Paradise Lost
By John Milton
Cover: Satan's fall, illustration for Paradise Lost (1866), wood engraving by Gustave Doré (1832-1883) · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (artist died 1883)
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout. It is considered to be Milton's masterpiece, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets.
Summary source: Wikipedia: Paradise Lost · CC BY-SA 4.0