Blake's Milton was a lengthy, ambitious project close to his heart. Long an admirer of Milton and Paradise Lost, Blake in this work penned both a paean to Milton and a criticism of Milton's religious stance in Paradise Lost. Although generally favorable to Milton, the poem chastises the poet for advocating reason over inspiration and for denigrating sex as a base impulse.

To announce his purpose and his affinity with Milton, Blake appends Milton's famous phrase to his title page as an explanation of his own purpose: "To justify the ways of God to men." In Blake's poem, Milton returns to earth a hundred years after his death as a Christ-like figure, his coming prepared by Los, the personification of the creative impulse. By his return, Milton is poised to destroy both Urizen, the symbol of restrictive Reason, and Satan, the chief symbol of society's corruption.

Blake called Milton his "Grand Poem" and originally intended an epic of twelve books to rival Paradise Lost. However, he completed only two books.

In the illustration reproduced here, Blake clearly depicts Milton in a Christ-like image.