Poems of John Milton (original: 1779; edição: 1930)

In college, I took a class on Milton with a great professor, so I have a soft spot for a lot of Milton's work. ( )

Takes guts and ingenuity to make god be the bad guy and crazed tyrant and satan the hero. ( )

For me, reading Paradise Lost was like the first time I read Homer’s Odyssey. It is immersive, interesting and stokes both heart and mind. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m glad I waited so long to read it. I needed some experience and growth before I could appreciate it for its depth. Interestingly enough, I first became aware of Milton’s epic poem as a child, from the “Space Seed” episode of one of my favorite TV series, Star Trek. The line in that episode was spoken by Satan in Paradise Lost: “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven” (I: 263).

This poem is about the Fall of man in the garden of Eden. The Tree of Knowledge is one of the two forbidden trees in the Garden. In Book IV, Satan says of that tree:“Can it be a sin to know?
Can it be death? And do they only stand
By Ignorance? Is that their happy state
The proof of their obedience and their faith?”
(IV: 517-520)Satan furthers it in Book IX, the exciting beginning of the Fall. Satan sneaks into the Garden of Eden. Speaking to Eve alone, he says of the fruit of the forbidden tree, “Why then was this forbid? Why, but to awe;
Why, but to keep ye low and ignorant,
His worshippers”
(IX: 703-705)Eve gives in to desire and reaches for the fruit. I would too. Knowledge is food for me.

Another favorite quote of mine from Paradise Lost is one that was used as an epigraph in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Paradise Lost is one of the three books that the Creature finds in the woods and with which he teaches himself to read. (The other two books are Goethe’s Sorrows of Young Werther and one volume of Plutarch’s Lives.) The quote is:“Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me Man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me”
(X: 743-745) ( )

Tener reunida toda la poesía de John Milton en un solo tomo es casi tan emocionante como las obras completas de Shakespeare o de Cervantes. Aquí se pueden leer sus poemas tan influyentes en toda la literatura occidental, como "El paraíso perdido" o "El paraíso recuperado". Este libro dice en el lomo "Poems in English", porque hay que tener en cuenta que tiene también obra en latín que no sale recogida en el volumen. ( )

Interesting really for the fernware cover. ( )