Nine Gates

Satan is hitchhiking through the time and space continuum. He is swimming through black waves. He is walking on hot coals. He is traveling through evil. It is easier for him to travel at the beginning of the trip. The evil was friendly and kind. It captured his heart and made him melt. This is his kingdom. He sees all the nightmares that humans have. He sees all the things that frighten animals. He has his big backpack full of supplies as if he is a college student asking for a ride a couple miles on his trip across America. He has his staff or walking stick and he stops for a breather to eat some trail mix. He stops in front of the first big gate that looked like it was an entrance to a Hollywood mansion. The gate is made of solid gold. It is not very strong gold because it is solid gold. There is a sharp edge on the doors of the gate which point towards heaven. It would be very painful to climb over the gate so no one would dare climb the gate. Satan was not about to return to a youthful day like he was some hooligan trespassing on private property. It is just one thing after another with this whole trip business. He sees a woman standing on the other side of the gate. He is thinking that he does not want anything to do with this tracking at all now. Rather, he just wants to get it over with. He does not care about the outcome. He just does whatever it takes to get through this gate.

            He decides that he would like to recognize this woman as his daughter. She was spawned from his head. She is also his lover who gave birth to his son. He is standing there as a see-through black and grey shadow with his crown and staff. His lover is a woman with a beautiful upper body and a lower half of tentacles that made her look like a monster or Medusa from the waist down. He loves her yet he does not love her at this moment. This signifies greater evilness. This is the evil in a human relationship. Satan is abusing and does whatever he can to have power in their relationship. He ignores her feelings and does not treat her well. He does not even see this as a relationship. He probably sleeps around on her and she is kind enough to never notice or show she is distraught. He had his 100 virgins like he is a Muslim extremist who is waiting for the day he dies. She probably would know to say, “It’s ok dad.” She probably is not a strong person and just goes with every scheme he plots up. He says. “Open up this gate and you will have whatever you want from me when we get to earth.” She just goes with it thinking that he loves her and she loves him and there is some strong bond between them. This is much like sin where people choose to behave the way that they behave and often regret the outcome and often tempted to sin. This woman has a dog that runs around her in a circle from her stomach. He has given her the gate and she has been told to guard it. The dog look like the Hounds of Baskerville. They are black with pointed ears and sharp teeth. She has given birth to his child of death. He asks for the key to the gate and she lets him have it and he opens the gate and lets himself through. He sees nine arched gates and goes through the gate. He finds a precipitous edge where he thinks about what he wants to do and jumps with his wings. He falls and gets carried by a gust of wind. He travels with this wind until he comes across earth which is chained with a small chain to heaven.

            Satan meets Eve who is happy go lucky and never gets into trouble. She is helped by the whole forest. Adam is a very intelligent man who does all his good deeds on his own. Satan comes to this woman as a snake and feeds her an apple. Satan releases sin. Death eventually takes over and God’s last resort was let loose on earth. Jesus Gods only saves earth. The snake is eighteen feet long and it is a black serpent. The snake was sweet talking Eve into eating a bright red apple. Satan is the kind of guy you could meet at the bar. He is a smooth-talking man that sits at the bar with his beer talking to a pretty girl.

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kaa

 http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Nazg%C3%BBl

 https://in.pinterest.com/pin/251709066648296215/

I affirm that I “have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this paper”

Alex Cooper

Alexander Stephen Cooper                                                                                              11/18/2016

Blind Devil

There is earth. There is space. Space goes down, down, and down. It goes down into darkness. The light from earth radiating from heaven eventually stops passing through the abyss of black space. Space gets deeper and deeper into the dead of black. It looks like the darkest night when all the night owls are out and roaming the street. They walk around smoking their cigarettes like zombies. There is the black that travels and floats above hell. Hell, is made of rock that is red and orange. The rock is sulfuric and gassy. There is a sizzling sound. Flames shoot out from the ground. There are lakes that have acid as water with a flaming atop. The devils have had a secret meeting. They are plotting and planning, holding a parliament like meeting to figure out what to do with the king. The devils know full well that the king can come to Hell whenever he feels like it and massacre all of them. The devils are only in Hell for one reason; they have been cast out of heaven for not preforming their duties for God. They wanted to do whatever they wanted to do. The devils wanted it all for themselves and never got on the good side of God, but rather they wanted what they wanted and got cast out for bad deeds. Were they all angels or was Satan or Lucifer the only angel cast out? Where did the other angels come from? Some people have said they were all angels. Angels were the only other creation while the Garden of Eden was in the making.

