Vocabulary in Paradise Lost

A paradox describing a kind of light so faint it reveals only suffering rather than anything hopeful — just enough illumination to see how terrible the surroundings are.

To rule as a king or supreme lord over a place or people, holding absolute power and authority.

Having risen up in armed rebellion against a ruler; here describing the angels who turned against God and fought on Satan's side.

Existing from eternity alongside something else, with no beginning and no end — used here to describe holy Light as equally eternal with God.

Without incurring blame or sin; the poet asks whether he may speak of holy Light without committing an act of presumption or impiety.

Knew something before it happened; God's knowing in advance that the angels would rebel, without that knowledge being the cause of their choice.

The divine ability to know future events before they occur; in this poem it is distinguished from predestination — knowing an act is not the same as causing it.

Reckon or count me as; the Son asks God to treat him as a human being so that he can stand in for humanity and bear its punishment.

Placed in a state of perfect bliss, as if enclosed in paradise; used here to describe Adam and Eve so absorbed in each other's embrace that they form their own paradise.

The daily-revolving sky visible from Earth — the observable heavens that complete one full turn every twenty-four hours, as opposed to the infinite cosmos beyond.

Carried away or lifted up to a higher realm, as if snatched there by divine force; the poet says he sings from Earth rather than being transported above the heavens.

Lofty, exalted, and majestic in the highest degree; here describing the Son riding high and gloriously through the heavens on a cherub's wings.

In the Ptolemaic cosmology Milton uses, one of the transparent, glassy spheres that surround the Earth and carry the heavenly bodies in their orbits.

The extreme edge or brink of something; here the very rim or boundary of Heaven from which the defeated rebel angels hurl themselves downward.

To describe or represent something in clear detail; Raphael says he will sketch out things beyond human senses by comparing them to physical, bodily forms.

Relating to the physical body and material world, as opposed to what is spiritual or immaterial; used to describe the bodily forms Raphael uses as comparisons.

An undeveloped, unformed mass still in its earliest stage; Milton describes the newborn Earth as an embryo not yet fully shaped, still wrapped in water.

A morning song or hymn of praise; here the music sung at dawn on the sixth day of Creation, welcoming the morning and celebrating God's work.

Goes beyond or exceeds the limits of something; here it means lying above and outside what human senses are capable of perceiving or understanding.

Wise in a humble, modest way — knowing only what is necessary and proper for one's own condition, without reaching ambitiously after forbidden or excessive knowledge.

Carried completely out of one's normal self by an overwhelming emotion; Adam describes being so overcome by passion for Eve that his usual self-command vanishes.

A simple meal eaten in a country or garden setting; Milton refers to the easy, familiar meals God or angels once shared with Adam in Eden before the Fall.

To give up or do without something valued; Adam asks how he could possibly live without Eve's company and love if she were to die from eating the fruit.

Deep, lasting hatred and hostility between two parties; God declares an eternal state of mutual hatred between the serpent's offspring and the woman's descendants.

To ask or beg for something earnestly; Adam protests that he never asked or pleaded with God to create him and give him life.

To decline from a higher to a lower moral or physical state; Michael warns Adam that future generations will fall away from virtue into corruption.

Morally corrupted and wicked; describing humanity as having sunk into a state of deep moral ruin after abandoning justice, temperance, truth, and faith.

God's guiding care and foresight over human affairs; the force that will direct Adam and Eve's path through the world after they leave Eden.