Milton's Meltons.docx

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John MiltonFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other people named John Milton, seeJohn Milton (disambiguation).

John Milton

Portrait of Milton ca. 1629,National Portrait Gallery, London.Unknown artist (detail)

Born 9 December 1608 (Old style)

Bread Street,Cheapside,London, England

Died 8 November 1674 (aged 65)

Bunhill, London, England

Resting

place

St Giles-without-Cripplegate

Occupation Poet,prosepolemicist, civil servant

Language English,Latin,French,German,Greek,Hebrew,Italian,Spanish,Aramaic, Syriac

Nationality English

Alma mater Christ's College,University of Cambridge

Signature
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John Milton(9 December 16088 November 1674) was an English poet,polemicist,man of letters,and a

civil servant for theCommonwealth of EnglandunderOliver Cromwell.He wrote at a time of religious flux

and political upheaval, and is best known for hisepic poemParadise Lost(1667), written inblank verse.

Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination,and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he

achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebratedAreopagitica(1644) written in

condemnation of pre-publication censorship is among history's most influential and impassioned

defenses of free speech and freedom of the press.

William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author,"[1]

and he remains generally

regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language, "[2]

though critical reception has

oscillated in the centuries since his death (often on account of hisrepublicanism).Samuel

Johnsonpraised Paradise Lostas "a poem which...with respect to design may claim the first place, and withrespect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind," though he (aToryand

recipient of royal patronage) described Milton's politics as those of an "acrimonious and surly republican".[3]

Because of his republicanism, Milton has been the subject of centuries of British partisanship (a hostile

account byAnthony Woodin 1691, a "nonconformist"biography byJohn Tolandin 1698, etc.).

Contents

[show]

Biography[edit]

The phases of Milton's life parallel the major historical and political divisions inStuartBritain. Under the

increasingly personal rule ofCharles Iand its breakdown in constitutional confusion and war, Milton studied,

travelled, wrote poetry mostly for private circulation, and launched a career as pamphleteer and publicist.

Under theCommonwealth of England,from being thought dangerously radical and even heretical, the shift

in accepted attitudes in government placed him in public office, and he even acted as an official spokesman

in certain of his publications. TheRestorationof 1660 deprived Milton, now completely blind, of his public

platform, but this period saw him complete most of his major works of poetry.

Milton's views developed from his very extensive reading, as well as travel and experience, from his student

days of the 1620s to theEnglish Revolution.[4]

By the time of his death in 1674, Milton was impoverished

and on the margins of English intellectual life, yet famous throughout Europe and unrepentant for his

political choices.

Early life[edit]

Main article:Early life of John Milton

John Milton was born on Bread Street, London, on 9 December 1608, as the son of the composerJohn

Miltonand his wife Sarah Jeffrey. The senior John Milton (15621647) moved to London around 1583 afterbeing disinherited by his devout Catholic father, Richard Milton, for embracing Protestantism. In London, the
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l_Johnsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republicanismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Hayleyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Areopagiticahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blank_versehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradise_Losthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_poetryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwellhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_of_Englandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_of_lettershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polemicist


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senior John Milton married Sarah Jeffrey (15721637), the poet's mother, and found lasting financial

success as ascrivener.[5]

He lived in, and worked from, a house onBread Street,where theMermaid

Tavernwas located inCheapside.The elder Milton was noted for his skill as a musical composer, and this

talent left Milton with a lifelong appreciation for music and friendships with musicians such asHenry

Lawes.[6]

Blue plaque in Bread Street, London, where Milton was born

Milton's father's prosperity provided his eldest son with a private tutor, Thomas Young,a Scottish

Presbyterian with an M.A. from the University of St. Andrews. Research suggests that Young's influence

served as the poet's introduction to religious radicalism.[7]

After that Milton attendedSt Paul's Schoolin

London. There he began the study of Latin and Greek, and the classical languages left an imprint on his

poetry in English (he wrote also in Italian and Latin). His first datable compositions are two psalms done at

age 15 atLong Bennington.One contemporary source is theBrief LivesofJohn Aubrey,an uneven

compilation including first-hand reports. In the work, Aubrey quotes Christopher, Milton's younger brother:

"When he was young, he studied very hard and sat up very late, commonly ti ll twelve or one o'clock at

night".[8]

Milton attendedChrist's College, Cambridge,in 1625 and graduated with a B.A. in 1629,[9]

ranking fourth of

24 honours graduates that year in the University of Cambridge.[10]

Preparing to become anAnglicanpriest,

he stayed on to obtain hisMaster of Arts degreeon 3 July 1632.

