Paradise Lost

by John Milton

  Surfeit, and lust, till wantonness and pride

  Raise out of friendship hostile deeds in peace.

  The conquered797 also, and enslaved by war

  Shall with their freedom lost all virtue lose

  And fear of God, from whom their piety feigned

  In sharp contest of battle found no aid

  Against invaders; therefore cooled in zeal

  Thenceforth shall practice how to live secure,

  Worldly or dissolute, on what their lords

  Shall leave them to enjoy; for th’ earth shall bear

  More than enough, that temperance may be tried:

  So all shall turn degenerate, all depraved,

  Justice and temperance, truth and faith forgot;

  One man808 except, the only son of light

  In a dark age, against example good,

  Against allurement, custom, and a world

  Offended; fearless of reproach and scorn,

  Or violence, he of their wicked ways

  Shall them admonish, and before them set

  The paths of righteousness, how much more safe,

  And full of peace, denouncing815 wrath to come

  On their impenitence; and shall return

  Of them derided, but of God observed

  The one just man alive; by his command

  Shall build a wondrous ark, as thou beheld’st,

  To save himself and household from amidst

  A world devote821 to universal wrack.

  No sooner he with them of man and beast

  Select for life shall in the ark be lodged,

  And sheltered round, but all the cataracts

  Of heav’n set open on the earth shall pour

  Rain day and night, all fountains of the deep

  Broke up, shall heave the ocean to usurp

  Beyond all bounds, till inundation rise

  Above the highest hills: then shall this mount

  Of Paradise by might of waves be moved

  Out of his place, pushed by the hornèd flood,

  With all his verdure spoiled, and trees adrift

  Down the great river to the op’ning gulf,

  And there take root an island salt and bare,

  The haunt of seals and orcs835, and sea-mews’ clang.

  To teach thee that God attributes to place836

  No sanctity836, if none be thither brought

  By men who there frequent, or therein dwell.

  And now what further shall ensue, behold.”

  He looked,840 and saw the ark hull on the flood,

  Which now abated, for the clouds were fled,

  Driv’n by a keen north wind, that blowing dry

  Wrinkled the face of deluge, as decayed;

  And the clear sun on his wide wat’ry glass

  Gazed hot, and of the fresh wave largely drew845,

  As after thirst, which made their flowing shrink

  From standing lake to tripping847 ebb, that stole

  With soft foot towards the deep, who now had stopped

  His sluices, as the heav’n his windows shut.

  The ark no more now floats, but seems on ground

  Fast on the top of some high mountain851 fixed.

  And now the tops of hills as rocks appear;

  With clamor thence the rapid currents drive

  Towards the retreating sea their furious tide.

  Forthwith from out the ark a raven flies,

  And after him, the surer messenger856,

  A dove sent forth once and again to spy

  Green tree or ground whereon his foot may light;

  The second time returning, in his bill

  An olive leaf he brings, pacific sign:

  Anon dry ground appears, and from his ark

  The ancient sire descends with all his train;

  Then with uplifted hands, and eyes devout,

  Grateful to Heav’n, over his head beholds

  A dewy cloud, and in the cloud a bow

  Conspicuous with three listed colors866 gay,

  Betok’ning peace from God, and cov’nant new867.

  Whereat the heart of Adam erst so sad

  Greatly rejoiced, and thus his joy broke forth.

  “O thou who future things canst represent

  As present, Heav’nly instructor, I revive

  At this last sight, assured that man shall live

  With all the creatures, and their seed preserve.

  Far less I now lament for one whole world

  Of wicked sons destroyed, than I rejoice

  For one man found so perfect and so just,

  That God vouchsafes to raise another world

  From him, and all his anger to forget.

  But say, what mean those colored streaks in heav’n,

  Distended880 as the brow of God appeased,

  Or serve they as a flow’ry verge881 to bind

  The fluid skirts of that same wat’ry cloud,

  Lest it again dissolve and show’r the Earth?”

