Which British poet wrote the epic 'Paradise Lost'?

The British poet who wrote the epic Paradise Lost was John Milton. First published in 1667, Milton’s poem retells the biblical story of humanity’s fall, focusing on Satan’s rebellion, the temptation of Adam and Eve, and their expulsion from Eden.

Paradise Lost is written in blank verse, meaning unrhymed lines based largely on iambic pentameter. Milton used the conventions of classical epic poetry—including an invocation, supernatural conflict, grand speeches and journeys through cosmic realms—to create a Christian epic in English. Its opening begins in the aftermath of Satan’s defeat, an example of the epic technique known as in medias res.

The first edition contained ten books and more than 10,000 lines. Milton later revised the poem, and the 1674 edition rearranged it into twelve books, echoing the structure of Virgil’s Aeneid. By then Milton had been blind for years and composed through dictation to assistants and family members.

John Dryden was another major English poet and dramatist, while William Blake illustrated Milton’s work and admired him. Neither wrote Paradise Lost; Edmund Spenser wrote the earlier allegorical epic The Faerie Queene.