Milton was probablyrusticated(suspended) for quarrelling in his first year with his tutor, William Chappell.

He was certainly at home in the Lent Term 1626; there he wrote his Elegia Prima, a first Latinelegy,toCharles Diodati, a friend from St Paul's. Based on remarks ofJohn Aubrey,Chappell "whipt" Milton.

[8]This

story is now disputed, though certainly Milton disliked Chappell .[11]

Christopher Hillcautiously notes that

Milton was "apparently" rusticated, and that the differences between Chappell and Milton may have been

either religious or personal.[12]

It is also possible that, likeIsaac Newtonfour decades hence, Milton was

sent home because of theplague,by which Cambridge was badly affected in 1625. Later in 1626, Milton's

tutor was Nathaniel Tovey.

At Cambridge, Milton was on good terms withEdward King,for whom he later wroteLycidas.He also

befriended Anglo-American dissident and theologianRoger Williams.Milton tutored Williams in Hebrew in

exchange for lessons in Dutch.[13]

Otherwise at Cambridge he developed a reputation for poetic skill and
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general erudition, but experienced alienation from his peers and university life as a whole. Watching his

fellow students attempting comedy upon the college stage, he later observed 'they thought themselves

gallant men, and I thought them fools'.[14]

Due to his long hair and general delicacy of manner, Milton was

known as the "Lady of Christ's".[citation needed]

Milton was disdainful of the university curriculum, which consisted of stilted formal debates on abstruse

topics, conducted in Latin. His own corpus is not devoid of humour, notably his sixthprolusionand his

epitaphs on the death ofThomas Hobson.While at Cambridge he wrote a number of his well-known shorter

English poems, among them On the Morning of Christ's Nativity, his Epitaph on the admirable Dramatick

Poet, W. Shakespeare, his first poem to appear in print,L'AllegroandIl Penseroso.

Study, poetry, and travel[edit]

For more details on this topic, seeEarly life of John Milton.

Commemorative blue plaque 'John Milton lived here 1632-1638' at Berkyn Manor Farm,Horton, Berkshire

It appears in all his writings that had the usual concomitant of great abilities, a lofty and steady confidence in himself,

perhaps not without some contempt of others; for scarcely any man ever wrote so much, and praised so few. Of his

praise he was very frugal; as he set i ts value high, and considered his mention of a name as a security against the waste

of time, and a certain preservative from oblivion.[15]

Samuel Johnson,Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets

Upon receiving his M.A. in 1632, Milton retired toHammersmith,his father's new home since the previous

year. He also lived atHorton, Berkshire,from 1635 and undertook six years of self-directed private study.

Christopher Hill points out that this was not retreat into a rural or pastoral idyll at all: Hammersmith was then

a "suburban village" falling into the orbit of London, and even Horton was becoming deforested, and

suffered from the plague.[16]

He read both ancient and modern works oftheology,philosophy, history,

politics, literature and science, in preparation for a prospective poetical career. Milton's intellectual

development can be charted via entries in hiscommonplace book(like a scrapbook), now in theBritish

Library.As a result of such intensive study, Milton is considered to be among the most learned of all English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prolusionhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prolusionhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prolusionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Allegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Allegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Allegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Penserosohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Penserosohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Penserosohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Milton&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Milton&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Milton&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_of_John_Miltonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_of_John_Miltonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_of_John_Miltonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_of_the_Most_Eminent_English_Poetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_of_the_Most_Eminent_English_Poetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_of_the_Most_Eminent_English_Poetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammersmithhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammersmithhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammersmithhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Milton_plaque_Berkyn_Manor_Farm_Horton.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Milton_plaque_Berkyn_Manor_Farm_Horton.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Milton_plaque_Berkyn_Manor_Farm_Horton.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Milton_plaque_Berkyn_Manor_Farm_Horton.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace_bookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammersmithhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lives_of_the_Most_Eminent_English_Poetshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-15http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horton,_Berkshirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_life_of_John_Miltonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Milton&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Penserosohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Allegrohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hobsonhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/prolusionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-14


