Color Coded Translation Widget

Paradise Lost · Book I

Original Modern Notes

1

Of Man’s first disobedience, and the fruit

1

Of mankind’s first act of disobedience, and the fruit

2

Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste

2

Of that forbidden tree whose deadly taste

3

Brought death into the world, and all our woe,

3

Brought death into the world, and all our misery,

4

With loss of Eden, till one greater Man

4

With the loss of Eden, until one greater Man

5

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,

5

Restore us, and regain the blissful place,

6

Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top

6

Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret summit

7

Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire

7

Of Horeb, or of Sinai, did inspire

8

That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed

8

That shepherd who first taught the chosen people

9

In the beginning how the heavens and earth

9

In the beginning how the heavens and earth

10

Rose out of Chaos: or, if Sion hill

10

Rose out of Chaos: or, if Zion hill

11

Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flowed

11

Delights you more, and Siloa’s brook that flowed

12

Fast by the oracle of God, I thence

12

Close by the oracle of God, I from there

13

Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,

13

Call on your help for my bold song,

14

That with no middle flight intends to soar

14

That intends to soar with no ordinary flight

15

Above th’ Aonian mount, while it pursues

15

Above the Aonian mountain, while it pursues

Place · Biblical

Eden – The Garden of Eden, home of Adam and Eve before the Fall. Milton presents its loss as the central catastrophe of human history.

Allusion to Genesis 2–3. Eden becomes a symbol of the lost harmony between God, man and nature.

Invocation · Classical

Heavenly Muse – Milton’s Christian re-imagining of the classical Muse, identified with the Holy Spirit who inspired Moses on Sinai / Horeb.

By invoking a “Heavenly” Muse, Milton claims sacred authority for his epic.

Place · Biblical

Oreb (Horeb) – Another name for Mount Sinai, where God gave the Law to Moses. Milton links his inspiration to the same divine source.

Concept · Cosmology

Chaos – The formless, warring abyss before Creation. Both a physical realm and a moral state of disorder.

Later Satan travels through Chaos on the way to the newly created world.

Place · Biblical

Siloa – The brook near the Temple in Jerusalem (Isaiah 8:6). Milton contrasts the classical Helicon with this sacred Hebrew stream.

Place · Classical

Aonian mount – Mount Helicon in Boeotia, home of the Muses. Milton’s poem will “soar above” this traditional seat of poetic inspiration.

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