Publication of Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton, first published in 1667 in ten books and later revised into twelve in 1674. It retells the biblical story of the fall of man, beginning with the rebellion of Satan and his angels in heaven and their expulsion into hell, and following the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Milton, who was blind when he dictated the poem, set out to justify the ways of God to men, and he gave Satan a memorable and sometimes sympathetic voice. The work draws on the epics of Homer and Virgil, and it reflects the political and religious conflicts of Milton's age, in which he had supported the Parliamentary cause. It is widely considered one of the greatest poems in the English language.

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