This illustrated edition of “Paradise Lost” • Character portraits of Satan, Adam, and Eve • Dramatic scenes of Eden, Pandemonium, and Heaven Composed in stately blank verse and first published in 1667, Paradise Lost recounts the revolt of the angels, the creation of the world, and humanity’s first disobedience. Milton frames cosmic conflict with intimate Satan’s defiant rhetoric, the tender companionship of Adam and Eve, and the tragic seduction that reshapes history. Invoking the classical epic while challenging it, the poem asks how freedom, obedience, love, and knowledge can coexist—and what it costs to choose wrongly. John Milton (1608–1674), a scholar, polemicist, and civil servant for the Commonwealth, wrote the poem after losing his sight, dictating to assistants. Drawing on Homer and Virgil as well as Scripture, he forged a distinctly English epic that marries theological inquiry with psychological nuance and political resonance. The 1674 revised edition, expanded to twelve books, cemented his legacy as a central voice of the Renaissance and beyond. ✓ Grand mythic sweep joined to deeply felt human emotions ✓ Signature blank-verse music, rich allusion, and philosophical depth ✓ Enduring temptation, responsibility, justice, and mercy ✓ Essential touchstone for theology, literature, and intellectual history