Customer Reviews

Paradise Lost and Other Poems (Mentor)

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For a long time, I have wanted to read Milton's "Paradise Lost" (yes, I, a nineteen-year-old male, wanting to read Milton outside of class). I'm glad I chose this Signet Classic version. You know what "Paradise Lost" is about, or you wouldn't be here, so I won't summarize what has become an essential piece of epic poetry. "Samson Agonistes" is a beautiful "minor epic" styled after the ancient Greek tragedies, while "Lycidas" is...well, it's confusing. But exquisitely worded, and truly enjoyable nonetheless.

Le Comte's annotations are helpful, though they sometimes get in the way of the reading (in many spots, half the page is devoted to footnotes). Cifelli's introductions are easy to read (I've come across some introductions to pieces of literature that are harder to read than the literature itself, so these intros were a relief), and even helpful in understanding the texts. The fact of the matter is this: unless you are an academic schooled in interpreting Biblical poetry, you're gonna have a hard time with "Paradise Lost" (Cifelli echoes these remarks, so I'm not alone here). However, trust me, it is worth it. If you are a student (as am I), or simply an interested reader (as I also am), you will love "Paradise Lost"--not for its simplicity, but for its complexity, for its beauty. This Signet Classic edition is helpful and enjoyable; read it, and enjoy.

Thanks to Edward Le Comte's great biographical introduction, and annotations, this is the best version of this classic work. Unfortunately it is hard to find, because it's 42 years old now. This old Mentor edition was a high quality printing though, so if you find one it stands a good chance of being a best buy!

A superb edition of the greatest poem in the language. Edward Le Comte performs an invaluable job of editing, providing copious annotations which give an encyclopedic overview of Milton's Biblical, Classical, theological, and personal allusions throughout "Paradise Lost" as well as "Samson Agonistes" and "Lycidas", which are the other poems of the title. The back-cover write-up gets it right-- here is the indispensable peer of Vergil, Dante, Homer. These are poetic monuments, cathedrals of sound and sense that are bound to exhilarate anyone who gives them even passing attention: Milton's reverence, rage, and sensuality burn through each line. Never mind even Harold Bloom's protestations to the contrary-- the poetry of the English tradition revolves around a double star, and this is Shakespeare's giant twin in greatness.

Of Man's first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till on greater Man
Restore us and regain the blissful seat
Sing, Heavenly Muse...
Not a lot people know that 'Paradise Lost' has as a much lesser known companion piece 'Paradise Regained'; of course, it was true during Milton's time as it is today that the more harrowing and juicy the story, the better it will likely be remembered and received.

This is not to cast any aspersion on this great poem, however. It has been called, with some justification, the greatest English epic poem. The line above, the first lines of the first book of the poem, is typical of the style throughout the epic, in vocabulary and syntax, in allusiveness. The word order tends toward the Latinate, with the object coming first and the verb coming after.

Milton follows many classical examples by personifying characters such as Death, Chaos, Mammon, and Sin. These characters interact with the more traditional Christian characters of Adam, Eve, Satan, various angels, and God. He takes as his basis the basic biblical text of the creation and fall of humanity (thus, 'Paradise Lost'), which has taken such hold in the English-speaking world that many images have attained in the popular mind an almost biblical truth to them (in much the same way that popular images of Hell owe much to Dante's Inferno). The text of Genesis was very much in vogue in the mid-1600s (much as it is today) and Paradise Lost attained an almost instant acclaim.

John Milton was an English cleric, a protestant who nonetheless had a great affinity for catholic Italy, and this duality of interests shows in much of his creative writing as well as his religious tracts. Milton was nicknamed 'the divorcer' in his early career for writing a pamphlet that supported various civil liberties, including the right to obtain a civil divorce on the grounds of incompatibility, a very unpopular view for the day. Milton held a diplomatic post under the Commonwealth, and wrote defenses of the governments action, including the right of people to depose and dispose of a bad king.

