Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit
Of that Forbidden Tree, whose mortal tast
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
With loss of EDEN, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful Seat,
Sing Heav'nly Muse, that on the secret top
Of OREB, or of SINAI, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen Seed,
In the Beginning how the Heav'ns and Earth
Rose out of CHAOS…

And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer
Before all Temples th' upright heart and pure,
Instruct me, for Thou know'st; Thou from the first
Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread
Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss
And mad'st it pregnant: What in me is dark
Illumine, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert th' Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men. (Book I, Lines 1-26)

Basic set up:

This is the beginning of John Milton's epic, Paradise Lost. We're getting into the super-famous now: this is one of the most famous and important books ever. No joke.

John Milton is a guy who has a lot of confidence in his own literary powers. He's taking on a big—a huge—topic for his epic poem. He's going to tell us all about man's fall from grace, and he's going to explain and justify to us mere mortals "the wayes of God."

The themes of this poem are big: they are focused on God and man and faith. Even though Milton was a bit of a literary outcast during the Restoration age (because he was a Puritan), his poem reflects the Restoration's preoccupation with religious themes. Milton's epic is the mother of all religious literature of the period. Its scope is huge… as is its legacy.