Masson, the ablest critic of Milton now living, says: "Paradise Lost is an epic. But it is not, like the Iliad or the Eneid, a national epic; nor is it an epic after any other of the known types. It is an epic of the whole human species, an epic of our entire planet, or indeed of the entire astronomical universe." As to the internal structure of the poem, it meets all of the requirements of Aristotle: it has a definite beginning, middle, and end such as characterize few other epic poems. Its action possesses the three requisite qualities: it is one action, it is an entire action, it is a great action. The whole is worked out with great vigor and carefulness of detail. Brooke says: "Paradise Lost is one of the few universal poems of the world; imperial in the sense that the work of Homer and Virgil and Dante and Shakspeare is; worthy to exercise command over the heart and intellect of all ages. Its majesty and beauty are beyond praise; its faults should be spoken of by smaller men with truth, but with reverence. But all may tell of the pleasure that it gives them, and strive to find the sources of that pleasure, and the more fully any one can do this the more he will feel his soul enlarged." But Taine: "A Protestant, enslaved by a strict theology, robbed of the style which makes the supernatural visible, deprived of the dramatic sensibility which creates varied and living souls, Milton accumulates cold dissertations, transforms man and God into orthodox and vulgar machines, and only regains his genius in endowing Satan with his republican soul, in multiplying grand landscapes and colossal apparitions, in consecrating his poetry to the praise of religion and duty." And Johnson: "The defects and faults of Paradise Lost (for faults and defects every work of man must have) it is the business of impartial criticism to discover. As, in displaying the excellence of Milton, I have not made long quotations, because of selecting beauties there had been no end, I shall, in the same general manner, mention that which seems to deserve censure. For what Englishman can take delight in transcribing passages, which, if they lessen the reputation of Milton, diminish in some degree the honor of the country?" Coleridge, in his Literary Remains, ranks the Paradise Lost above the Iliad and the Divina Commedia. Shaw says: "Dante is the Christian Homer, Milton the Christian Virgil. If the predominant character of Homer be vivid life and force, and of Virgil majesty and grace, that of Dante is intensity, and of Milton sublimity." The student desirous of a critical knowledge of Paradise Lost should observe the following suggestions: Secure, if possible, a good edition of the poem. But beware of too many notes. You should, to a great extent, make your own notes. Do not attempt to read too much at a time, but thoroughly master everything you read. Understand the meaning of every passage. Study the meaning of every mythological or historical reference. Notice every peculiarity of construction and arrangement. Determine whatever merits or defects there may be in the passages read. Study the metre, any peculiarities in the verse, etc. Try to understand the feelings and the full meaning of the author. Read the passage aloud. Write the passage in good prose, using your own words. The following are the passages most worthy of special study: The Invocation. I., 1-26. Satan's Speech. I., 242-270. Description of Pandemonium. I., 670–751. The Exploration of Hell. II., 570-628. The Fool's Paradise. III., 418-497. VII., 1–40. Concerning Celestial Motions. VIII., 66–178. The Temptation. IX., 412-959. Adam's Lament. X., 720-862. The Upbraiding of Eve. X., 863-946. Michael's Exhortation. XII., 552–605. The following are the sources from which Milton doubtless obtained suggestions and assistance in the preparation of Paradise Lost: 1. The Anglo-Saxon paraphase of Cadmon, a translation of which, by Francis Junius, was published in 1655. 2. The drama of Lucifer, by the Dutch poet Joost Van den Vondel, published in 1654. 3. The sacred drama of L'Adamo, written by Giovanni Battista Andreini, of Florence, and which Voltaire says Milton saw performed in 1638. 4. A didactic poem, Semaine, ou Création du Monde, written in French by Du Bartas, and translated about 1610 by Joshua Sylvester under the title of The Divine Weeks and Works. 5. Christ's Victory and Triumph in Heaven and Earth over and after Death, a sacred poem, by Giles Fletcher, published in 1640. 6. Davideis, an attempted epic, by Abraham Cowley (1656). 7. Adamus Exul, a tragedy, by Hugo Grotius (1601). We close this view of Paradise Lost with the famous hexastich of Dryden, which De Quincey pronounces the finest and the worst epigram in the English language: "Three poets in three distant ages born, To make a third, she joined the other two." Paradise Regained, the companion epic to Paradise Lost, was published in 1671. It is much shorter than the former work, and so far inferior to it in literary merit that it can by no means be called a great epic. Its subject is the temptation of the Saviour in the wilderness, and its action is founded upon the story of that event as recorded in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It consists of four books, of which the following is a brief analysis: Book I. opens with an account of the baptism of Christ in Jordan. Satan, who witnesses this act, summons a council of evil spirits, and undertakes to thwart the designs of God by tempting the Son to sin. Jesus is led up into the wilderness, where he passes forty days in fasting, and where, at the end of that time, he is approached by Satan, who attempts to justify himself. Book II. contains the account of a second infernal council, in which Satan relates the ill-success of his first interview with the Saviour. At the conclusion of his consultation with his peers, he returns to resume his enterprise. He tempts the hungering Saviour, first with a banquet, and afterwards with riches. In Book III. Satan endeavors to tempt Jesus with a desire for glory, and shows him, in a vision, the kingdoms of Asia. Book IV. relates how the tempter continued to endeavor to incite in the Saviour a love for the great things of this earth, by showing him the pomp and splendor of imperial Rome and the intellectual glories of Athens. Failing in this attempt, he "raises a tremendous storm, and attempts farther to alarm Jesus with frightful dreams and terrific spectres;" then he carries him to the pinnacle of the temple and requires him "to prove his divinity either by standing there or casting himself down in safety." Our Saviour reproves the tempter, who returns defeated and abashed to his infernal compeers. And straight a fiery globe Of angels on full sail of wing flew nigh, As on a flowery couch, through the blithe air: Ambrosial fruits, fetch'd from the tree of life, Over temptation and the tempter proud.* "In grandeur, elevation, and a kind of subdued sentiment," says Mr. Shaw, "the Paradise Regained in no sense yields to its immortal companion; but in brilliancy of coloring and intensity of interest it is inferior. It may be said that the beauties of Paradise Regained will generally be more perceptible as the reader advances in life, and to those minds in which the contemplative faculty is more developed than the imagination.” Among the numerous and but partially successful attempts at the writing of epic poetry, we shall mention but a few of the most noted: The Davideis, written by Abraham Cowley, is a long poem in four books, left unfinished by its author and having for its subject "the Troubles of David, King of Israel." The form of versification, the rhymed heroic couplet, is manifestly unsuited to the lofty character of an * Paradise Regained. IV., 581. |