Want to write poetically? Read Paradise Lost.

[JM_Webb]

Okay, so I hope you'll indulge me on a favorite past time of mine: obsessively plugging John Milton's classic epic poem Paradise Lost

ALSO PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: I am not saying that everyone needs to read Paradise Lost. I just think that it's a very useful book to read because it makes everyone who reads it think about the flow of language differently. You can do this exercise with any book, PL just happens to be one of my favorites.

So, you want to write more poetically. You've been writing your favorite web novel, and you love how they can describe the atmosphere of the strobing and sweaty dance floor, the groan of the ocean as it thunders against the wet sand, and other things (etc.)

"So, how can I make my 27 part harem cultivation re-telling of Anna Karenina have the beautiful imagery and turn of phrase that I know it deserves? I always feels self-conscious about my prose whenever I try to write beautifully" You speak to yourself yourself as you finish your third Monster Energy of the day, tossing it across the room your dented and rusting limited edition Avengers (TM) mini trashcan.

I'm JM Webb, and I have a solution for you: Read Paradise Lost!

Your crack open another monster energy drink, setting it down next to your old three-ring binders from middleschool you have been using to store your 500 pages of world building notes. You reply to the stranger whom you assume is some sort of lunatic, or worse, an English teacher: "JM_Webb, what does a 450 year old christian epic poem about man's fall from Eden have anything to do with my 27 part harem cultivation re-telling of Anna Karenina?"

I strongly believe that reading Paradise Lost (correctly) improved my ability to employ descriptive language, improved the rhythmic flow of everything I write, and made me less self-conscious when writing "flowery" or "purple" prose, and I think it can help you too.

Reading it correctly
So, you think this JM_Webb person might be a lunatic or an English teacher, but you're also convinced that they might have something to say. However, first we need to talk about reading Paradise Lost correctly. Unlike most of the poetry you may be used to, which often pauses between lines, Milton's verse in Paradise Lost is blank.
This means that the turn of phrase is oftentimes happening over many lines. Let's take a look at the opening invocation.

Spoiler: Opening Invocation

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: or if Sion Hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the Oracle of God; I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above th' Aonian Mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime.
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
Illumin, what is low raise and support;
That to the highth of this great Argument
I may assert Eternal Providence,
And justifie the wayes of God to men.

Now, you may be tempted to read the first few lines as follows:

Spoiler: Incorrect reading of the first few lines

"Of Mans First Disobedience, and the Fruit [Pause]
Of that Forbidden tree, whose mortal tast [pause]
Brought Death into the World, and all our woe,
[Pause] with loss of Eden, till one greater Man [pause]
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat

However, this is not the correct rhythm. It is important to remember that Milton spoke the entirety of Paradise Lost, because he was blind while writing it, so instead our reading to try to find a more natural flow.

"OF Mans First Disobediance, 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 great Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat [Pause]"

So, the proper flow of the first few lines is basically a giant run-on sentence. So, heed this suggestion: when reading the poem, it is important to speak it out loud if you are confused about the rhythm.

Now, let's get to the stuff you're actually here for: writing your 27 part harem cultivation re-telling of Anna Karenina. (Also you should definitely start reading Paradise Lost, it's beautiful)

How can it help me with descriptive language?

If there is one things lunatics and English teachers alike will tell you about Paradise Lost, it is that Milton's metaphors, simile's, and descriptions are just breathtaking. Let me show you a few of my favorites.

Spoiler: Satan's Shield Book 1 lns 283-291

[Beezelbub] scarce had ceased when the superior Fiend
Was moving toward the shore; his ponderous shield,
Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round,
Behind him cast; the broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views
At evening from the top of Fesole,
Or in Valdarno, to descy new lands,
Rivers or mountains in her spotty globe.

Gosh, I love this line so much. What Milton is showing us here is that Satan's shield glows, and looks like the moon. He also tells us that it is ethereal, that it is light and ornate (and possibly glowing). He then gives us an example of what we should be thinking when we think of Satan's shield. Satan's shield is to be imagined as if it were the broad circumference of the moon hanging over his shoulders, ornate, etched, and impossibly detailed as seen through a telescope. Keep this description in mind the next time you need to describe a weapon at a DnD table. I literally gave a player this shield, basically lifting (and modifying) the description from Paradise Lost, and it became my player's favorite item.

I am going to post one more description I love.

Spoiler: Satan fights something horrible (Book II, 704)

So spake the grizzly terror, and in shape,
So speaking and so threatening, grew tenfold
More dreadful and deform. On the other side,
Incensed with indignation Satan stood
Unterrified, and like a comet burned,
That fires the length of the Ophiuchus huge
In the artctic sky, and from his horrid hair
Shakes pestilence and war.

And these are definitely not the only incredible descriptions. Quite literally every other page there is something jaw-dropping! Read it, internalize, and then think to yourself "If I were John Milton, but with modern vocabulary writing my 27 part cultivation harem re-telling of Anna Karenina, how would I describe Anna's dress?"