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poets. In addition to his years of private study, Milton had command of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French,

Spanish, and Italian from his school and undergraduate days; he also added Old English to his linguistic

repertoire in the 1650s while researching his History of Britain, and probably acquired proficiency in Dutch

soon after.[17]

Milton continued to write poetry during this period of study: hisArcadesandComuswere both

commissioned formasquescomposed for noble patrons, connections of the Egerton family, and performed

in 1632 and 1634 respectively. Comusargues for the virtuousness oftemperanceandchastity.

He contributed hispastoralelegyLycidasto a memorial collection for one of his Cambridge classmates.

Drafts of these poems are preserved in Miltons poetry notebook, known as the Trinity Manuscript because

it is now kept atTrinity College, Cambridge.

In May 1638, Milton embarked upon a tour of France and Italy that lasted up to July or August 1639.[18]

His

travels supplemented his study with new and direct experience of artistic and religious traditions, especially

Roman Catholicism. He met famous theorists and intellectuals of the time, and was able to display his

poetic skills. For specific details of what happened within Milton's "grand tour", there appears to be just

oneprimary source:Milton's ownDefensio Secunda.Although there are other records, including some

letters and some references in his other prose tracts, the bulk of the information about the tour comes from

a work that, according toBarbara Lewalski,"was not intended as autobiography but as rhetoric, designed to

emphasise his sterling reputation with the learned of Europe."[19]

In [Florence], which I have always admired above all others because of the elegance, not just of its tongue, but also of its

wit, I lingered for about two months. There I at once became the friend of many gentlemen eminent in rank and learning,

whose private academies I frequented a Florentine institution which deserves great praise not only for promoting

humane studies but also for encouraging friendly intercourse.[20]

Milton's account of Florence in Defensio Secunda

He first went toCalais,and then on to Paris, riding horseback, with a letter from diplomat Henry Wottonto

ambassadorJohn Scudamore.Through Scudamore, Milton metHugo Grotius,a Dutch law philosopher,

playwright and poet. Milton left France soon after this meeting. He travelled south, fromNicetoGenoa,and

then toLivornoandPisa.He reached Florence in July 1638. While there, Milton enjoyed many of the sitesand structures of the city. His candour of manner and erudite neo-Latin poetry earned him friends in

Florentine intellectual circles, and he met the astronomerGalileo,who was underhouse arrestatArcetri,as

well as others.[21]

Milton probably visited the Florentine Academy and theAcademia della Cruscaalong with

smaller academies in the area including the Apatisti and theSvogliati.

He left Florence in September to continue to Rome. With the connections from Florence, Milton was able to

have easy access to Rome's intellectual society. His poetic abilities impressed those like Giovanni Salzilli,

who praised Milton within an epigram. In late October, Milton, despite his dislike for theSociety of Jesus,

attended a dinner given by theEnglish College, Rome,meeting English Catholics who were also guests,

theologianHenry Holdenand the poetPatrick Cary.[22]

He also attended musical events, including oratorios,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-17http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcades_(Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcades_(Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcades_(Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comus_(John_Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comus_(John_Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comus_(John_Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masqueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masqueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masqueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_(virtue)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_(virtue)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_(virtue)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chastityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chastityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chastityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastoralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastoralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycidashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycidashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycidashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College,_Cambridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College,_Cambridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College,_Cambridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_tourhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_tourhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_tourhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensio_Secundahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensio_Secundahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensio_Secundahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Lewalskihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Lewalskihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Lewalskihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wottonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wottonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wottonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scudamore_(ambassador)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scudamore_(ambassador)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scudamore_(ambassador)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Grotiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Grotiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Grotiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice,_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice,_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice,_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livornohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livornohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livornohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_arresthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_arresthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_arresthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcetrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcetrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcetrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academia_della_Cruscahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academia_della_Cruscahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academia_della_Cruscahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svogliatihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svogliatihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_College,_Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_College,_Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_College,_Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Holdenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Holdenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Holdenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Caryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Caryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-22http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Caryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Holdenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_College,_Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Jesushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svogliatihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academia_della_Cruscahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcetrihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_arresthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livornohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nice,_Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Grotiushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scudamore_(ambassador)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Wottonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calaishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-20http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-19http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Lewalskihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defensio_Secundahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_sourcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_tourhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-18http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_College,_Cambridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycidashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastoralhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chastityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temperance_(virtue)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masqueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comus_(John_Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcades_(Milton)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton#cite_note-17