  To whom th’ Archangel. “Dextrously thou aim’st;

  So willingly885 doth God remit his ire,

  Though late886 repenting him of man depraved,

  Grieved at his heart, when looking down he saw

  The whole Earth filled with violence, and all flesh

  Corrupting each their way; yet those removed,

  Such grace shall one just man find in his sight,

  That he relents, not to blot out mankind,

  And makes a cov’nant never to destroy

  The Earth again by flood, nor let the sea

  Surpass his bounds, nor rain to drown the world

  With man therein or beast; but when he brings

  Over the Earth a cloud, will therein set

  His triple-colored bow, whereon to look

  And call to mind his cov’nant: day and night,

  Seed time and harvest, heat and hoary frost

  Shall hold their course, till fire purge all things new,

  Both heav’n and earth, wherein the just shall dwell.”

  1. stood: remained; the word, which may imply spiritual regeneration, is not intended to contradict “prostrate” in 10.1099.

  2. mercy-seat: the cover of the Ark of the Covenant, whose cherubim represented intercession in Heaven; see Exod. 25.17–23.

  3. Prevenient grace: grace that literally “comes before” human choice.

  4. stony … flesh: From Ezek. 11.19: “I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.”

  5–6. sighs now breathed/Unutterable: Cp. Rom. 8.26, where “groanings which cannot be uttered” intercede for humankind. Cp. Eikon 16 (Yale 3:507).

  8. port: bearing.

  10–14. th’ ancient pair … devout: Deucalion and his wife, Pyrrha, figures in Greek mythology, survived the flood in an ark. Themis, goddess of justice, told them to throw stones behind them, and the stones turned into people (echoing the transformation from stony to fleshly hearts in l. 4).

  14–16. To Heav’n … frustrate: Cp. the Paradise of Fools at 3.485–89.

  17. Dimensionless: without spatial extension.

  18. incense: See Rev. 8.3.

  28. manuring: tending (by hand).

  33–34. me … propitiation: “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 2.1–2). The repeated me in these lines echoes 3.178–82, 236–38. Cp. 10.830–32.

  35. ingraft: See Rom. 11.16–24, for Protestants a key text on the superiority of faith to good works.

  44. John 17.22–23: “that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me.” Note how the symmetry of Milton’s line takes shape about the central as I.

  53. distemper: medical term, denoting an imbalance of the four humors. The expulsion of Adam and Eve is here presented as an automatic purgation in which immortal elements rid themselves of tainted elements.

  55. dissolution: de
ath, disintegration.

  59. fondly: foolishly.

  60. This other: immortality (l. 59).

  64. Cp. 12.427; CD 1.22.

  66. Resigns: The subject of the verb is death (l. 61).

  74. heard in Oreb: A trumpet sounded when God delivered the Ten Commandments (Exod. 19.19); see Nat Ode 156–59.

  75. perhaps once more: reminiscent of the opening of Lycidas, which alludes to the “yet once more” of Heb. 12.26–27.

  78. amarantine: bloodred and unfading, like the legendary flower amaranthus (see 3.353).

  86. defended: forbidden.

  91. motions: inward promptings of the soul; cp. PR 1.290, SA 1382.

  93. Self-left: when left to itself.

  93–98. Lest … soil: The passage is based on Gen. 3.22–23.

  102. Or … or: either … or.

  106. denounce: announce.

  108. faint: lose heart.

  111. excess: transgression. Cp. 3.696.

  129. Janus: two-faced Roman god of gates, beginnings, transitions.

  131. Argus: The hundred-eyed giant set to guard Io, whom Hermes (Mercury) put to sleep with his pipe and his opiate rod, then killed. See Ovid, Met. 1.568–779.

  135. Leucothea: goddess of the dawn.

  144. prevalent: potent.

  157–58. Assures … past: Echoing the words of Agag (“surely the bitterness of death is past”) just before he is killed by Samuel (1 Sam. 15.32).

  158. hail to thee: Adam prefigures the Annunciation (Ave Maria).

  159. Eve rightly called: Here Adam confirms the epithet mother first given to Eve by the voice of God (4.475); Eve is cognate with Heb. chai or “life.” See Gen. 3.20.

  185. The bird of Jove: the eagle; stooped: having swooped down to strike his prey (technical term in falconry).

  186. Two birds of gayest plume: The eagle chasing these birds is an augury of Michael’s expulsion of Adam and Eve from the garden.

