Eve Speaks Paradise Lost Over the course of time, there have been many interpretations of man's fall from grace, as told by the Bible. Among the literary interpretations are those of John Milton's Paradise Lost and the American poet Louis Untermeyer's "Eve Speaks." John Milton's epic poem deals with the entire story of man's fall from grace, including background for Satan's motives.
Louis Untermeyer's "Eve Speaks" was written about Eve's thoughts, many years after she was forced to leave Eden. While both poems are derived from the same biblical root, they offer
different interpretations of man's fall through Eve's motives, her attitude toward Adam,
and her attitude toward her sin. In Paradise Lost, Eve was tricked by Satan, who assumed
the form of a serpent, into eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Satan had whispered into
her ear when she was asleep, and when he spoke to her later, he used his cunning to mislead
He ended, and his words replete with guile
Into her heart too easy entrance won.
Fixed on the fruit she gazed, which to behold
Might tempt alone, and in her ears the sound
Yet rung of his persuasive words, impregned
With reason, to her seeming, and with truth;
Louis Untermeyer's interpretation of Eve's motives in "Eve Speaks", were very different in
their implications. He suggests that Eve was not tricked by Satan, but instead she made a
conscious decision to eat the forbidden fruit. Eve thought that man was created for more
than living in Paradise; She was seeking for a greater world: The thought that there was
something more than joy, Beyond perfection, greater than singing peace And tranquil
happiness, vexed all my hours. ("Eve Speaks" 31-34)
Eve reached these conclusions through the traits that she perceived in Adam. He was strong
and had a brain designed to "dream and mould". According to Ev
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