By John Milton
A note: I know this is tough to read, but the main thing is to not give up. Take your time with things you can't understand, and have faith in yourself. Remember: other people have read and comprehended this; it is far from impossible.
In this passage, Satan, after being cast out of Heaven and into Hell, seeks to pass through the locked gates of Hell so as to corrupt Man and get back at God. Two figures stand in his way: a woman who is beautiful from the waist up, but whose bottom is a serpent and who has hell hounds circling around her waist, devouring her entrails, and a monstrous shade. The woman holds the key to the Gates, and refers to Satan as "Father". Here, she tells Satan of her and the shade's origin.
"Hast thou forgot me, then; and do I seem
Now in thine eye so foul?--once deemed so fair
In Heaven, when at th' assembly, and in sight
Of all the Seraphim with thee combined
In bold conspiracy against Heaven's King,
All on a sudden miserable pain
Surprised thee, dim thine eyes and dizzy swum
In darkness, while thy head flames thick and fast
Threw forth, till on the left side opening wide,
Likest to thee in shape and countenance bright,
Then shining heavenly fair, a goddess armed,
Out of thy head I sprung. Amazement seized
All th' host of Heaven; back they recoiled afraid
At first, and called me Sin, and for a sign
Portentous held me; but, familiar grown,
I pleased, and with attractive graces won
The most averse--thee chiefly, who, full oft
Thyself in me thy perfect image viewing,
Becam'st enamoured; and such joy thou took'st
With me in secret that my womb conceived
A growing burden. Meanwhile war arose,
And fields were fought in Heaven: wherein remained
(For what could else?) to our Almighty Foe
Clear victory; to our part loss and rout
Through all the Empyrean. Down they fell,
Driven headlong from the pitch of Heaven, down
Into this Deep; and in the general fall
I also: at which time this powerful key
Into my hands was given, with charge to keep
These gates for ever shut, which none can pass
Without my opening. Pensive here I sat
Alone; but long I sat not, till my womb,
Pregnant by thee, and now excessive grown,
Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes.
At last this odious offspring whom thou seest,
Thine own begotten, breaking violent way,
Tore through my entrails, that, with fear and pain
Distorted, all my nether shape thus grew
Transformed: but he my inbred enemy
Forth issued, brandishing his fatal dart,
Made to destroy. I fled, and cried out Death!
Hell trembled at the hideous name, and sighed
From all her caves, and back resounded Death!
I fled; but he pursued (though more, it seems,
Inflamed with lust than rage), and, swifter far,
Me overtook, his mother, all dismayed,
And, in embraces forcible and foul
Engendering with me, of that rape begot
These yelling monsters, that with ceaseless cry
Surround me, as thou saw'st--hourly conceived
And hourly born, with sorrow infinite
To me; for, when they list, into the womb
That bred them they return, and howl, and gnaw
My bowels, their repast; then, bursting forth
Afresh, with conscious terrors vex me round,
That rest or intermission none I find.
Before mine eyes in opposition sits
Grim Death, my son and foe, who set them on,
And me, his parent, would full soon devour
For want of other prey, but that he knows
His end with mine involved, and knows that I
Should prove a bitter morsel, and his bane,
Whenever that shall be: so Fate pronounced.
But thou, O father, I forewarn thee, shun
His deadly arrow; neither vainly hope
To be invulnerable in those bright arms,
Through tempered heavenly; for that mortal dint,
Save he who reigns above, none can resist."
P.S. Wiki "Paradise Lost" to get the background of the story. It'll help your comprehension.
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So these two figures in his way are Sin and Death, and the poem describes Sin's fall from heaven and the creation of Death, her son, from within her?
ReplyDeleteThe poem is pretty complex, but the Wiki page helps. I like the way that Milton treats this Biblical tale as a story, with central characters and a plot-line. I find this method interesting.
Lev:
ReplyDelete1. Sin's fall is not central; the main focus is the birth of Sin from Satan, the rape of Sin by Satan, the birth of Death, the rape of Sin by Death, and the general misery of the situation.
2. The disagree with your use of "treat". All Biblical tales are stories, and the Bible is basically a series of stories. People see it as philosophy or theology, but its is really just a collection of stories that shed a brilliant light on the world. The Bible has the fundamental stories of humanity: the fall from grace (the Fall), endless unwarranted suffering (Job), and the willingness to sacrifice for a greater purpose (the binding of Isaac).
One more thing: Sin mentions that:
These gates for ever shut, which none can pass
Without my opening.
This applies to entrance as well as exit. People do not go to Hell if they do not sin; thus, avoidance of sin will avoid Hell.
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ReplyDeleteAlex:
ReplyDeleteAh, "pregant by thee." I totally missed the rape of Sin by Satan. I liked your last point about sin leading to hell, and Sin saying that her "opening" leads to hell.
You say that this applies to exit as well as entrance. How does the "opening" of sin lead to the exit from hell?
I meant that Sin is required to go from somewhere else into Hell. The meaning is not as powerful when exiting Hell.
ReplyDeleteAlso, remember that besides the plot, there is the outstanding poetry. Sin's evocative description of her misery is so forceful and stimulative to the imagination that it leaves a huge impression on the reader.