Satan the king was sitting on his throne. Does he have the throne? Was he standing there watching and looking on? It is possible that all this man had was fire and brimstone. He is watching over their studies. They are all standing wearing black robes and wigs. They have their horns. Their horns are red. Maybe, they have white wings and an orb of light over their head with halos of gold. The first Devil began to talk. He was speaking plainly. The first devil voted for all-out war and rebellion like the Americans had done during the Revolutionary War. He took out a piece of paper and wrote down, “I want war.” He then signed it. All the devils agreed, they wanted war and were scheming like politicians. They spoke politically mentioning law and were trying to tempt themselves into action. They got around the fear of war, and plotted to get away with murder like common criminals. They also spoke like businessmen who were running a large corporation. They had lots of money. The devils wore suits with red ties. They had brief cases and knew how the stock market worked. They hated their jobs and resorted to bribery and often went to court to get out of charges they picked up through business and pleasure. They were illegal to the bone until life sentences caught up with them. They were doctors who killed people. They have massive doses of medications and experiment on people. The law protected them. They wore white lab coats and had stethoscopes. They were liars. They were the worst possible jewelers. They raised the price of gold and precious gems. They stole them, horde them, and get away with it.

Eventually, they come up with a plan. Satan, they king is going to do his duty to his kingdom and country. He is going to track throughout black until he reaches earth because he can. He wants the power to never pass. He wants the spirit to be evil because he can. He wanted to do things because he could. He called upon his wit and strength to make his trip. One devil spoke up, he wanted to make hell home. He wanted to make hell a place where they can live without the black, torture and death surrounding them. They wanted to get rid of the cold atmosphere. They wanted to no longer suffer every second. They wanted to get out of constantly being in blood. They no longer wanted to die every day where they are tied down and giving punishment. One devil spoke up he wanted to mine hell for its gold and gems. On earth mining is one of the most dangerous jobs where people die from suffocation and mine collapses. Miners are also exposed to dirt, and lung disease. Often miners have a very short life. The devils want to build a castle of gold and eventually turn hell into heaven. Hell, should be more powerful than heaven. Mammon wants his riches. Beelzebub wanted war. There should be a playing field in heaven. They must to take it to God. Belial wanted open war. Maloch wanted open war. Satan took the lead and is ready to fight by himself with honor and prestige. He faces certain death.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-12-17/news/69119340_1_simultaneous-polls-simultaneous-elections-assemblies
http://www.angelfire.com/empire/serpentis666/Satan.html http://content.time.com/time/today-in-pictures/0,31511,2002664,00.html
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christianpiatt/2013/02/satan-and-hell-a-brief-history-part-1-of-2/

I affirm that I “have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this paper”
Alex Cooper
Alexander Stephen Cooper 11/18/2016

Hell has quite the collection of characters

Hell is a surprisingly democratic society. I would never have expected a discussion and debate among demons about planning their best collective course of action. That being said, they all should have found their chill before they started this meeting.

Moloch, “the strongest and fiercest spirit” (44), needs to go to some anger management meetings. He wants to go against Heaven with “hell flames and fury” (61) immediately after the devastating loss they just faced. Moloch doesn’t seem to care that it’s a suicide mission; he just wants to go out in a blaze of glory. Moloch SMASH.

Belial, “more graceful and humane” (109) than our angry friend, is a lazy pretty-boy that talks too much and lies a whole lot. He makes me think of all the stereotypes about millennials and that makes me wonder: Does Belial wear leggings or skinny jeans? What about oversized sweaters? Or does he prefer hoodies? Does he show up to meetings fifteen minutes late with starbucks? I need answers.

Mammon is surprisingly practical and optimistic. Planning to “intend at home… what best may ease the present misery and render Hell more tolerable” (456-459), with both Satan and Beëlzebub’s approval, seems laughable and more than a tad ironic to me, but to each their own. Maybe Mammon aspires to star on a renovation reality TV show. He could call it “Flip This House: Hellacious Homes” or something of the sort.

Beëlzebub is Satan’s yes-man and a total brown noser. I’m also not impressed with him pulling a Melania and giving a speech that was startlingly similar to Satan’s speech from Book I in order to encourage the other devils to terrorize “a new race called Man” (358) and make God angry.

