Paradise Lost Book 1 : Key info

Key info

Author’s Full Name: John Milton

Full Title: Paradise Lost

Author’s Title: A Great English Poet, Thinker, and Scholar

Written Date: Around 1658–1663 (after Milton became blind)

Publication Date: First published in 1667

Genre: Epic Poetry (Religious Epic)

Form: Blank Verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter)

Rhyme Scheme: No rhyme (it is unrhymed)

Meter: Iambic Pentameter

Tone: Serious, Grand, Heroic, and Moral

Total Lines (Book I): 798 lines

Total Stanza: No stanza (written in continuous verse)

Point of View: Third-person narrator (omniscient voice)

Setting – Time: Before the creation of Earth (Biblical time)

Setting – Place: Heaven, Hell, and later the universe.

Key Notes:

Epic: An epic is a long narrative poem. It tells a big story about heroes and their heroic deeds. It often includes gods, battles, and great adventures.

Blank Verse: Blank verse means poetry without rhyme. The lines follow a rhythm but do not end with similar sounds. It sounds natural and serious.

Iambic Pentameter: This is a pattern of beats in a line of poetry. Each line has 10 syllables. The rhythm goes soft-strong, soft-strong, five times.

Invocation to the Muse: This is a prayer that opens the poem. The poet asks a divine power for help to tell the story well.

Satan: Satan is the main character who rebels against God. He is proud and refuses to obey. He leads other fallen angels.

Pandemonium: Pandemonium is the capital city of Hell in the poem. It means “place of all demons.” Satan built it after falling from Heaven.

Fallen Angels: These angels followed Satan and were cast out of Heaven. Now they live in Hell. They help Satan fight against God.

Free Will: Free will means the power to make your own choices. In the poem, everyone can choose good or bad. God forces no one.

Leviathan: Leviathan is a vast sea monster from old stories. Milton compares Satan to Leviathan to show his great size and power.

Heroic Qualities: Heroic qualities are courage, strength, and leadership. Satan shows these, but he uses them for bad reasons.

Background: 

In the 1600s, England was experiencing a clamorous period. There was civil war, political chaos, and religious conflicts. 

During this period, Milton supported the Puritan side in the English Civil War. He believed that the king should not have total power and that the people should have rights. When the king was defeated, Milton worked for the new government under Oliver Cromwell. He even wrote many strong pamphlets to support freedom of speech and religion.

But after Cromwell died, the monarchy returned. Milton’s side lost, and he was in great danger. Many of his friends were arrested or killed. Milton had to hide for some time. Worse still, by then, he had completely lost his eyesight. He was blind, old, and politically defeated.

Yet, he didn’t give up. In his darkness and loneliness, he decided to do something great for English literature. He said he would write a poem that would make his name live forever. He believed this was his mission from God.

So, he dictated the poem line by line to his daughters and assistants. He could not see, but his mind was full of light. That’s how he wrote Paradise Lost, not with pen and paper, but with courage and memory. It came from his real pain, his deep belief, and his long years of learning.

This is how one of the world’s greatest epics was born,from the silence of a blind man, living in a defeated time, but still full of faith.