Notes of Paradise Lost lines 1-25

Word by Word explaination of Paradise Lost: lines 1-25

 

Lines: 1-5

Milton’s Paradise lost is about the fall of Adam, Eve and Satan. Here in these lines, Milton is taking off by telling about the greatest theme of his epic poem. He is saying that his poem is about the man’s first act of disobedience by eating the fruit of forbidden tree, the taste of which was mortal which brought death into the world with all our worries, problems and loss of Eden garden, till one greater man talking about the Christ restore our dignity and made sure of the lost blissful seat of paradise.

Lines: 6-15

There was a tradition of getting the inspiration from the Muses in Greek poets like Virgil and Homer. Milton wants to create the similarity between him and above said Greek poets. So just like them Milton is invoking the heavenly Muse which inspired that shepherd (Moses) on the secret top of Mount Horeb and Mount Sinai (where it is said that the God spoke to Moses) and it was Moses who first taught that how heavens and earth were created out of  chaos (nothingness) or if the hill of Sion (on which Jerusalem was built) and Siloa stream that flows near the Temple of God delight you more, thence heavenly Muse, I demand for your aid to write my poem which is about a high level theme (the subject of Paradise Lost) rather than the Greek poets / classical poets who got their inspiration from Mount Helicon (in Aonia which is sacred to the classical Muses).

Lines: 16-25

What I am going to do is still un-attempted in prose or in poetry. I invoke you (God) chiefly who dwells in pure and righteous heart (sinless heart) who prefers it to a temple. O God, Holy Spirit I pray you to guide and instruct me because you know everything, You from the very first the beginning of the world, you are present and with your wings expanded, you sat like a dove on the endless Chaos and filled it with life. Disperse all that is dark in me, raise all this is low so that through greatness of my theme I may prove that God is just, loving and caring and how is dealing of God with men.