Another famous poetic treatise on heaven and
hell is that of John Milton, who wrote Paradise Lost from 1660 to 1667
after
the loss of his eyesight in 1652. In
this epic, each book (and there are twelve within the entire work) is prefaced
with an argument and summary of what was to follow. In the beginning of the work, Satan and his
fallen companions wake in Hell and discuss what it is they’re going to do. He has Beelzebub, his second in command,
speak up with Satan’s own idea: they should get back at God through Man. Satan agrees,
and he and his two children, Sin and
Death, leave Hell to go to Earth. God watches them and predicts their success:
man has free will, but knows what will happen.
If someone is willing to take on death for Man, that person will save
the creation – and when the Son offers, rejoicing is done. Satan tricks the angel Uriel to showing him
where Man is, and when he tempts Eve with whispers, he’s captured and banished
from the Earth. Eve shares with Adam the
strange dream, and the advent of Raphael gives the readers stories of the
schism in Heaven, and how it was ended.
He then speaks of the creation of the
world, of the creatures, and Adam
is warned about Satan a last time before the angel leaves. Satan returns as a serpent this time,
convinces Eve to take the fruit, and Adam follows suit. Despite his victory in the fall of Man, Satan
is punished along with his followers, being turned into snakes in Hell. Sin and Death have made a huge path to the
Earth from Hell, but are told by God they, too, will be trapped in Hell in the
end. Adam and Eve are removed from Eden and clothed, left to fend for themselves in the world
with only a vision of what is to come to sustain them through the hardships.