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operas and melodramas. Milton left forNaplestoward the end of November, where he stayed only for a

month because of the Spanish control.[23]

During that time he was introduced to Giovanni Battista Manso,

patron to bothTorquato Tassoand to Giovanni Battista Marino.[24]

Originally Milton wanted to leave Naples in order to travel to Sicily,and then on to Greece, but he returnedto England during the summer of 1639 because of what he claimed, in Defensio Secunda,

[25]were "sad

tidings of civil war in England."[26]

Matters became more complicated when Milton received word that

Diodati, his childhood friend, had died. Milton in fact stayed another seven months on the continent, and

spent time atGenevawith Diodati's uncle after he returned to Rome. In Defensio Secunda, Milton

proclaimed he was warned against a return to Rome because of his frankness about religion, but he stayed

in the city for two months and was able to experienceCarnivaland meetLukas Holste,a Vatican librarian,

who guided Milton through its collection. He was introduced to Cardinal Francesco Barberiniwho invited

Milton to an opera hosted by the Cardinal. Around March Milton travelled once again to Florence, staying

there for two months, attending further meetings of the academies, and spent time with friends. After

leaving Florence he travelled through Lucca, Bologna, and Ferrara before coming to Venice.In Venice,

Milton was exposed to a model of Republicanism, later important in his political writings, but he soon found

another model when he travelled to Geneva. From Switzerland, Milton travelled to Paris and then to Calais

before finally arriving back in England in either July or August 1639.[27]

Civil war, prose tracts, and marriage[edit]

Title page of the 1644 edition ofAreopagitica

Main article:Milton's antiprelatical tracts

On returning to England, where theBishops' Warspresaged further armed conflict, Milton began to write

prosetractsagainstepiscopacy,in the service of thePuritanandParliamentarycause. Milton's first foray

into polemics was Of Reformation touching Church Discipline in England(1641), followed by Of PrelaticalEpiscopacy, the two defences ofSmectymnuus(a group of presbyterian divines named from their initials:
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the "TY" belonged to Milton's old tutor Thomas Young), andThe Reason of Church-Government Urged

against Prelaty.With frequent passages of real eloquence lighting up the rough controversial style of the

period, and deploying a wide knowledge of church history, he vigorously attacked the High-church party of

the Church of England and their leader,William Laud,Archbishop of Canterbury.

Though supported by his father's investments, at this time Milton became a private schoolmaster, educating

his nephews and other children of the well-to-do. This experience, and discussions with educational

reformerSamuel Hartlib,led him to write in 1644 his short tract,Of Education,urging a reform of the national

universities.

In June 1642, Milton paid a visit to the manor house at Forest Hill, Oxfordshire,and returned with a 16-year-

old bride, Mary Powell.[28][29]

A month later, finding life difficult with the severe 35-year-old schoolmaster and

pamphleteer, Mary returned to her family. Partly because of the outbreak of theCivil War,[28]

she did not

return until 1645; in the meantime her desertion prompted Milton, over the next three years, to publishaseries of pamphletsarguing for the legality and morality of divorce. (Anna Beer,one of Milton's most recent

biographers, points to a lack of evidence and the dangers of cynicism in urging that it was not necessarily

the case that the private life so animated the public polemicising.) In 1643, Milton had a brush with the

authorities over these writings, in parallel withHezekiah Woodward,who had more trouble.[30]

It was the

hostile response accorded the divorce tracts that spurred Milton to write Areopagitica,his celebrated attack

on pre-printing censorship.

