CD 1.11.

  292. blood of bulls and goats: “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins” (Heb. 10.4).

  293. blood more precious: “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1.19).

  295. imputed: attributed vicariously.

  296. Justification: a theological term: “The judgment of God … by virtue of which those who are regenerate … are absolved from sins and from death through Christ’s absolutely full satisfaction, … not by the works of the law but through faith” (CD 1.22, Yale 6:485).

  310. Joshua … Jesus call: Joshua in Hebrew and Jesus in Greek both mean “savior.”

  316. but: except.

  322. a promise: “Thy throne shall be established forever,” Nathan promises King David (2 Sam. 7.16).

  332. his next son: Solomon.

  338. Heaped to the popular sum: added to the sins of the people.

  343–47. The seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity were foretold in Jer. 25.12 and are described in 2 Kings 25, 2 Chron. 36.

  348. kings: Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes, the Persian kings under whom Jerusalem was rebuilt.

  349. disposed: put in a favorable mood.

  350. re-edify: rebuild, with spiritual overtones (see Coolidge 23–54).

  358. a stranger: Antipater, whom Julius Caesar appointed ruler of Judea (now a Roman colony).

  360. Barred of: barred from; a star: the star of Bethlehem, proclaiming Christ the true king.

  379. hail: See 11.158n.

  383. capital: both “on the head” and “fatal.”

  393. recure: heal.

  396. want: lack.

  401. apaid: satisfied, the debt paid; see 3.246.

  403. by love: “Love is the fulfilling of the law” (Rom. 13.10).

  406. Crucifixion for the Jews was an ultimate punishment, virtually damnation (Gal. 3.13). The Romans also regarded it as the “extreme and ultimate punishment of slaves” (Cicero, Against Verres, 2.5.169).

  409. Imputed: See 295n. In the Protestant doctrine of justification, Christ’s obedience is imputed or “attributed vicariously” to the faithful Christian, who cannot by means of his own works merit salvation.

  415–16. to the cross … sins: See Col. 2.14.

  423. fresh as the dawning light: Although dawn as a symbol of resurrection was commonplace, Milton found great poetry in it; recall the various dawns in Nativity Ode and Lycidas.

  432. fix far deeper in his head: The stings of Sin and Death are returned to their source in Satan’s head (Flannagan); see 2.758.

  442. profluent: flowing; Milton favored baptism in profluentum aquam (running water) (CD 1.28 in MLM 1280).

  447–50. The universal teaching of the Apostles fulfills the promise to Abraham that all nations (men of faith throughout the world) shall be blessed in his seed.

  454. Prince of Air: as in Eph. 2.2; drag in chains: as in Rev. 20.1.

  460. quick: living.

  467. period: end.

  470. shall produce: The subject of this verb is goodness in line 469.

  475. or rejoice: See Lovejoy 1937 on the tradition of the felix culpa or “fortunate fall,” and Danielson (202–27) for a vigorous denial of its relevance to Paradise Lost. Milton’s version of the felix culpa is the central paradox of the epic. The Fall is not fortunate; the Fall is fortunate. Though Danielson may go too far in excluding the fortunate fall from the poem, he demonstrates that Milton’s is importantly more subdued than some versions of felix culpa. Adam wonders whether his sin is the precondition of Christian salvation. But he does not rejoice in his disobedience, emphasizing instead the glorious power of God to create, even from his sin, goodness immense (l. 469).

  478. over wrath grace shall abound: “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5.20).

  486. a comforter: the Holy Spirit.

  488. the law of faith: Rom. 3.27.

  489. upon their hearts shall write: See Paul’s contrast between the Old Testament Law, written “on tables of stone,” and the Gospel, written by “the Spirit of the living God” on “fleshly tables of the heart” (2 Cor. 3.3).

  491. spiritual armor: See Eph. 6.11–17.

