PARADISE LOST BOOKS I AND II WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, ETC. EDITED BY ALBERT PERRY WALKER, M.A. MASTER, AND TEACHER OF ENGLISH AND HISTORY IN THE BOSTON, U.S. A. D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS ·W162 COPYRIGHT, 1897, 1900, THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LIBRARIES CHICAGO, ILL ift of Robert Morss Lovett 12696 PREFACE. THIS book contains those portions of the editor's larger volume of Selections from Paradise Lost which are essential to the intelligent study of the first two Books of the poem. The omission of certain poems not immediately pertinent to that study explains the hiatus in the folio numbers, from page 89 to page 94 and from page 176 to page 247 inclusive. The general method of treatment herein adopted is due to the conviction in the mind of the editor that the aims and the methods generally pursued in the study of literature in secondary schools may be modified to advantage, and that the method of approaching an author of such marked individuality as Milton exhibits, should depart from ordinary methods of study in a manner determined by his especial characteristics. In arranging the book, the following aims have been kept in view to economize the pupil's time and strength by enabling him to use wisely the results of other men's industry, to the end that he may approach the study of Milton's poetry with a mind prepared to comprehend and to enjoy it, and to make both the preparation and the subsequent study contribute to his power to read any literature whatever that is akin to Milton's work. To attain these ends the necessary information is included iii |