Secretary for Foreign Tongues[edit]

With the parliamentary victory in the Civil War, Milton used his pen in defense of the republican principles

represented by the Commonwealth.The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates(1649)

defendedpopulargovernment and implicitly sanctioned theregicide;Milton's political reputation got him

appointed Secretary for Foreign Tongues by the Council of State in March 1649. Though Milton's main job

description was to compose the English Republic's foreign correspondence in Latin, he also was called

upon to produce propaganda for the regime and to serve as a censor.[31]

In October 1649, he

publishedEikonoklastes,an explicit defense of the regicide, in response to the Eikon Basilike,a

phenomenal best-seller popularly attributed to Charles I that portrayed the King as an innocent

Christianmartyr.A month after Milton had tried to break this powerful image of Charles I (the literal

translation of Eikonoklastes is 'the image breaker'), the exiled Charles IIand his party published a defense

of monarchy, Defensio Regia pro Carolo Primo, written by the leading humanistClaudius Salmasius.By

January of the following year, Milton was ordered to write a defense of the English people by theCouncil of

State.Given the European audience and the English Republic's desire to establish diplomatic and cultural

legitimacy, Milton worked more slowly than usual, as he drew on the learning marshalled by his years of

study to compose a riposte. On 24 February 1652, Milton published his Latin defense of the English

People,Defensio pro Populo Anglicano,also known as the First Defense. Milton's pure Latin prose and

evident learning, exemplified in the First Defense, quickly made him a European reputation, and the work

ran to numerous editions.[32]
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In 1654, in response to an anonymous Royalist tract "Regii sanguinis clamor", a work that made many

personal attacks on Milton, he completed a second defense of the English nation, Defensio secunda, which

praisedOliver Cromwell,now Lord Protector, while exhorting him to remain true to the principles of the

Revolution.Alexander Morus,to whom Milton wrongly attributed the Clamor(in fact byPeter du Moulin),

published an attack on Milton, in response to which Milton published the autobiographical Defensio pro

sein 1655. In addition to these literary defenses of the Commonwealth and his character, Milton continued

to translate official correspondence into Latin. By 1654, Milton had become totally blind; the cause of his

blindness is debated but bilateralretinal detachmentorglaucomaare most likely.[33]

His blindness forced

him to dictate hisverseand prose toamanuenses(helpers), one of whom was the poetAndrew Marvell.

One of his best-known sonnets,On His Blindness,is presumed to date from this period.

The Restoration[edit]

Though Cromwell's death in 1658 caused the English Republic to collapse into feuding military and politicalfactions, Milton stubbornly clung to the beliefs that had originally inspired him to write for the

Commonwealth. In 1659, he publishedA Treatise of Civil Power,attacking the concept of a state-dominated

church (the position known asErastianism), as well as Considerations touching the likeliest means to

remove hirelings, denouncing corrupt practises in church governance. As the Republic disintegrated, Milton

wrote several proposals to retain a non-monarchical government against the wishes of parliament, soldiers

and the people.[citation needed]

Milton later in life

A Letter to a Friend, Concerning the Ruptures of the Commonwealth, written in October 1659, was a

response toGeneral Lambert's recent dissolution of theRump Parliament.

Proposals of certain expedients for the preventing of a civil war now feared, written in November 1659.
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The Ready and Easy Way to Establishing a Free Commonwealth ,in two editions, responded

toGeneral Monck's march towards London to restore theLong Parliament(which led to the restoration

of the monarchy). The work is an impassioned, bitter, and futilejeremiaddamning the English people

for backsliding from the cause oflibertyand advocating the establishment of an authoritarian rule by

anoligarchyset up by unelected parliament.

Upon theRestorationin May 1660, Milton went into hiding for his life, while a warrant was issued for his

arrest and his writings burnt. He re-emerged after a general pardon was issued, but was nevertheless

arrested and briefly imprisoned before influential friends, such as Marvell, now an MP, intervened. On 24

February 1663, Milton remarried, for a third and final time, aWistaston,Cheshire-born woman, Elizabeth

(Betty) Minshull, then aged 24, and spent the remaining decade of his life living quietly in London, only

retiring to a cottageMilton's CottageinChalfont St. Giles,his only extant home, during theGreat Plague

of London.

