How to Deep Read Paradise Lost by John Milton

A Step-by-Step Guide.

Introduction

I’m no literature scholar or expert. In fact, I’ve only been reading seriously since 2018. Before that, I read very little. Like any good Millennial, my home library used to consist mostly of Harry Potter books. But now? Now I’ve read over 450 books during the past six years. Even though I still have a lot left to read, I’ve had one single reading experience that stands head-and-shoulders above all others.

The most sublime reading experience that I’ve had has been with a literary masterpiece that is majestic, profound, and ceaselessly captivating.

John Milton’s Paradise Lost is an epic poem that tells of journeys that traverse the realms of Heaven, Hell, and Paradise. It explores some of the most foundational stories of western culture. Satan’s rebellion against God. Adam and Eve’s Edenic sojourn’s in the garden. Mankind’s ultimate fall from bliss.

Paradise Lost is monumental in scope and sublime in its extraordinary linguistic inventiveness. Milton was essentially blind when he composed this, his greatest work. He was a sightless visionary that dictated some of the most vivid imagery imaginable.

Milton’s Satan is a legendary literary character that has inspired countless others, such as Melville’s Captain Ahab or McCarthy’s Judge Holden. Satan oozes a charisma that is equal parts compelling and tragic. Full of irony, Satan’s most famous argument is that it is better to reign in Hell than be subservient in Heaven. As if he had any other choice.

Reading Paradise Lost is challenging for many novice readers like myself. To become immersed in the narrative requires mediation (assistance) from other sources. However, once readers break through the initial barriers — difficult language and complex verse rather than straightforward prose — the poem opens up and becomes compulsively readable.

Thus, the purpose of this post is to help readers access the majesty that is Paradise Lost. Below I will provide a step-by-step guide for reading this epic poem. I followed these steps during my initial read-through and I had the best reading experience of my life.

But a quick disclaimer first. The best approach to reading a challenging work of literature is always the approach that works for you. You know far better than I what will help you and what will hinder you. My only hope is that at least some of the advice contained in this post will indeed help you have a great reading experience.

Preparation

Before you begin actually reading the poem, here are some steps for you to consider:

Step 1 — Choose Your Versions

Unlike much of the epic poetry that scholars might include in the Western Canon, the original Paradise Lost was written in English. Therefore, readers who speak and read English do not have to go through the sometimes arduous process of finding a good translation.

My recommendation for reading Paradise Lost is to obtain both a physical and an audio copy of the poem. For physical copies, I recommend either:

1. Paradise Lost: A Norton Critical Edition which is a great annotated version;

or

2. Paradise Lost (Revised) in the Penguin Paperback edition as a lower-cost alternative.

For an audio version, I recommend either:

1. Anton Lesser’s narration available on Audible;

or

2. The free Librivox recording which is available on YouTube.

Step 2 — Seek Out the Right Supplemental Materials for You

The experience of reading Paradise Lost is vastly augmented by high-quality supplemental materials such as companion books or online lectures. I recommend picking up The Cambridge Companion to Paradise Lost. This work includes short, accessible essays that explore the most important topics and themes in Milton's masterpiece. The essays are arranged to mirror the way the poem itself unfolds, which encourages readers to sprinkle these essays throughout their process of reading the twelve chapters (called books) of Paradise Lost.

For online lectures, I recommend searching on YouTube for something like “Paradise Lost Book One Lecture” and reviewing the options that are available. My personal recommendation is Dr. Scott Masson’s lecture series, but you may find another YouTube creator that speaks more directly to your sensibilities.

Once you’ve collected your primary and supplementary materials in these first two steps, it’s time to actually read the thing!

Reading

I recommend slowly working through Paradise Lost one book at a time. Therefore, you should complete each of the steps below for Book One before moving on to Book Two; and then repeat the process for each subsequent book.

Step 3 — Read the Book Silently to Yourself

This step is to simply read whichever book you have made it to in Paradise Lost silently and alone. During this step, I recommend a rather quick pace. Read it as fast as you can subvocalize it. Don’t spend too much time going backwards to pick up on things you think you’ve missed. Here, you’re simply dipping your toes in to get a quick feel for the poem.

You will miss a lot. There will be words or phrases that don’t make any sense. Don’t worry about this. During this first read-through, you’re simply trying to pick up on the major components of the narrative. Who are the characters? Where are they? What is the main action that is occurring? These are the kinds of things that you’re hoping to pick up in this step.

Step 4 — Listen to the Audio Version and Follow Along

Listening to a professional read it is key. Most of the narrators are scholars of the work themselves. They know what they’re doing.

In this step, you’ll notice, now that you have a general idea of the major story components, that you are starting to appreciate a lot more nuance in the poem. The beauty of the language and the creativity behind Milton’s extensive linguistic flourishes will become more apparent as you hear it read aloud.

Make sure you follow along in your physical copy. Make mental notes or highlight/underline passages that strike you so that you can pay particular attention to them in future steps.

Step 5 — Engage With Your Supplementary Materials

You may not want to complete this step with all twelve books of Paradise Lost, but this is where you start engaging with the companion book or the lectures that you identified in Step 2 above. Personally, I listened to an online lecture after Step 4 for each of the twelve books, but I only rarely read through some of the essays in my companion book.

I know, this is a lot of effort for one piece of literature. Thus, It’s probably time for a quick note on pacing:

I recommend spending at least three days with each book of Paradise Lost. Obviously, you could spend more days, but anything less than three is too little for a first-time reader. This is deep reading and it takes time. Each of the reading steps above will take approximately an hour. If you do all of them, you will be spending three hours on each book. This is too much for a single day.

Sit with the poem for a bit. Ponder what you’ve read. Mentally engage with the supplementary materials. Take your time. If you spend three days with each book, you’ll spend just over a month reading it. By the end, you’ll probably wish that it had taken even longer.

Step 6 — Read Aloud to Yourself or (Even Better) to Others

If there’s one Golden Rule to reading Paradise Lost, this is it. Read it out loud as much as possible. This poem is meant to be heard. Due to his blindness, Milton dictated it out loud as he composed it. You’ll experience the poem more fully if you do something similar.

The previous steps have been preparing you for this sublime moment. Read it out loud. Read it slowly. Go back and reread your favorite passages. Memorize a few excerpts. Close your eyes and recite those. This is your final step before you move on to the next book and ultimately finish the work. Who knows how long it will be before you come back. Squeeze as much juice out of this epic poem as you can before you leave it.

Conclusion

I understand. This is a lot. There aren’t many works that are deep or rich enough to sustain the amount of effort I’m encouraging you to put into this one. Paradise Lost is worth it though. It will reward you in proportion to every ounce of effort and every second that you put into it.

Paradise Lost transcends literature. It contains everything that the English language is capable of and more. It is truth and beauty. In the ultimate analysis, I’m certain that it places Milton at the pinnacle with Shakespeare and Joyce as the superlative writers of the English language.

If you follow the steps above, I’m confident that you will enjoy one of the best reading experiences of your life.

Happy Reading!