RARELY has a writer had so great an impact on the world around him as did John Milton, author of the English epic poem Paradise Lost.

Today, John Milton is best remembered for composing Paradise Lost, a poetic retelling of the Biblical account of man’s fall from perfection. (Genesis, chapter 3) It is primarily this work, first published in 1667, that earned Milton literary fame, especially in the English-speaking world. He later published a sequel entitled Paradise Regained. These poems present God’s original purpose for man​—to enjoy perfect life in an earthly paradise—​and point to God’s restoration of Paradise on earth through Christ. In Paradise Lost, for example, Michael the archangel foretells the time when Christ will “reward His faithful, and receive them into bliss, whether in heaven or earth, for then the earth shall all be paradise, far happier place than this of Eden, and far happier days.”

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The poem “Paradise Lost” brought Milton fame

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Courtesy of The Early Modern Web at Oxford