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After telling the Fall of humanity in Paradise Lost, John Milton turned to its answer. In four books of blank verse he follows Jesus into the wilderness…
After telling the Fall of humanity in Paradise Lost, John Milton turned to its answer. In four books of blank verse he follows Jesus into the wilderness after his baptism, where Satan tempts him: with bread to end his hunger, with a banquet, with wealth and kingdoms, with the empires of Parthia and Rome, with the learning of Athens, and finally on the pinnacle of the Temple. Jesus refuses each one, and in his calm obedience the poet sees humanity's recovery of paradise.
Context and significance
Milton (1608–1674), by then blind, published the poem in 1671 together with his drama Samson Agonistes. Quieter and more philosophical than its great predecessor, it is the work of a poet who had seen the collapse of the revolution he served. See Milton's life.
About the author
John Milton (1608–1674) was a London scholar-poet who wrote Lycidas and other early poems before devoting twenty years to politics. He wrote pamphlets defending divorce and the freedom of the press, in his famous Areopagitica, and served Cromwell's government as Latin secretary, losing his sight around 1652.
After the monarchy was restored he was briefly imprisoned and lucky to escape execution. Blind, poor and disappointed, he dictated Paradise Lost, published in 1667, followed by Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. He is often ranked second only to Shakespeare among English poets.