paradise lost reading schedule
read it in 5 weeks (& 1 day) including secondary materials. i'm starting sunday
lately i’m reading so many syllabi & scouring the internet for reading schedules but rarely finding exactly what i want. so i guess i have to make it
this is a schedule for reading paradise lost at an extremely reasonable pace, with enough secondary materials to help you understand what’s going on. the secondary materials are purely discretionary; i would really recommend reading c. s. lewis’ preface to paradise lost unless you’re really pressed for time because it’s sooooo fun; john rogers’ lectures are helpful for navigating the dense text, but don’t feel any pressure to watch them. i cannot overemphasize how much they’re only there if you feel like they help you read the poem; if they’re hindering your reading skip them. but you totally could listen while commuting/cleaning/playing video games.
i am not yet totally sure how i am gonna run the discussion….unfortunately i have a lot going on rn & though i always have time to read i can’t pin down a regular time for twitter spaces like yaxel & i do for poetry night :( i’m probably gonna do a twitter groupchat i will let you know for sure on saturday
you can follow along totally for free online, but you can also buy the main texts!
buy
a preface to paradise lost for $23.99+shipping
paradise lost (norton critical edition) for $26.38+shipping
there are used options for both on thriftbooks.com, or you can use whatever edition you want from anywhere.
& just for fun, audible has this reading by simon vance which i haven’t listened to but i love simon vance
links
dartmouth’s annotated paradise lost
isaac asimov’s even more annotated paradise lost (this will fill you in on all the references but it is like 800 pages)
yale’s free online milton lectures
librivox’s free audiobooks: version 1 (different readers for different chapters) (edited 8/25: this one is the 1667 edition (10 books) & we’re reading the 1674 edition (12 books) so don’t use this one. sorry i just put it together) & version 2 (solo)
plot summaries for each book. this poem is not spoilable, you know what basically happens, milton expected his audience to know what would happen. the effect of this poem doesn’t depend on surprise. if you find yourself getting lost, i really recommend reading these short summaries before each book to help you navigate the dense text. dont do it if you dont feel like it but you wont lose anything if you do
schedule
week 1 is for the preface
8/27: chapters 1-3
8/28: chapters 4-6
8/29: chapters 7 & 8
8/30: chapters 9-11
8/31: chapters 12 & 13
9/1: chapters 14-16
9/2: chapters 17-19
now we get into paradise lost itself
9/3: book 1 (795 lines)
9/4: lecture 9
9/5: book 2 lines 1-505
9/6: book 2 lines 506-1055 (550 lines)
9/7: lecture 10
9/8: lecture 11
9/9: book 3 (742 lines)
9/10: lecture 12
9/11: lecture 13
9/12: book 4 lines 1-504
9/13: book 4 lines 505-1015 (510 lines)
9/14: lecture 14
9/15: book 5 lines 1-615
9/16: book 5 lines 616-907; book 6 1-295 (587 lines)
9/17: book 6 lines 296-912 (617 lines)
9/18: lecture 15
9/19: book 7 (640 lines)
9/20: book 8 (653 lines)
9/21: lecture 16
9/22: book 9 lines 1-612
9/23: book 9 lines 613-1189 (577 lines)
9/24: lecture 17
9/25: book 10 lines 1-640
9/26: book 10 lines 641-1104; book 11 lines 1-225 (689 lines)
9/27: lecture 18
9/28: book 11 lines 226-901 (676 lines)
9/29: book 12 (649 lines) (congrats! you’ve read the book!!! 🥳)
9/30: lecture 19
10/1: lecture 20
possible variations on the schedule
you could skip any or all of the secondary materials.
OR: right now the schedule is set up so that you do the reading & then listen to a lecture about the reading you just did. but you might get more value by switching that up—listening to the lecture first & then using the context of the lecture to go through the reading.