Milton's Invocation from Paradise Lost
illustrates several aspects of the poet's perspective. First, Milton
establishes in the first four lines of the invocation that he (or the speaker) believes
in the Judeo-Christian philosophy of Adam and Eve's fall in the Garden of Eden. Later,
in Line 17, he calls upon the "Spirit" (the Holy Spirit) to guide him as he attempts to
write about the epic struggle between good and evil. Finally, Milton reveals his
spiritual purpose in the invocation's last two lines when he asks to be able
to
"assert
Providence, / And justify the ways of God to men"
(25-26).
Thus, while Milton's
invocation certainly possesses the traditional elements of an epic poem--a call upon the
Muse to inspire him and a preview of the poet's epic topic--it also serves as an
assertion of what the author's/speaker's spiritual beliefs.
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