John Milton, Paradise Lost
Bridge from Hell to the World
The poem anticipates a broad, beaten way paved by Sin and Death along Satan’s difficult route. The boiling gulf yields to a bridge extending from Hell towards the outer boundary of the world. The structure permits easy passage for hostile spirits who tempt or punish mortals. A journey first requiring solitary effort becomes a regular route after the change in the human condition.
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In the sources
Principal account
LiteraryThe poem anticipates a broad, beaten way paved by Sin and Death along Satan’s difficult route. The boiling gulf yields to a bridge extending from Hell towards the outer boundary of the world.
Further detail
LiteraryThe structure permits easy passage for hostile spirits who tempt or punish mortals. A journey first requiring solitary effort becomes a regular route after the change in the human condition.
Context & interpretation
The entry follows the bridge’s anticipatory description in Book II of Milton’s poem. Its material path is part of the literary cosmology, not a claim that a visible structure connects an earthly location with Hell.
Original passages
Source 1
Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré
a bridge of wondrous lengthOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Milton, Paradise Lost, active reader leaf 72
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0115-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0115-E001-P0072
- Original scan leaf
- 73
- Recorded leaf number
- 73
- Current Reader position
- 68
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré
With easy intercourse pass to and froOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Milton, Paradise Lost, active reader leaf 72
Exact passage checked against active scan text and original-leaf mapping; scan line breaks normalised.
- Edition
- IMJ-0115-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0115-E001-P0072
- Original scan leaf
- 73
- Recorded leaf number
- 73
- Current Reader position
- 68
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed