1. Read the text
a) Underline the words that are particularly important to create hell as a physical place and as a moral place: “waste and wilde”, “Dungeoun horrible”, “darkness visible”, “peace and rest can never dwell, hope never comes”, “Prison” and “remov’d from God and light of Heav’n”
b) To draw the portrait of Satan: “immortal”, “baleful eyes” and “ affliction and dismay mixt with obdurate pride and stedfast hate.

2. The poem is in blank verse – that is unrhymed iambic pentameter. Yet Milton exploits several sound devices to create a kind of music, a sonorous impact on the reader.
a) one of these device is alliteration. Find at least five example of alliteration and say what they add to the meaning.
“hoRRid cRew”
“ReseRv’d him to moRe wRath”
“gReat FuRnace”
“eveR-buRning SulphuR”
“fRom the cenTte thRice To th’uTmost Pole”
The alliteration of “t” and “r” conveys the idea that hell is a terrible place in which life is hard and difficult.
b) Other device are assonance and consonance. Which of the two device does line 1 illuistrate? Line 1 illustrates assonance: “Nine times that Space that measures Day and Night”. The long sounds convey the idea that Satan has to stay in Hell for the eternity. They also sound like a complain.

3. Another feature of Milton’s verse is the predominance of run-on lines over end-stopped lines.
You can identify only six end-stopped lines. Thanks to the run-on lines you are able to pursue the train of Satan’s thoughts.

4. Consider Milton’s language. He manipulates the traditional word order.
Find some examples of this unusual word order and identify the effect they have on the reader.
“The dismal situation waste and wilde”
“darkness visible”
“hope never comes, that comes to all”
they focus the reader attention on some specific words like “hope never comes”.