Paradise Regained

thumb|The childhood shows the man,As morning shows the day. Paradise Regained is a poem, published in 1671, by the 17th century English poet John Milton that is connected by name to his earlier and more famous epic poem Paradise Lost, with which it shares similar theological themes; indeed, its title, its use of blank verse, and its progression through Christian history recall the earlier work. However, this effort deals primarily with the temptation of Christ as recounted in the Gospel of Luke. Quotes Book I I who e're while the happy Garden sung,By one mans disobedience lost, now singRecover'd Paradise to all mankind,By one mans firm obedience fully tri'dThrough all temptation, and the Tempter foil'dIn all his wiles, defeated and repuls't,And Eden rais'd in the wast Wilderness. Lines 1–7 [...] tell of deedsAbove Heroic, though in secret done,And unrecorded left through many an Age,Worthy t' have not remain'd so long unsung. Lines 14–17 His coming, is sent Harbinger, who allInvites, and in the Consecrated streamPretends to wash off sin Lines 71–73 Victory and triumph to the Son of GodNow entring his great duel, not of arms,But to vanquish by wisdom hellish wiles.The Father knows the Son; therefore secureVentures his filial Vertue, though untri'd,Against whate're may tempt, whate're seduce,Allure, or terrifie, or undermine.Be frustrate, all ye stratagems of Hell,And devilish machinations come to nought. Lines 173–181 Envy they say excites me, thus to gain Companions of my misery and wo. Lines 397–398 That fellowship in pain divides not smart, Nor lightens aught each mans peculiar load. Lines 401–402 Most men admireVirtue who follow not her lore. Lines 482–483 Book II And the great Thisbite who on fiery wheelsRode up to Heaven, yet once again to come. Lines 16–17 Behold the kings of the Earth how they oppressThy chosen, to what highth thir pow'r unjustThey have exalted, and behind them castAll fear of thee, arise and vindicateThy Glory, free thy people from thir yoke Lines 44–48 My heart hath been a store-house long of thingsAnd sayings laid up, portending strange events. Lines 103–104 Skilled to retire, and in retiring drawHearts after them tangled in amorous nets. Lines 161–162 Beauty stands In the admiration only of weak mindsLed captive. Lines 220–221 Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wreck'd. Line 228 For therein stands the office of a King,His Honour, Vertue, Merit and chief Praise,That for the Publick all this weight he bears.Yet he who reigns within himself, and rulesPassions, Desires, and Fears, is more a King; Lines 463–467 Book III For what is glory but the blaze of fame. Line 47 Of whom to be disprais'd were no small praise. Line 56 They err who count it glorious to subdueBy Conquest far and wide, to over-runLarge Countries, and in field great Battels win, Lines 71–73 Elephants endors'd with towers. Line 329 Book IV Syene, and where the shadow both way falls,Meroe, Nilotic isle. Lines 70–71 Dusk faces with white silken turbans wreath'd. Line 76 The first of all Commandments, Thou shalt worshipThe Lord thy God, and only him shalt serve; Lines 176–177 The childhood shows the man, As morning shows the day. Be famous, then,By wisdom; as thy empire must extend,So let extend thy mind o'er all the worldIn knowledge; all things in it comprehend. Lines 220–224. Compare: "The child is father of the man", William Wordsworth, My Heart Leaps up. Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of artsAnd eloquence. Lines 240–241 The olive grove of Academe,Plato's retirement, where the Attic birdTrills her thick-warbled notes the summer long. Lines 244–246 Thence to the famous orators repair,Those ancient, whose resistless eloquenceWielded at will that fierce democratie,Shook the arsenal, and fulmin'd over Greece,To Macedon, and Artaxerxes' throne. Line 267–271 Socrates...Whom well inspired the oracle pronouncedWisest of men. Lines 274–276; spoken by Satan. The first and wisest of them all professedTo know this only, that he nothing knew. Lines 293–294. Who readsIncessantly, and to his reading brings notA spirit and judgment equal or superior,(And what he brings what needs he elsewhere seek?)Uncertain and unsettled still remains,Deep versed in books, and shallow in himself. Line 322 As children gath'ring pebbles on the shore.Or if I would delight my private hoursWith music or with poem, where so soonAs in our native language can I findThat solace? Lines 330–335 Till morning fairCame forth with pilgrim steps in amice gray. Lines 426–427 Quotes about Paradise Regained On the fate of the Paradise Regained the voice of the public, which on a question of poetic excellence cannot for any long time be erroneous, has irrevocably decided. Not to object to the impropriety of the title, which would certainly be more consistent with a work on the death and the resurrection of our blessed Lord, the extreme narrowness of the plan of the poem, the small proportion of it which is assigned to action and the large part which is given to disputations and didactic dialogue, its paucity of characters and of poetic imagery, and, lastly, its general deficiency in the charm of numbers must for ever preclude it from any extended range of popularity. It may be liked and applauded by those who are resolute to like and are hardy to applaud: but to the great body of the readers of poetry, let the critics amuse themselves with their exertions as they please, it will always be "caviare." It is embellished however with several exquisite passages, and it certainly shows in some of its finer parts, the still existing author of the Paradise Lost. Charles Symmons, The Life of John Milton (1810), p. 556 External links E-text from the John Milton Reading Room Category:Works by John Milton Category:Epic poetry