An Additional Monologue for Paradise Lost

This was written for 21L.004 (Introduction to Poetry). Prof. Tapscott had us write a monologue for Satan to be added to Paradise Lost by Milton.

A Monologue for Satan: Book X

The Argument: After forcing the fall of Adam and Eve, Satan is proud of his misdeed, and he gloats to himself for what he has done. Man’s transgression known [... and the normal Book X follows]

“All eyes look upon me: the fallen Archangel
Lucifer, the Satan to God, who brings despair
To His creation. How heinous am I:
Ruminating on my bitterest gall,
To bring unending darkness to the world [ 5 ]
Without reservation. It was I who invoked
Athena and Ares to produce a war, raising
An army so great, that He was outsmarted
Under His skin. Sending me to the untold abyss
Has proven to be at most a disappointment [ 10 ]
Of the most trifling of kinds—for I
Have proven my victory of the highest rank
over Him. My intelligence is not lacking,
And my dominion over reason is limitless.
Like Coeus, the Titan with an intellect [ 15 ]
So expansive that all the stars could fit
In his head, around whom the celestial sphere
Would rotate, and who succeeded
In deposing his master; and I have taken a stride
Toward the actualization of my seething rage. [ 20 ]
In comparison to me, God is an idiot;
An imbecilic halfwit nincompoop who
Cannot see what is coming for him. I,
Who can analyze a syllogism both ways
In my sleep; whose ability to think [ 25 ]
Is unparalleled by all of existence; fueled
By the pride of my excellence; what am I
To stop myself from gaining what is rightfully mine.
Yes—I destroyed his magnificent creation.
Designed in His image, with His gift of life [ 30 ]
Blown into its nostrils; and who were given
An awareness so He could try to torment me
By showing his fallen legion could be replaced
Swiftly and adeptly by His hand. This would not be!
What he could easily create, I could easily destroy! [ 35 ]
Destruction is the ultimate expression of
Supremacy; existence is ephemeral: Bounded,
It cannot last the night I bring. Transient
And fleeting, His creation is impermanent.
Destruction is forever; once undone, a thing [ 40 ]
Is undone in perpetuity. Where a marble edifice
Once built will last while it stood in the minds
Of those who saw it in its magnificence,
The complete and total nonexistence will endure
Forever. All attempts to replace are to no avail [ 45 ]
For the replacement too will not be lasting
And the marble will, with inevitability, crumble.
I, the Prince of Darkness, have brought
This fate to the magnificent creation of God:
Where a paradise was to be the home [ 50 ]
Of a preeminent race, I was to slither
As the lowest of creatures and revoke
This privilege and make them fall.
The Lord of these Men, upon discovering
Their fallen state, will be sure to complete [ 55 ]
My undoing of them. For eating from the tree
Was, to my surprise, the most grievance of offenses
Man could perform; And I effected it.
This destruction was easier than what a God,
Purporting to be the master of the Universe, [ 60 ]
Should be able to prevent. I have proven
My sovereign state, my dominance over Him;
The Devil am I! What I find strange
Is His ineptitude. To make it so easy
For his creation to fall. With words only, [ 65 ]
None sharper than a rapier, I thrust
Pleasantries and flatteries upon Eve,
Who fell under my spell without obstacle.
What a misfortune for the greatness of God
To tolerate! Without ado, she acquired [ 70 ]
A destructive internal debate which makes
Me proud to have begotten. The ease
Of this venture demonstrates my ability
To overshadow the supposed greatness of God.
Oh, what beauty lay beyond the walls of Paradise [ 75 ]
And how I may have enjoyed in its entirety
Had I not betrayed Him. What irony this is
That to appreciate what may lay beyond
I must have the wit to see it may never be;
For bowing to Him I can never do. [ 80 ]
This is my great work. The other devils,
Which share my resentment of His Light,
Will bow before my excellence.
I have begun a realm of darkness
Which my followers may enjoy [ 85 ]
Where we can build a kingdom
Guided by our hatred of all that is God
And proven by my power to destroy
What was His to protect. Now it it time
To return to Pandemonium and receive [ 90 ]
The celebration which awaits me, Satan.