ABSTRACT
The Verse, prefixed to the Paradise Lost of 1668, people who learn, of 'true musical delight', that it consists, for Milton, 'only in apt Numbers, fit quantity of syllables, and the sense variously drawn out from one Verse into another'. Neither kinetic and dramatic effect, as in the lines on Satan's fall, nor narrative and musical effect, as in the invocation to Light, are in evidence at all frequently as they read Paradise Lost. Milton's material is not only integrated at every point with his poem's plot, but was a matter of living interest to all educated people at the time of writing. Sir Herbert had applauded: 'that tremendous stroke which one might hardly have expected from Milton, Satan shaken with remorse as he surveys the fallen followers of his pride: "Thrice he essay'd, and thrice in spite of scorn Tears such as angels weep burst forth; at last Words interwoven with sighs found out their way'.
