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1. 
   robertwilliam

   eNotes Editor

   Milton calls to his muse to "sing" of... 

   Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
   Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
   Brought death into the World, and all our woe,
   With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
   Restore us, and regain the blissful seat...

   He's asking the muses, who traditionally inspire poets, to bring him the inspiration to write about these grand themes, and outlines the plot he is hoping to write: man's banishment from heaven and the apple, death's presence in the world, the loss of Eden, and then the redemption of Christ.

   Milton admits that he needs the muses' "aid", as his themes will be extremely complex to pull off:

   I thence
   Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
   That with no middle flight intends to soar
   Above th' Aonian mount, while it pursues
   Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.

   Finally, Milton comments that - at the very end of this first section - he hopes he can tell his story so well that it does justify to the men who reader it why God did what he did:  

   That, to the height of this great argument,
   I may assert Eternal Providence,
   And justify the ways of God to men.

   Sources:

   http://www.enotes.com/paradise-lost-text

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   Posted by robertwilliam on Wednesday December 3, 2008 at 1:28 PM