During this period, Milton published several minor prose works, such as a grammar textbook,Art of Logic,

and a History of Britain. His only explicitly political tracts were the 1672 Of True Religion, arguing

fortoleration(except for Catholics), and a translation of a Polish tract advocating an elective monarchy.

Both these works were referred to in theExclusiondebatethe attempt to exclude the heir

presumptive,James, Duke of York,from the throne of England because he was Roman Catholicthat

would preoccupy politics in the 1670s and 80s and precipitate the formation of theWhig partyand

theGlorious Revolution.

Milton died of kidney failure on 8 November 1674 and was buried in the church ofSt Giles Cripplegate;according to an early biographer, his funeral was attended by his learned and great Friends in London, not

without a friendly concourse of the Vulgar.[34]

A monument byJohn Bacon the Elderwas added in 1793.

Family[edit]

Milton and his first wife, Mary Powell (16251652) had four children:

Anne (born 7 July 1646)

Mary (born 25 October 1648)

John (16 March 1651June 1652)

Deborah (2 May 1652?)

Mary Powell died on 5 May 1652 from complications following Deborah's birth. Milton's daughters survived

to adulthood, but he had always a strained relationship with them.

On 12 November 1656, Milton was married again, to Katherine Woodcock. She died on 3 February 1658,

less than four months after giving birth to a daughter, Katherine, who also died.

Milton married for a third time on 24 February 1662, to Elizabeth Mynshull (16381728), the niece of

Thomas Mynshull, a wealthy apothecary and philanthropist in Manchester. Despite a 31-year age gap, themarriage seemed happy, according toJohn Aubrey,and was to last more than 11 years until Milton's death.
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(A plaque on the wall of Mynshull's House in Manchester describes Elizabeth as Milton's "3rd and Best

wife".) Samuel Johnson, however, claims that Mynshull was "a domestic companion and attendant" and that

Milton's nephew,Edward Phillips,relates that Mynshull "oppressed his children in his lifetime, and cheated

them at his death".[35]

Two nephews (sons of Milton's sister Anne), Edward andJohn Phillips,were educated by Milton and

became writers themselves. John acted as a secretary, and Edward was Milton's first biographer.

Poetry[edit]

Milton's poetry was slow to see the light of day, at least under his name. His first published poem was On

Shakespear(1630), anonymously included in theSecond Folioedition of Shakespeare. In the midst of the

excitement attending the possibility of establishing a new English government, Milton collected his work

in1645 Poems.The anonymous edition of Comuswas published in 1637, and the publication of Lycidasin

1638 in Justa Edouardo King Naufragowas signed J. M. Otherwise, the 1645 collection was the only poetry

of his to see print, untilParadise Lostappeared in 1667.

Paradise Los t[edit]

Main article:Paradise Lost

Milton'smagnum opus,theblank-verseepic poemParadise Lost,was composed by the blind and

impoverished Milton from 1658 to 1664 (first edition) with small but significant revisions published in 1674

(second edition). As a blind poet, Milton dictated his verse to a series of aides in his employ. It has been

argued that the poem reflects his personal despair at the failure of the Revolution, yet affirms an ultimate

optimism in human potential. Some literary critics have argued that Milton encoded many references to his

unyielding support for the "Good Old Cause".[36]

Milton Dictates the Lost Paradise to His Three Daughters, ca. 1826. Artist:Eugne Delacroix

On 27 April 1667,[37]

Milton sold the publication rights to Paradise Lostto publisherSamuel Simmonsfor 5,

equivalent to approximately 7,400 income in 2008,[38]

with a further 5 to be paid if and when each print
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run of between 1,300 and 1,500 copies sold out.[39]

The first run, aquartoedition priced at threeshillingsper

copy, was published in August 1667 and sold out in eighteen months.[40]

Milton followed up Paradise Lostwith its sequel,Paradise Regained,published alongside the

tragedySamson Agonistes,in 1671. Both these works also resonate with Milton's post-Restoration politicalsituation. Just before his death in 1674, Milton supervised a second edition of Paradise Lost, accompanied

by an explanation of "why the poem rhymes not" and prefatory verses by Marvell. Milton republished

his 1645 Poemsin 1673, as well a collection of his letters and the Latin prolusions from his Cambridge

days. A 1668 edition ofParadise Lost, reported to have been Milton's personal copy, is now housed in the

archives of theUniversity of Western Ontario.

