Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained
HarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.
‘Greedily she engorged without restraint,
And knew not eating death;’
Milton’s Paradise Lost is a poem of epic proportions that tells of Satan’s attempts to mislead Eve into disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, by eating from the tree of knowledge. His interpretation of the biblical story of Genesis is vivid and intense in its language, justifying the actions of God to men. In his sequel poem, Paradise Regained, Milton shows Satan trying to seduce Jesus in a similar way to Eve, but ultimately failing as Jesus remains steadfast.
Born in London in 1608, John Milton was an English poet, historian and civil servant who served under Oliver Cromwell for the Commonwealth of England. He is best known for his 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, which tells the biblical story of the fall of man.