Paradise Lost

I love language. I love reading. I love words.

I’m taking a Humanities class that is dedicated to the Baroque period. The major literary work to come out of this time is definitely Paradise Lost by John Milton. (For anyone who doesn’t know, Paradise Lost is an epic that takes place after the battle in heaven and goes through the creation to Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.)

I’m totally loving Paradise Lost. Milton’s language is gorgeous. I think the only other thing that can compare to it is Shakespeare’s plays. (Makes sense since Milton probably studied the first folio of Shakespeare’s works.) The only thing is, all of my favorite soliloquies and quotations are from Satan.

(This is Gustave Doré’s depiction of Satan after he is cast out of Heaven wondering where he should fly to next.)

I don’t know what that says about me. But let me give you guys a quote because I read this like 15 times out loud and darn near cried it was so beautiful! A little background first. This is after Satan has been cast out of Heaven. He’s held a conference in Pandemonium and decided to corrupt God’s most magnificent creation – man – and he’s gone to Earth to find the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve. He finds the Garden and is contemplating the glory of God’s creation and he says this:

O thou, that with surpassing glory crown’d
Look’st from thy sole dominion like the god
Of this new world; at whose sight all the stars
Hide their diminish’d heads; to thee I call,
But with no friendly voice, and add thy name,
O sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,
That bring to my remembrance from what state
I fell; how glorious once above thy sphere;
Till pride and worse ambition threw me down,
Warring in heaven against heaven’s matchless King.
…
Forgetful what from him I still reciev’d
And understood not that a grateful mind
By owing owes not, but still pays, at once
Indebted and discharg’d: what burden then?
(Milton, Paradise Lost, IV. 32-41; 54-57)

There’s so many passages where Satan laments his rebellion with gorgeous soliloquies that draw sympathy for the Fallen Brother we, as Christians, love to hate.

We had this discussion in our class the other day and I keep thinking about it. Milton really draws your sympathy whenever he writes for Satan. I think we forget that Satan is our brother just as much as Jesus. We should mourn the loss of our brother and the 1/3 hosts of heaven who followed him. They were our family. Our friends. Our loved ones. I know it was their choice to rebel, but still, is it wrong to mourn their choice and our subsequent loss?

GEEZ, it’s beautiful! I think I’ve got a new favorite, folks!

Things that induce laughter/smiles/happy feelings in me today:
1. Excedrine. And all of its mighty powers.
2. Happy hour at Sonic. Not that kind of Happy Hour; they don’t sell alcohol. But everyday from 3-5 pm they sell drinks at half price.
3. Knowing that I can write this paper I’m about to start and not worry about revealing something so incredibly personal to my teacher and know he’ll understand and won’t treat me any differently.
4. The math lab.
5. Actually being able to get myself out of bed in the mornings. I’m telling you, it’s a wonder.