How will this help me improve the rhythmic flow of everything I write?

When you read Paradise Lost, you have to always have rhythmic flow in mind, or you will miss certain things. When you go back to read your text, you will be more conscious of where it pauses and where it gains speed. Basically by teaching yourself a different way to read a text than what you are used to you will become more conscious about how the words you write are flowing!

How will this make me less self-conscious?

Because being able to take a step back and read your work differently and approach it at different angles is a form of practice, and practice makes you less self-conscious about things. You will fail at writing poetic imagery (I'm certain there are some awful metaphors in my stuff), but you will have internalized a vastness of metaphors and descriptions that you can lean on. Think about this more of an exercise in "How can I take a book I love and use it as a tool to help me self-reflect on my writing?" and less of one in "How do I immediately become the best writer ever?" Thinking about the texts you love will help you to take a step out of your words and insecurities and ask yourself what other authors would do. Rather than trying to get things right the first time read your passage over. Then, ask yourself if it works. If it works? Great! You aren't self conscious about it. But, if something isn't working and you don't know why don't beat yourself up over it. Ask yourself what John Milton (or another person) would do. Have a list of your favorite turns of phrase handy, and speak your words out loud. If you do these things, I promise you'll be happy with the results.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

One man's meat is another man's poison.

 

[CupcakeNinja]

Yeah Paradise Lost is okay for amateur stuff, but have you ever read My Sister The Villainess ?

 

[LoliGent]

"Read Paradise Lost!'
I already did.
"No, you read The Divine Comedy. They're two different things."
No they're not.
"Yes they are. Don't compare them."
But they're both Christian allegory.
"But they're different stories altogether."
But they're written by the same author.
"No no no! Dante wrote the Comedy, Milton wrote Paradise."
No, Dante wrote both.
"Will you stop being a Dante fanboy and just read Milton's masterpiece."
Whose Milton? The guy who drew those illustrations?
"That was Gustave Dore."
Yeah and he drew both.
"No he didn't! Oh wait, he did.... whatever man!"


Aside from that, I've been meaning to listen to the audiobook I mean, sit down and read Paradise Lost. I guess I'll find time to do so since you're so insistant, but those examples were kind of hard to read. At least the Comedy had the aid of English versions being translated, aka, dumbed down.

Yeah Paradise Lost is okay for amateur stuff, but have you ever read My Sister The Villainess ?

The true evolution of the literature world.

 

[JM_Webb]

Aside from that, I've been meaning to listen to the audiobook I mean, sit down and read Paradise Lost. I guess I'll find time to do so since you're so insistant, but those examples were kind of hard to read. At least the Comedy had the aid of English versions being translated, aka, dumbed down.

An audiobook honestly sounds really nice! Milton wrote it while completely blind, so in a sense it's as if it it's intended to be spoken. The first time I was forced to read Paradise Lost, the teacher made us memorize and recite the Invocation. It made it a lot easier to read. Also, a good annotated version (and a good dictionary) go a long way in understanding some his words. There are still passages I get to and I'll be like "I have no idea what he's saying, is this even grammatical?" The complete thing is it's own beast, and I've only read it in full three times. Most of the times I read it I just skip around go to my favorite sections, and it's a totally valid way to read it. If you do want to read it, and there are enough people on here interested, I would definitely consider leading a reading group of it in the forum :).

Yeah Paradise Lost is okay for amateur stuff, but have you ever read My Sister The Villainess ?

This self-plug killed me, lol.

 

[LoliGent]

I just took a gander on YouTube of someone reciting the lines all epic like. It all went over my head. Had it not been for the annotations before the reading, I would not have known what was going on. One of the problems is that run-on sentence nature these verses have. I prefer shorter sentences because it gets the point across. You run through me that giant clause of simile and metaphor and by the middle of it, I forgot what was being reflected with said metaphor. However, I realized because it's written like a poem that I'm reading it like a poem, but you said I shouldn't. If you take that verse of Satan's shield and lay it out like a single sentence, like so:

his ponderous shield, Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round, Behind him cast; the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon, whose orb Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views At evening from the top of Fesole, Or in Valdarno, to descy new lands, Rivers or mountains in her spotty globe.

When I see it this way, I read it differently. The red parts are pretty much the subject matter. (His shield is on his shoulders). Blue are descriptions (It's very round and shiny). The green, however, that's the simile, the fluff, the prose, the fancy things that make you all fancy and snobbish, and look how long it is! The red and the blue are just fine for me, but that green, oh man, that green. I have to read it laid out like this because in the form of a poem, everything gets muddled.

Did The Divine Comedy do this? I don't know, I read a translated version and may have ben one meant for the filthy casual such as myself, but I'd argue even the original Italian, it was true to its roots as an epic poem. Just how, I don't know. I can't read Italian, but I read the English version and I read it just fine.

Paradise is going to be a challenge.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

You could also read my Lewd Poems!