in grave danger. For a short time he was imprisoned, and for some time after release it was necessary for him to remain in hiding. In 1667 Paradise Lost was published; in 1671, Paradise Regained, and the dramatic poem Samson Agonistes. He died in 1674, so peacefully that those in the room were not aware when he actually breathed his last.

as, begi

fre it was

ad been

i at le

the sa

66 Paradise Lost": (1) Its

Influence.

The influence of Para-
dise Lost upon the
thought of English-
speaking people has
been perhaps greater
than that of any other
poem, the most impor-
tant phase of the in-

fluence being the doctrine of creation. Huxley, in the first of his lectures on evolution, delivered in America in 1876, attacked what he called the "Miltonic hypothesis" of creation. He asserted that, although he did not know the meaning of the first chapter of Genesis, and although Hebrew scholars were not agreed as to its meaning, Milton's interpretation in the seventh book of Paradise Lost is quite clear, and is also clearly the interpretation "instilled into every one of us in our childhood." Wherever the truth may lie, it is surely a great accomplishment to have formulated a great doctrine for so large a portion of mankind.

(2) Its Planning and Maturing. The actual composition of Paradise Lost appears to have occupied Milton for eight

years, beginning in 1657 and ending in 1665, two years before it was published. The intention to write a long poem had been in his mind for at least twenty When he re

years.

a

turned from his foreign tour, he indicated a plan for an epic of King Arthur, although he was considering about hundred other subjects. at the same time some from the Bible, some from British history, and a few from Scottish. (The list in his own handwriting is preserved in Trinity College Library, Cambridge.)

While he was weighing these subjects, he expressed in a pamphlet the hope that he "might perhaps leave something so written to aftertimes as they should not willingly let it die." How soon he determined on subject and form we cannot say. His nephew says that the speech of Satan in Book IV, beginning:

FACSIMILE TITLE-PAGE OF Paradise
Lost.

Under the portrait of this edition (Ton-
son's, 1688) are Dryden's famous lines,
beginning,

"Three poets in three distant ages born."

"O, thou that with surpassing glory crowned,"

was recited to him by the poet as the beginning of his poem; and it is thought by some that these lines date from 1640

1642. Through long years full of hindrances and uncongenia employment under the Commonwealth he cherished the design for a great literary work which later times would value.

(3) Theme of the Poem. - The theme of Paradise Lost has been stated above (page 87). The invocation to the Spirit at the beginning of the poem concludes:

"what in me is dark

Illumine, what is low, raise and support:
That to the highth of this great argument,

I may assert Eternal Providence,

And justify the ways of God to man."

(4) Outline. The action (but not the poem) begins in

Heaven before the creation of the world, the fall of Lucifer,
or the begetting of the Son. In Book V we learn that
Raphael has been sent to warn Adam of his enemy's approach;
and from the narrative of Raphael to Adam we learn how the
jealousy of Lucifer and his rebellion occurred. In Book VI
we are told how the forces of Lucifer (now called Satan),
after two days of drawn battles with God's legions are
routed the third day by the Messiah, and sent down to Hell.
In Book IX comes the temptation and fall of Adam and
Eve; and at the close of the last Book (XII) they are led
out of Eden by the Archangel Michael, with the fiery sword
of God behind them:

"They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld
Of Paradise, so late their happy seat,
Waved over by that flaming brand; 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 hand, with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary way."

"Paradise Regained."- Tradition, powerfully aided by Macaulay, says that Milton preferred Paradise Regained, sequel of Paradise Lost, to its predecessor. The idea seems to be traceable to a statement of one of the poet's nephews, who merely said that Milton "could not hear with patience the second epic criticised as inferior to the first. Both critical

A Soul

's caree that which Fork turn and debau

as dissolute

Bore must

vironmen

rded the

st discus

and uncritical opinion in general believes that Paradise Regained is inferior, though enthusiasts (Masson and Saintsbury, for example) assert that the difference between them is rather of kind than of degree of merit.

66

Samson Agonistes."

Milton's last work was Samson Agonistes, a tragedy in verse built on the classic model instead of on the English, and not intended to be staged. It derives some interest from the parallelism of Samson's story