Paradise has fallen. The world, shaken at its core, lies in wait for the judgment of those responsible. God and the Son of Man have had their words. Nothing can be done. God sent the archangel Michael to his creations, to reveal the future of man. Michael’s tales are not filled with joy, but instead of assured pain, suffering, and destruction. He tells of the great kingdoms of Earth to come, of Adam’s tragic children, of death in all its forms. He warns of the dangers of indulgence, to be prudent around women, and the destructive quality of war. He shares the story of Noah’s arc and the depopulation of Adam’s lineage. Adam has only sorrow when we arrive at the passage from lines 763-786 in Book XI. Here, Adam laments the loss of his innocence, and resents the forced knowledge of the future. He pronounces that no man shall ever be all knowing after he. This is a key passage in the overall analysis of Paradise Lost, as it places Adam, the protagonist, renouncing knowledge, mimicking the ideas of God. It presents an interesting relationship between God and Adam and Adam and Eve, as Eve also renounces her desire for knowledge after finding that she will have to leave the gardens.
The diction in this passage captures how low Adam felt at the time, much more so than the imagery. He uses strong language like “abortive” and “grievous” to describe his feelings, while pulling “famine,” “anguish,” and “desert” to present the situation facing his progeny. These words set a tone, presenting a desolate, inescapable future, where even in peace man cannot find happiness. It also shows a certain similarity between Adam and Satan. Both will suffer the consequences of their sin for the rest of their existence. In Satan's case, he himself will burn forever in Hell for his treachery. Adam, in contrast, will suffer only until he dies, but his lineage will continue his suffering. It brings up the epic trope of lineage in Paradise, which hasn't been dealt with in the epic thus far. Like Aeneas's lineage will found Rome, Adam's will go to Hell until the gods will it otherwise. It also supports the trope of godly interference – people pretend to have control, but in the end, the gods decide the future. This brings up the interesting question of whether free will in this case is really “free”. If God knew what was going to happen when he put the tree of knowledge in Paradise, which he claims he did when he claims omnipotence. If he has control of the situation (in that he has prior knowledge of the events and the opportunity to change them, had he so desired), but doesn’t assert his control, does that give Adam and Eve freedom?
The meter here is quite interesting – Milton ignores his iambic pentameter more than usual here. Lines 772, 776, 777 – /Abortive to torment me, ere their being,/…/Grievous to bear. But that care now is past/…/Man is not whom to warn. Those whom escaped/ – abortive, grievous, and man are all emphasized, which goes against traditional meter. In particular, “/Peace to corrupt no less than war to waste./” (line 784) is powerful in that it ignores the set meter and is not enjambed. Milton is flagging this, bringing it clearly to light that man will never find happiness again. Even in peace, humans will be unable to stay pure, and without a return to purity, they can never return to Paradise.
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