117_t_.indd6

A Reading of Paradise Lost
As his lifework, Milton tried to write a great work expressing Christian truth with the highest beauty attainable in poetry, which he realized in Paradise Lost. Therefore, Paradise Lost represents the whole world as is portrayed in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, that is the world of whole time and space. Consequently, the work can only be considered an epic. Unlike the Bible, Paradise Lost begins in medias res with a scene of hell, maintaining epic decorum, although creation is one of its main themes. Paradise Lost consists of twelve books, of which the first half discusses the world before the birth of man, and presents the situation where Adam and Eve are to be placed. The first chapter of the paper is entitled “the magnetic field of super-natural powers,” in which Good and Evil strive against each other over human beings. Satan is the most important hero, whose relation with other fallen angels is an analogy of the human society. Abdiel should be noticed as an exemplary type of Adam. “Pride” is the cause of rebellion both for the fallen angels and human beings, whereas “thunder” is the voice of judgment and the weapon of banishment. The war in heaven during three days represents all types of battles experienced in human history. The invention of the cannon leads to the destruction of the natural environment. Two chapters will be published in the following issues. The theme of the second chapter is God’s love and justice. In the third chapter, human relations are discussed.




132







8



‘key-them
e ’



22






nature
birth







dissolution



9

The A
rgum ent

T
he A rgu-
m ent

1 5
9 26 7 10 12
15 11
1 12 22 23
15 23

6
17


‘O
f M an. . . .to m
en ’

M
an
M
an
M
an

10

G
od

M
an

M
use
6 Spirit
17

A
byss, dark, Illum ine, low
, raise,
support, highth, great, Eternal

25 Providence
provide
provision

‘A
nd justify the w ays of G
od to m en
26






in m
edias res




11
chronological order





































577 615 the Ex-
altation




12













A dam
U nparadised
667

A
dam U
nparadised

H
ugo G rotius, 1583
xul




13


Lesedram
a






24
633 644









14










Providence
647




76 77

15
73

character
archetype


A
dam us E
dam U
nparadised





17 111


Lesedram
a





16




93




the best and m
ost accom plished kind of Poetry
64 65 The Prose W
orks of Sir















13 14


29 31
31 33
‘to be w
eak is m iserable,/D
oing or suffering. . . . ’

157 158 doing
suffering

suffer ‘4. T
o be the object
of an action, be acted upon, be passive. N ow
rare. ’
doing

suffering

the Suffering Servant

John
M . Steadm
enaissance H ero, p. vii


races and gam
blazoned shields,
B ases and tinsel trappings, gorgeous knights
A t joust and tournam
ent. . . .
IX
. 33
37
race
gam
e
tilting furniture

em blazoned shield

im press qaint

caparison


tinsel trapping

joust
tournam ent


‘m
arshalled feast/Served up in hall w ith sew
ers and seneshals ’
19
38





epic sim
ile
573 587
all w
Jousted in A spram
ont, or M ontalban,
rebisond,
B y Fontarabbia. . . .
587.
‘a solem
n gam e ’
388 396 T
.S. Eliot,
20


epic decorum






dissolve











21




571 576
404 413 m
onism







psyche
a
nephesh
psyche

psyche
pneum
a
psyche
×som a
pneum
a
sarx


22







that
fixed m ind, I. 97
high disdain, I. 98


106
108
193
sense of in-
jured m erit, 1. 98
58
‘Pride ’

pride

Pride

809

23
527

























disobedience
obedience

obedire

Filial obedience, III. 269
he attends the w
ill/O f
271
‘attend ’
cf. O
ED 1. 1.



W
A ll is not lost; the unconquerable w
ill,
m ortal hate,
it or yield. . . .
108.


37



H
elen G ardner, A
61




25
19
the unconqerable w
ill, 1. 106


courage never to subm it or yield, 1. 108

D
ouglas B ush, Paradise Lost in O
ur Tim e, p. 70



Pope, ‘Im
itations of H or-






203 216 227 265
374 390 391 321 341


26


476


168 172 315 320
Satan








603 608

609 615



V
. 616
617.
appearance
reality





pride
665
671








doctrinal and exem
plary



28


The Critical H
eritage, p. 223






574 341
546 547











29

The Critical H
eritage, p. 224

added








78









30


71

79




‘suspen-
sion of disbelief ’
Coleridge, B
iographia Literaria, Ch. 14























673 693




32

694 704

704 706



689 726



14 6 1
the lordly m
onarch of the north






773

33
782
608 782 790
600

‘Equally
free ’
equal ’
l. 797


‘Shalt
thou give law to G
od? ’ V . 822

41
42 arbitrariness


‘by experience ’ V
. 826




… … ‘T
hyself... dost thou count.../ Equal to him , begotten Son? ’ V
. 833
835

835 837
‘Lord ’, V
. 608
34

rent ’, V . 609

‘H
im w
ho disobeys/ M e disobeys. . . ./ Cast out from
G od and blessed vision, falls/ Into utter darkness, deep engulfed. . . . ’ V
. 611
614



842 845



845 848









853 863



35







the Sovran V
oice, V I. 56


29 35
37 41


93 96

‘G
od and N ature bid the sam
e, ’ V I. 176.


36


189 198


262 353










45 46



424 431

593 597


37




49
669 670


perpetual fight, V
I. 693

671 678
699
705 709


475



38


W
ar Specials








M
arjorie H ope N
ilton, pp. 259






781 784 Pow
er D ivine,
V I. 780
gratia perficit naturam

426

39
hope conceiving from
des-
ell?
V
I. 788.



789 799

thunder


thun-
der
alm
ighty arm s, V
bow
and thunder
/
764

in his right hand/ G
rasping ten thousand thunders, V I. 835
836


40

he... checked/ H
is thun-
I. 853
854


thunder
→three-bolted thunder








three-bolted thunder

















41

59


13 14
‘T
he Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the H ighest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
Y ea, he sent out his arrow
s, and scattered them ; and he shot out lightnings, and discom
fited them . ’

…


27 30 ‘T
he people. . . .said that it thundered. ’



in m
edias res




42












659 660
49 51
58 60



690 262 353

43










506 628





373 385

363
44



566 568