  187. the beast that reigns: the lion, who is to land animals what the eagle is to birds. Another augury of Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden.

  188. brace: pair.

  196. secure: overconfident.

  205. orient: bright.

  208. by this: by this time.

  209. lighted: landed.

  210. made halt: came to a halt (military term).

  214. Mahanaim: Jacob named the place (Heb. for “armies”) when he saw an army of angels there (Gen. 32.1–2).

  215. pavilioned: encamped. See Milton’s version of Psalm 3, lines 17–18.

  216–20. Nor that … unproclaimed: Elisha and his fearful servant also had a vision of an angelic army with “horses and chariots of fire” when the Syrian king laid siege to the city of Dothan (2 Kings 6.7).

  221. stand: station (military term).

  227. determine: bring to an end.

  240. lucid: bright.

  242–43. Meliboean … Sarra: The cities of Meliboea and Tyre (Sarra) were famous for dyes (grain = dye) made from local fish.

  244. Iris … woof: Iris is goddess of the rainbow. Cp. Masque 83, where the Attendant Spirit doffs “sky robes spun out of Iris’ woof,” and PL 11.895–98.

  254. Defeated: cheated.

  256–57. one … cover: 1 Pet. 4.8: “For charity covers a multitude of sins.”

  259–62. Varied only slightly from lines 48–49, 96–98, in the manner of Homer’s repetitive treatment of messages.

  264. grip: spasm.

  267. Discovered: revealed; retire: withdrawal.

  270. native soil: “Paradise was the native place of Eve; but Adam was formed out of the dust of the ground, and was afterwards brought into Paradise” (Newton).

  272. respite: temporary suspension of a death sentence (legal term).

  277. gave ye names: Presumably this naming of the flowers, which has no biblical precedent, entailed, like Adam’s naming of the creatures, an intuitive understanding of “their nature” (8.353).

  283. to this: compared to this.

  290–92. Eve will make this view her own in the last speech in the poem (12.615–18).

  293. by this: by this time; damp: stupor, depression.

  309. can: is able to do, has knowledge of.

  316. from … hid: a biblical idiom (Gen. 4.14, Ps. 104.27). Cp. 12.106–9 and SA 1749.

  331. promised race: the human race.

  338. Fomented: nurtured; virtual: potent.

  356–58. Ere … offspring: As Addison was among the first to note, the idea of Adam’s vision was probably suggested to Milton by the vision of his descendants given to Aeneas in the last book of the Aeneid. Addison also noted that the vision was necessary to console Adam, who “sees his offspring triumphing over his great enemy, and himself restored to a happier Paradise” (49).

  361. True patience: Christian patience, which includes hope, as opposed to the apathy recommended by stoicism.

  367. drenched: administered medicine (a sleeping potion) to. Cp. 2.73n.

  374. obvious: vulnerable.

  377. visions of God: visions sent by God.

  383. second Adam: See 10.183n.

  388. Cambalu: capital of Cathay (China), modern Beijing, seat of the khans. Milton’s geography of imperialism to come moves from east to west, like the sun, and like history as traditionally conceived in the West (see Chambers 1961).

  389. Samarkand by Oxus: an Uzbekistan city on the river Oxus, the birthplace and royal residence of Tamburlaine (Temir).

  390. Paquin: also a name for modern Beijing, where Chinese (Sinaean) kings ruled.

  391. Agra: Mogul capital, where Akbar built the Taj Mahal; Lahore: Pakistani city where Mogul emperors sometimes resided.

  392. golden Chersonese: area to the east of India, fabled for its wealth.

  393–94. Ecbatan: Ecbatana, modern Hamadan in Iran, once the summer residence of Persian kings; Hispahan: Isfahan in Iran, made the Persian capital in the sixteenth century.

  395. Bizance: Byzantium (modern Istanbul), conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century.

  396. Turkestan-born: The Ottoman Turks originated in Turkistan.

  397. Negus: title of Abyssinian emperors.

  398. Ercoco: Arkiko, in modern Ethiopia.

  399–400. Mombaza (modern Mombasa, in Kenya), Quiloa (Kilwa, in Tanzania), Melind (Malindi, in Kenya), and Sofala (in Mozambique) are port cities in eastern Africa visited by Vasco da Gama. Sofala was one of a number of candidates for the biblical Ophir, where Solomon found gold.