  501. speak all tongues: See Mark 16–17, Acts 2.4–7; this miracle is precisely opposite to Babel’s confusion of tongues (ll. 52–59).

  508. grievous wolves: See Paul’s warning about corrupt priests in Acts 20.29; and see 4.193n.

  511–14. the truth … understood: Protestants believe that God’s truth in the Scriptures must be apprehended not through church tradition or the teachings of the priesthood but by the individual believer, whose interpretation will ideally be guided by the Holy Spirit.

  523–24. enrolled … engrave: The oppressive laws binding the Christian conscience will be found neither in biblical writing (enrolled) nor in the Spirit’s writing on the heart (see 489n).

  527. living temples: 1 Cor. 3.16: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God?” Cp. 1.17.

  528–30. for on Earth … Infallible?: a dismissal of the idea of papal infallibility. See A Treatise of Civil Power (Yale 7:244).

  534. Here we print “Will” (1667) rather than “Well” (1674).

  539. Under her own weight groaning: a groaning that began with sighing at the moment of Eve’s fall (9.783) and continued with a second groan at the moment of Adam’s fall (9.1001).

  540. respiration: breathing space.

  546. dissolve: terminate. It is impossible to decide on the basis of this one verb whether Milton has here altered his opinion on the endless sufferings of the devils in Hell (CD 1.33 in MLM 1310).

  549. New heav’ns, new earth: See 2 Pet. 3.13.

  555. stand fixed: stands out clearly.

  559. vessel: human being.

  565. Merciful … works: “His tender mercies are over all his works” (Ps. 145.9).

  565–66. with good … evil: “Overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12.21).

  567–68. things … strong: “Go
d hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Cor. 1.27).

  581–85. only add … rest: A similar list of virtues, also emphasizing charity, appears in 2 Pet. 1.

  582. answerable: corresponding with.

  587. The paradise within is not biblical. It is Milton’s addition to the largely traditional, biblical, Pauline spiritual vocabulary of Book 12, and has behind it the entire weight of his poem; cp. Satan’s Hell within (4.20). See Duncan (257–68) for analogues. happier far: happier than continuing, having fallen, to live in Eden (for which Adam and Eve yearned at 11.263–333).

  594. stay: go: Note the conjunction of these words, for they will appear in Eve’s forthcoming speech; see 9.372 for the first conjoining of go and stay.

  604. With cause for evils past: “With good reason (referring back to sad in l. 603), in view of past misdeeds.”

  608. ran before: who had run before (to the bower); found her waked: In the prose Argument, Adam wakens Eve.

  615–20. Now the words linked at 9.372 (see note) and 12.594 (see note) are woven into a beautiful love lyric, full of internal rhymes and repetitions, in which the paradise within widens to include their love and marriage: with thee to go,/Is to stay here, in Paradise. Cp. Shakespeare, ANT 1.3.101–5.

  629. meteorous: above the ground; see Hill (in Hill and Kerrigan 117–28) on the word’s associations with Aristophanes, Plato, and Luke 12.29.

  630. marish: marsh.

  631. laborer’s heel: Milton’s myth spills out into everyday reality: Adam, and all after him, bear the curse of laboring, and their heel, in the terms of the protevangelium (see 10.175–81n), will one day feel the serpent sting of death.

  635. adust: burnt up, scorched.

  640. subjected: lying beneath.

  643. brand: sword.

  648–49. The end-words of the last two lines quietly, satisfyingly rhyme with go and stay (see ll. 615–20n).

  648. hand in hand: See 4.448, 689, 739.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  We are grateful to our editor, Judy Sternlight, for her numerous good turns, and to the crack production team at Random House for the superb detailing and overall beauty of the published book. We were ably assisted in our editorial work by Phillip Albonetti, Yaser Amad, Joel Dodson, Jonathan Lamb, Mary Maddox, Jennifer Nichols, Shea Suski, Natalie Tenner, Claire Fallon, Joseph Rumrich, and Amelia Kerrigan.