Views[edit]

An unfinished religious manifesto,De doctrina christiana,probably written by Milton, lays out many of his

heterodox theological views, and was not discovered and published until 1823. Milton's key beliefs were

idiosyncratic, not those of an identifiable group or faction, and often they go well beyond the orthodoxy of

the time. Their tone, however, stemmed from the Puritan emphasis on the centrality and inviolability of

conscience.[41]

He was his own man, but it isAreopagitica, where he was anticipated byHenry

Robinsonand others, that has lasted best of his prose works.

Philosophy[edit]

By the late 1650s, Milton was a proponent ofmonismor animist materialism, the notion that a single

material substance which is "animate, self-active, and free" composes everything in the universe: from

stones and trees and bodies to minds, souls, angels, and God.[42]

Milton devised this position to avoid

themind-body dualismofPlatoandDescartesas well as themechanisticdeterminismofHobbes.Milton's

monism is most notably reflected in Paradise Lostwhen he has angels eat (5.43339)[clarification needed]

and

engage in sexual intercourse (8.62229)[clarification needed]

and the De Doctrina, where he denies the dual

natures of man and argues for a theory of Creation ex Deo.

Political thought[edit]
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12/25

Title page of John Milton's 1644 edition ofAreopagitica

Main article:John Milton's politics

In his political writing, Milton addressed particular themes at different periods. The years 164142 were

dedicated to church politics and the struggle against episcopacy. After his divorce writings,Areopagitica,

and a gap, he wrote in 164954 in the aftermath of theexecution of Charles I,and in polemic justification of

the regicide and the existing Parliamentarian regime. Then in 165960 he foresaw the Restoration, and

wrote to head it off.[43]

Milton's own beliefs were in some cases both unpopular and dangerous, and this was true particularly to his

commitment torepublicanism.In coming centuries, Milton would be claimed as an early apostle of

liberalism.[44]

According to James Tully:

... withLockeas with Milton, republican andcontractionconceptions of political freedom join hands in

common opposition to the disengaged and passive subjection offered byabsolutistssuch

asHobbesandRobert Filmer.[45]

A friend and ally in the pamphlet wars wasMarchamont Nedham.Austin Woolrychconsiders that although

they were quite close, there is "little real affinity, beyond a broad republicanism", between their

approaches.[46]

Blair Wordenremarks that both Milton and Nedham, with others such as Andrew

MarvellandJames Harrington,would have taken the problem with theRump Parliamentto be not the

republic, but the fact that it was not a proper republic .[47]

Woolrych speaks of "the gulf between Milton's

vision of the Commonwealth's future and the reality".[48]

In the early version of hisHistory of Britain,begun in

1649, Milton was already writing off the members of the Long Parliamentas incorrigible.[49]

He praisedOliver Cromwellas the Protectorate was set up; though subsequently he had major

reservations. When Cromwell seemed to be backsliding as a revolutionary, after a couple of years in power,

Milton moved closer to the position ofSir Henry Vane,to whom he wrote a sonnet in 1652.[50][51]

The group

of disaffected republicans included, besides Vane,John Bradshaw,John Hutchinson,Edmund

Ludlow,Henry Marten,Robert Overton,Edward SexbyandJohn Streater;but not Marvell, who remained

with Cromwell's party.[52]

Milton had already commended Overton, along withEdmund

WhalleyandBulstrode Whitelocke,inDefensio Secunda.[53]

Nigel Smith writes that

... John Streater, and the form of republicanism he stood for, was a fulfilment of Milton's most optimistic

ideas of free speech and of public heroism [... ][54]

AsRichard Cromwellfell from power, he envisaged a step towards a freer republic or free commonwealth,

writing in the hope of this outcome in early 1660. Milton had argued for an awkward position, in theReady

and Easy Way,because he wanted to invoke theGood Old Causeand gain the support of the republicans,

but without offering a democratic solution of any kind.[55]

His proposal, backed by reference (amongst other

reasons) to theoligarchicalDutch and Venetian constitutions, was for a council with perpetual membership.

This attitude cut right across the grain of popular opinion of the time, which swung decisively behind the
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