Paradise Lost has a certain oral-epic quality to it, and for good reason. Milton lost his eyesight in 1652, and thus had to dictate the poem to several different assistants. Though influenced heavily by the likes of Virgil, Homer, and Dante, he differentiated himself in style and substance by concentrating on more humanist elements.

Say first -- for Heaven hides nothing from thy view,
Nor the deep tract of Hell -- say first what cause
Moved our grand Parents, in that happy state,
Favoured of Heaven so highly, to fall off
From their Creator and transgress his will,
For one restraint, lords of the world besides?

Milton drops us from the beginning into the midst of the action, for the story is well known already, and proceeds during the course of the books (Milton's original had 10, but the traditional epic had 12 books, so some editions broke books VII and X into two books each) to both push the action forward and to give developing background -- how Satan came to be in Hell, after the war in heaven a description that includes perhaps the currently-most-famous line:

Here we may reign secure, and in my choice
To reign is worth ambition though in hell:
Better to reign in hell, that serve in heav'n.

(Impress your friends by knowing that this comes from Book I, lines 261-263 of Paradise Lost, rather than a Star Trek episode!)

The imagery of warfare and ambition in the angels, God's wisdom and power and wrath, the very human characterisations of Adam and Eve, and the development beyond Eden make a very compelling story, done with such grace of language that makes this a true classic for the ages. The magnificence of creation, the darkness and empty despair of hell, the manipulativeness of evil and the corruptible innocence of humanity all come through as classic themes. The final books of the epic recount a history of humanity, now sinful, as Paradise has been lost, a history in tune with typical Renaissance renderings, which also, in Milton's religious convictions, will lead to the eventual destruction of this world and a new creation.

A great work that takes some effort to comprehend, but yields great rewards for those who stay the course.

This collection includes Samson Agonistes, one of the best Greek-style tragedies done in English, based on the biblical character of Samson. It also includes the poem Lycidas, a pastoral poem written specifically for the death of Edward King, a Cambridge student who died by drowning, but which includes a greater sense of universal longing and lost hope.

Edward le Comte has provided a worthwhile introduction to the poems and a brief biography of Milton.

The definite edition of Milton is the glorious Modern Library edition, but it's not easy to haul around. This is by far the best paperback edition of Paradise Lost. I personally did not find the notes intrusive and the Introduction by Edward M. Cifelli is by far the best introduction I've ever read in the classics books. Most of the introductions these days are horrors of the editor's pet peeves and personal beliefs: the Femnist View; the Marxist View; the Freudian View, etc. ad nauseam. Some of the ideas are really howlers...The intro to Cranford in the Oxford University Press comes to mind. Everything except the artist's view... (Read Pale Fire by Nabokov, certainly one of the funniest ever written.) But this book is perfect for summer reading, sitting out in the lawn chair... What a book! "...to lose thee were to lose myself."

I had to buy it for a literature class. The shipping was fast and the book was in good condition.

Don't get me wrong, Paradise Lost is a fantastic book and I strongly suggest picking up a copy, however, you may want to pick up a different version. This copy is sort of cliff notes and original rolled into one. I suppose this could be beneficial for those who have never read Milton before and are doing so for a class, but if you are like me, one who has read and enjoyed paradise lost previously and are looking to add a copy to your personal library, then you may be annoyed by the annotations. Every single page has the authors two cents added about nearly every metaphor and, on some pages, it seems he attempts to explain the entire page. I found myself unable to fully enjoy the actual poem due to the annoyance the annotations were causing me. In the end, Paradise Lost is Paradise Lost and it is all here, but the additional two poems don't make up for the annotations in the main.

This is basically required reading for anyone who wants to call themselves educated. This is not easy reading, but I think it is important to finish. There are many allusions to this book in numerous other classics, so I would say it is required. Personally, I enjoyed most of this book, but my favorite parts were ones involving the Devil. He is much more interesting than God or Jesus- they just sit around complementing each other all day. If you are thinking of buying this, you probably know what you are getting into anyway, so go for it.