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| Starts in media res with Satan and the fallen angels in a lake of fire."justify the ways of God to men", "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven", "The mind is its own place, and in itself/ Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven". Ends with the fallen creating a palace in Hell. |
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| The fallen debate what their next actions will be. Satan decides to exit Hell to find man in Paradise. Sin and Death are introduced. Satan encounters Chaos and Night. |
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| God observes Satan's journey and foretells how Satan will bring about Man's Fall. God emphasizes, that the Fall will come about as a result of Man's own free will, and excuses himself of responsibility. The Son of God offers himself as a ransom for Man's disobedience, an offer which God accepts, ordaining the Son's future incarnation and punishment. Satan arrives at the rim of the universe, disguises himself as a Cherubim, and is directed to Earth by Uriel, Guardian of the Sun. |
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| Satan journeys to the Garden of Eden ("where the Fiend/ Saw undelighted all delight), where he observes Adam and Eve ("Godlike erect") discussing the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan, transformed into a toad, tries to tempt Eve while she sleeps, but is discovered by the angels. The angel Gabriel expels Satan from the Garden. |
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| Eve awakes and relates her dream to Adam. God sends Raphael to warn and encourage Adam: they talk of free will, knowledge (discursive and intuitive), and predestination; Raphael tells Adam the story of how Satan inspired his angels to revolt against God. Abdiel introduced. |
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| Raphael goes on to describe further the war in Heaven and explains how the Son of God drove Satan and his minions down to Hell (Abdiel confronts. Michael and Satan duel. Pain. Mountains thrown. The Son of God arrives) |
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| Raphael explains to Adam that God then decided to create another world (the Earth); he again warns Adam not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, for "in the day thou eat'st, thou diest;/ Death is the penalty imposed, beware,/ And govern well thy appetite, lest Sin/ Surprise thee, and her black attendant Death". "knowledge within bounds" |
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| Adam tells the story of his creation from his own perspective (Ent'ring on studious thoughts abstruse"), providing a counterpoint to Raphael's instruction in Book VI. Adam asks Raphael for knowledge (ToK, "The pledge of thy obedience and they faith") concerning the stars and the angelic nature ("if Spirits embrace,/ Total they mix"); Raphael warns "heaven is for thee too high/ To know what passes there; be lowly wise", and advises modesty and patience. |
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| Satan returns to Eden and enters into the body of a sleeping serpent (First sees Eve, "stood/ From his own evil, and for the time remained/ Stupidly good"). The serpent tempts (flattery) Eve to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge (Eve, "Forbids us good, forbids us to be wise?"). She eats and takes some fruit for Adam. Adam, realizing Eve has been tricked, decides he would rather die with Eve than live without her; he eats of the fruit. At first the two become intoxicated by the fruit; they become lustful, engaging in sexual intercourse; afterward, in their loss of innocence Adam and Eve cover their nakedness and fall into despair ("Thus they in mutual accusation spent/ The fruitless hours, but neither self-condemning,/ And of their vain contest appeared no end"). |
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| God sends his Son to Eden to deliver judgment on Adam and Eve. Satan returns in triumph to Hell ("from innumerable tongues/ A dismal universal hiss"). Eve asks forgiveness. |
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| The Son of God pleads with his Father on behalf of Adam and Eve. God decrees the couple must be expelled from the Garden, and the angel Michael descends to deliver God's judgment. Michael begins to unfold the future history of the world to Adam. |
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| Michael tells Adam of the eventual coming of the Messiah, before leading Adam and Eve from the Garden (Eve learns intuitively and Adam discursively). They have lost the physical Paradise, but now have the opportunity to enjoy a "Paradise within ... happier farr" (felix culpa; "fortunate fault"). The poem ends: "The World was all before them/ where to choose Their place of rest/ and Providence Their guide: They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow/ Through Eden took, Their solitaire way." |
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