Paradise Lost (Longman Annotated English Poets) Book

Published in the Longman Annotated English Poets series, this is the eagerly awaited second edition of Alistair Fowler's annotated edition of Paradise Lost. Since the first edition was published in 1968, this has become the acknowledged authoritative guide to Milton's poem. The second edition maintains the detailed annotation that has for many years provided interesting and comprehensive explanation to this difficult but compelling poem, making it accessible to the scholar, student and general reader alike. This is the first study that is based on the first edition of Paradise Lost (1667), which is now widely accepted as being closer to Milton's intention and more accurate that the 1664 edition. The revised introduction describes the poem and its remarkable critical reception, surveying the nine thousand or so critical contributions devoted to it, not least during the last thirty years. Besides providing glosses and illustrations of sources and analogues, the notes refer to extra-literary contexts, religious, political and scientific, aiming to explain Milton's imaginary astronomy, in particular, more fully than any other edition has attempted. The notes also provide an unusual amount of critical commentary, in such a way as to engage with current thought about the poem.Read More