Excerpt from Milton's Paradise Lost: Books I and II With Introduction, Notes, and Diagrams IN this edition of the first two books of Paradise Lost, I have tried to mark the literary aspects of the poem. Everything else has been of minor consideration. I have neglected a number of interesting things about Milton's life, because I believe that too much biography detracts from. Interest in the poem; I have neglected many inter esting questions concerning Milton's language, because these seem often, not only to detract from interest in the poem, but almost to destroy it. I have tried to explain what was necessary, and no more, and to call attention to what might pass unnoticed, so that a student could read the poem with understanding and with appreciation of its special characteristics. The poem is edited not only for cursory reading, but for special study. The notes at the bottom of the page are intended for use when the book is prescribed for reading. Where the book is prescribed for study, the student will find some additional notes on pp. 78 - 102. Even these addi tional notes, however, do not deal largely with explanation of allusion or linguistic comment: their purpose is to make the student more intimately familiar with the poem, and so more appreciative of its character. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.