John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny. The struggle rages across three worlds-heaven, hell, and earth-as Satan and his band of rebel angels plot their revenge against God. At the...

In this brilliant biography, an acclaimed Oxford professor rediscovers a poet whose rich contradictions confound his monumental image and immerses us in the rhythms and textures of his world, from his childhood into his idiosyncratic belief system and his strange, electrifying imagination.

Provides analysis of the most frequently studied poems in literature courses. Each entry contains author biography (if attributed), poem text, poem summary, themes, style, historical context, critical overview, and criticism.