Milton wants to create the illusion that he's predicting, or that he's prophesying, the actions recounted in the poem, as if Milton were prophesying what of course we know to be already past.

弥尔顿想给我们一种他在预言，诗中所叙之事的感觉，似乎他是在预言这些我们都知道已经发生了的事情。

耶鲁公开课 - 弥尔顿课程节选