I was totally expecting the bit of narration that revealed that Satan wanted to hoard all the glory from volunteering for the mission to escape Hell (and then metaphorically raising it with mankind). I find it really entertaining that everybody else chickened out and that Satan tried to save their pride by saying “with reason hath deep silence and demure seized [them]” (432-433) . Shakespeare lied when he wrote “Hell is empty. And all the devils are here” in The Tempest.The devils are too wimpy to be here.

What to do with this Free Will??

       The devils have all this free will and they don’t really know what to do with it. They are finally able to what they want but they don’t exactly know what that is…yet. 

The way they decide kind of reminds me of when parent have to make a big decision that will affect their kids. Like if the parents got a great job offer but they have to decide if they really want to uproot their family. Or when parliament has to come together to make a decision.

      Ultimately the devils decide that instead of just enjoying what they have and building an empire of their own that they should do what Beelzebub suggested. They should get revenge on God by destroying or corrupting the new race he made, Man. So they should basically try and corrupt or kill god’s pride and joy.

    I guess that makes sense it I the best way to get revenge against God who sent them to Hell. Satan just has to be the one to volunteer to go and scout the new world. It is not like any of the other devils could have volunteered in his place so their leader didn’t have to go. 

However it doesn’t work out like that. Satan decides that he will be the one to explore this new world that God has created. I kind of liked how Satan used the other cosmic beings to get directions to Earth. Who wouldn’t want to have cosmic beings helping you? I think that through this book we can start to see more of the wickedness of Satan and the devils.

Satan being Satan w/ some beautiful poetry?

My initial observation of this reading was the way these words sounded and how they flowed when being read. The structure of these words was incredible, and it sounds so much better when read aloud. I believe it is better when read aloud as opposed to being read silently due to the fact that this was story was spoken aloud by a blind Milton before being transcribed. 

After having read the first couple hundred lines, and re-read them, I listened to a recording while following along. Having it read to me while I read as well helped me understand the rhythm of the lines. This was helped even more by the footnotes which tells the reader which words were meant to be read in a certain way, a way which the modern English reader may not read them (i.e. "perpetual" is meant to be read with 3 syllables as "per-pet-chal").

The brief introduction before the reading also kind of prepared me for what I was about to dive into, which I found helpful in navigating the words. Also, identifying the subject and sorting the pronouns was massively helpful (though difficult).

me @ all the helpful stuff

The Satan-talk begins pretty much right away, when discussing Eden, and we all know what happened there. We also hear about Satan convincing/tricking/getting people to do other stuff, "Who first seduced them to that foul revolt? / Th' infernal Serpent" (lines 33-34). 

Also early on, we get that Satan and his "host of rebel angels" (dibs on that band name) are cast out because Satan wanted to overthrow God's monarchy (around line 40-45), which I found to be a really interesting word choice especially due to the discussions we've recently had in class about treason/Charles' execution. While there's almost a 20 year gap between these two events, I can't imagine the views on treason changed much, and if a king can be executed for it I imagine Satan won't be looked upon highly for speaking against God's monarchy. 

I found this a really pleasant challenge in that this was really difficult to read, but greatly rewarding once I understood it. I'd also like to throw in the disclaimer that I'm proud to have been able to understand maybe 1/3 of what I read, but that's a good enough improvement for me. 

How A-Muse-ing

I find the most interesting aspects of Paradise Lost to be Milton's use of language and the context that surrounds the language within the writing. What I mean is that Milton makes clear early in the epic that he is speaking the words that are brought to him through a "Heav'nly Muse". This Muse is not specifically given name, but the idea that verse and elevated language come from the divine property of the Muse seem appropriate and coincide with the subject that Milton is writing about.

Despite the difficult language in Paradise Lost, we are given what is almost a short summary at the beginning of Book One which made it significantly easier for me to follow the movement of the first section. It is my interpretation that the form that Milton writes in (be it his own voice or that of the Muse) is meant to be eloquent and in this way demonstrating the importance of the divine nature of the content. The summary couldn't help me all the way through, however, as there are plenty of what I assume are biblical allusions that I am just not familiar with.

