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Paradise Lost

Poetry

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton, concerning the biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse; a second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid with minor revisions throughout. It is considered Milton's masterpiece and helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets, addressing themes of free will and the moral consequences of disobedience as Milton sought, in his own words, to justify the ways of God to men. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Composed, From (Year)
from 1667 1
First version published 1667 (ten books); a revised twelve-book second edition followed in 1674.
Composed, To (Year)
to 1667 1
Classification
Audience
General 1
Original Language
English 1
FAQs

What does it mean that Paradise Lost is written in blank verse?

It means regular unrhymed iambic pentameter lines.

Blank verse means lines that are metrically regular iambic pentameter but do not rhyme. Milton used that flexibility to support a high level of syntactic complexity. He was not the first to use blank verse, but blank verse was not much used in the non-dramatic poetry of the seventeenth century until Paradise Lost, and Miltonic blank verse became the standard for those attempting to write English epics for centuries afterward.
Connections

Associated With

Blank Verse, Forms
Source Paradise Lost (Wikipedia)

Authored By

John Milton, Authors
Source Paradise Lost (Wikipedia)

In Genre

Epic, Genres
Source Paradise Lost (Wikipedia)

Long-Form Articles

In the Other Atlases

Same As

Also in Divinity Atlas: the same subject.

Original Language

Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Sources
1. Paradise Lost (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608-1674).
  • Lead
    Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608-1674).
  • Original language statement
    Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608-1674).
  • Lead paragraph
    Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608-1674). The poem concerns the biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse.
  • Authored By: John Milton, Lead section, authorship
    Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608-1674).
  • In Genre: Epic, Lead section, genre
    is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton
  • Associated With: Blank Verse, Lead section, form
    is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton
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