  402. Niger: a West African river; Atlas mount: the Atlas Mountains of westernmost Africa.

  403. Almansor: Muslim kings claimed the surname Al-Mansur (made victorious by God), and ruled over Fez, a Moroccan city, and Sus (Tunis).

  404. Tremisen: an area of Algeria.

  406. in spirit: in a visionary extension of eyesight; the New World would have been hidden by the curvature of the earth.

  407. Motezume: the Aztec emperor Montezuma, who surrendered to Hernán Cortés in 1520.

  409. Atabalipa: Atahualpa, the Incan emperor slain by Francisco Pizarro in 1533; his Peruvian capital of Cusco fell to the Spaniards.

  410. Geryon’s sons: an epithet for Spaniards, based on a mythical monster named Geryon, who lived on a Spanish island and was slain by Hercules.

  411. El Dorado: a mythical city in the New World that Sir Walter Ralegh among others sought in vain. See Ralegh’s The Discoverie of Guiana (1595), 10.

  412. the film removed: A god clearing mortal eyes is an epic convention (Il. 5.126; Aen. 2.604; GL 18.92f), but given the real physiological effects of the forbidden fruit (9.1011–12, 1044–51), it seems likely that this film is actual rather than metaphorical: Adam had incipient gutta serena, the “dim suffusion” (3.26) from which Milton suffered.

  414. euphrasy and rue: medicinal herbs used in the treatment of eyesight. Milton might have taken salves made of these herbs in the course of going blind.

  416. the Well of Life: perhaps the “fountain of life” of Ps. 36.9; three drops: a con
spicuous dose in a poem that is not conventionally trinitarian.

  426. excepted: forbidden.

  427. that sin: 1667; 1674 drops “sin,” spoiling the meter.

  430. tilth: cultivated land.

  433. sward: turf.

  436. Unculled: not picked by design.

  441. propitious fire from heav’n: After Abel follows the rules for sacrificing in Lev. 1–8, Heaven consumes his offering (Gen. 4.4).

  442. glance: flash.

  447. effused: poured out.

  457. fact: crime.

  469. his grim cave: Cp. the cave to the underworld in Aen. 6.237, 273–94.

  479. lazar-house: hospital for those with infectious diseases, especially the dreaded leprosy; lazar comes from the name of the beggar in Luke 16.20. There were a number of lazar houses in England (Wilson 1963, 81).

  481. qualms: faintings.

  485–87. These lines were added in 1674.

  487. Marasmus: consumption.

  488. Dropsies: morbid retentions of fluid; rheums: mucous discharges.

  496. Though not of woman born: Although the phrasing evokes MAC 4.1.80 and 5.3.13, Milton draws on Shakespeare’s association between a man’s tears and his internalized mother in H5 4.6.30–32 and TN 2.1.35–38.

  497. best of man: manliness, normally impervious to tears. But Milton’s Adam, apparently no exponent of tearless masculinity, weeps on his own here, and at lines 675, 754–58, and 12.372–73; Eve weeps on her own at 5.130–35, 9.990–91, and 10.910; they cry together at 9.1121, 10.1101–2, and 12.645.

  502–507. Better … peace: A commonplace of both classical literature (Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1224–26; Theognis of Megara, Maxims, 425–28; Seneca, Ad Marciam: De Consolatione 22.3) and Renaissance literature (2H4 3.1.45–56; Jonson, “To the Immortal Memory … Sir. Lucius Cary and Sir H. Morison,” 1–20).

  519. Inductive: traceable.

  531. The rule of not too much: “Nothing too much” was inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi (Plato, Protagoras 343B; see also Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics 2.2.16).

  535–37. The comparison stems from Cicero, De Senectute 19; cp. Donne, “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning”: “As virtuous men pass mildly away.…”

  544. damp: Cp. 293; 9.45.

  551–52. The first edition had only one line here: “Of rend’ring up. Michael to him replied.”

  553. Nor love thy life, nor hate: from Martial, Epigrams, 10.47.

  556–97. Adam’s third vision, concerning the descendants of Cain, derives from Gen. 4.19–22, 6.2–4.