The State of Innocence The State of Innocence The State of Innocence was intended to be performed as an opera, with the libretto written in 1674, (first published in 1677) by John Dryden. It is basically a musical stage adaptation of John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost", a tribute to Milton rather than a satire of the poem. That Dryden was an admirer of Milton's is surprising as the two men were politically opposed. Milton was against the restoration of the British monarchy, while the royalist Dryden was created England’s first Poet Laureate by the restored Charles II. So great an admirer of Milton
Life of Adam and Eve traditions. Interesting parallels can be found with some New Testament passages, such as the mention of the Tree of Life in . The more striking resemblances are with ideas in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: Eve as the source of sin (), Satan disguising himself as an angel of light (), the location of the paradise in the third heaven (). In addition, there are parallels between Christ's forty days in the desert and Adam and Eve's forty days in the rivers. No direct relationship can be determined between the New Testament and the "Life of Adam and Eve",