Milton : of the Devil's party?

Abstract

William Blake claims that Milton, in his epic poem Paradise Lost, was "of the Devil's party without knowing it." The eighteenth century visionary poet states that Milton wrote at liberty "of Devils & Hell" because he was "a true poet" who regarded that kind of Energy "call'd Evil" as the "only life". He considers Energy to be opposed to Reason, the force which, in the poet's view, i restrains desire. Blake's position appears to be that of the Romantic. The life of the passions, which Satan represents in this poem, is given precedence over that of Reason. Blake appears to suggest the view that the true poet should exalt passionate life and this is what must have led him to believe that Milton was unconsciously on Satan's side.