![]() ![]() Some of his earliest pieces were metrical psalms and poems such as "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" (1629), "An Epitaph on the Admirable Dramatic Poet William Shakespeare" (1630), and "Il Penseroso" (1631) and its companion piece "L'Allegro" (1631). ![]() Upon his return to England from the continent in 1639 he moved to his parent's home in Horton, Buckinghamshire to focus on further study and writing. He also learned French and Italian, countries he travelled through extensively in the late 1630s where he immersed himself in their history and culture, and met many prominent learned men of the time including Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). However, upon graduation in 1632 with a Master of Arts degree, Milton was disenchanted with the Church, did not take his orders, and decided to further his studies in languages including Hebrew. He entered Christ's College, Cambridge in 1625 with the intent to become a minister. A life-long student, his schooling started at home under tutor Thomas Young before he went to read the works of Homer and Virgil in Greek and Latin at St Paul's School in London. John was born with poor eyesight which increasingly worsened over time. He had an older sister Anne and younger brother Christopher. John Milton was born on 9 December 1608 on Bread Street in London, England to Sarah Jeffrey (1572-1637) and John Milton (1562-1647), scrivener in legal and financial matters. He did not loathe the Sire to laud the Son, He deigned not to belie his soul in songs, ![]() If Time, the Avenger, execrates his wrongs,Īnd makes the word "Miltonic" mean " Sublime," In his sympathetic portrayal of man's struggle with good and evil, "That, to the height of this great argument, I may assert Eternal Providence, And justify the ways of God to men." Milton has inspired countless works by artists, film makers, musicians, authors, and poets into the 21st Century including John Keats's "Endymion" William Blake created illustrations for Paradise Lost and wrote Milton: a Poem (1804-10) Percy Bysshe Shelley writes "Milton stands alone in the age which he illumined." in his Preface to "The Revolt of Islam" and Lord George Gordon Byron, in his Introduction and Dedication to Don Juan writes If, fallen in evil days on evil tongues, SPARKNOTES PARADISE LOST FREEMilton also wrote pamphlets on various political issues like free speech and the censorship exerted by Parliament as in "Areopagitica: A speech of Mr John Milton for the liberty of unlicensed printing to the Parliament of England" (1644).īut today Milton is best remembered for his heroic epic verse retelling the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall. VII, 1907-21) "the inspirers of his pamphlets were furies rather than muses". As George Saintsbury (1845-1933) states in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature (Vol. England was in a great state of flux during his lifetime Milton sided with the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), rejected popular political and religious beliefs, adopted an anti-royalist stance against King Charles I, and joined the pamphlet wars, writing many polemics on the Church of England including "Of Reformation Touching Church Discipline in England" (1641) and "The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth" (1660). ![]()
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