Poetic Thesis - Milton
Two Passages from Paradise Lost
Before beginning my analysis of this sample of John Milton work, I am sure some
of you may find it interesting to note that before beginning his piece, Milton makes clear
his opposition to a poetic metre involving rhyme, this being the 'invention of a barbarous
age'. Instead he writes in what he terms English heroic verse, or iambic pentameter,
proposing to emulate the style of 'Homer in Greek or Virgil in Latin'. This poem - and
hence the two passages which I examine - were inspired by the Bible, the former on the
Book of Revelation and of various prophets and latter on that of Genesis and the Gospels.
Both of these passages, as knows almost anybody familiar with English literature, deal
with the conflicting nature of God's will with free will and ensuing disobedience, and seem
to be an attempt at setting up a groundwork for the English Church's views, which during
his lifetime were the subject not only of debate and question but of Civil Wars and
Revolutions.
Book I, Lines ccxlii-cclxx
The first passage I chose perhaps for its position both as the vessel of perhaps
Milton's best known line in the wider public, 'Better to reign in Hell than serve in
Heaven,' and as perhaps the best framing for the dilemma of free will. In this first book,
we see Satan and his friends in Hell following their defeat, somewhat angry because they
realize now that they were fighting against an omnipotent foe all along. However, during
the course of a conference between Satan and his leftenant Beelzebub, Satan decides that
Hell may not be quite so terrible after all. Hey, he says. It's true we're outside his eternal
bliss membership club. But on the other...