Another aspect of this epic that I found important is the way meter is included without rhyme. Although this is also found in Beowulf and The Odyssey, it is specifically stated before Book One in the section titled The Verse that the English language's modern "bondage" to rhyme is "troublesome" and there is a reason why Milton chose to forgo the use of rhyme in Paradise Lost. Although I am not sure if this section was written by Milton himself, it addresses the lack of rhyme in Milton's verse and states the belief that truly elevated language is muddied or made less eloquent by the "jingling" sound of "like endings". While I don't disagree or agree with this statement particularly, I do find it interesting that this was an idea that people shared. It is stated that the carefully chosen number of syllables and the way they are carried from one verse to the next is what truly makes powerful language in poetry and this certainly reflects in Milton's writing. I am inclined to agree that had Milton chosen to write Paradise Lost entirely in rhyming meter, it would not have this same quality of sound that makes it so grand.

Locked out of Heaven

This book revolves around the Devil's fall from heaven and the aftermath that follows due to how the Devil feels. 

One part that I found particularly important was the juxtaposition of the Devil's life when he was in heaven and then how it was when he fell into hell. One line I thought really described this well saying how he once had the view of an angel but now all he sees is this dismal dungeon, where there is constant fire and he is trapped here for an eternity. This reminds me of a rags to riches story but in this case it would be riches to rags. The devil had everything he could possibly need in heaven but due to his own actions, he fell from heaven and ended up in hell. The problem here lies in that the devil didn't think it was his own fault that he ended up in hell and blames it all on God. Imagine losing everything you have and believing that it was caused by someone else's doing. You would be pretty upset too.

How did the Devil end up in hell you may ask? Well, he wanted to be just as powerful as God was and take his place. The Devil talks about how he will never bow down to God as it is better to reign in hell than it is to serve in heaven. Basically the devil would rather be his own ruler in misery than a servant in happiness. He viewed God as a tyrant over heaven who needed to be dethroned so that he could be God and rule over the universe. This reminded me of people during this time seeing their rulers as tyrants and not wanting to follow them too. I think more important than the devil viewing God as a tyrant, is the fact that the devil would not have been happy serving in heaven no matter who was in charge as he isn't happy serving anyone but himself. 

When the Devil and his followers were cast out of heaven, it enraged the Devil. It then became his sole mission to ruin any good plans that God had for the world. He talks about how doing ill towards others will be their sole delight and how they will think up things that will offend God the most. I wonder if the Devil had actually managed to dethrone God, if his plans for the world would have been good. I'm not sure if the devil was inherently evil or if being kicked out of heaven made him evil in order to spite God.

Words, Words, and More Words

I'll admit, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with this reading. There is so much to unpack, and at the same time, I don't know where to start or even what there is to unpack. My guess (and hope) is that I'm not alone.

The first thing that I will say is reading The Argument before actually starting the poem was super helpful. I at least have a good sense of the plot thus far and where it is heading. We basically start with Satan in hell with all his crew after they have just been kicked out of heaven. Milton seems to believe that this fall took place before the creation of man and the rest of the earth. As far as I'm aware, there isn't really any evidence to support if his timeline is right. There also isn't evidence to support it being wrong. So my first question is this. Did Milton come up with this timeline himself? Or was he influenced by the beliefs of the church at the time? I am wondering if this understanding of the fall of Lucifer comes from Milton, kind of like how a lot of people's understanding of hell comes from Dante.

If I had to pick a passage that I was interested in the most, it would be lines 162-165. "If then His providence/Out of our evil seek to bring forth good/Our labor must be to pervert that end/And out of good still to find means of evil". This is part of Satan's response to a demon who basically says "What are we going to do now"? Not only is this piece of the response easier to understand, it also has some sinister connotations. The word "pervert" is a fascinating word choice. While we now usually associate the word with something sexual, Milton uses it in a way that is so much more. Synonyms include, but are not limited to: distort, corrupt, subvert, twist, bend, abuse, misapply, misuse, misrepresent, misinterpret, and falsify. (Thank you, Google). This one little word implies so much about Satan's intentions in this poem.

Another thing I noticed about this poem was how much I was reminded of The Screwtape Letters. Writing from or about the perspective of the darker side of a story is a common thread in these two pieces of literature. Another common thread is the focus of the demons on getting back at God through the downfall of mankind.

I'm apprehensive yet excited to keep reading. Intuition tells me that like the previous works we've read, it will be worth stumbling my way through if only to come out the other side.