Milton
Name: John Milton
Achievements: Poetry
Born: December 9, 1608; London, England
Died: November 8, 1674; Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, England (Aged 66)
Field & Discipline: Art; Literature; Government; Poet; Scholar; Civil Servant
Language: English
Father: Father: John Milton
Mother: Sara Jeffrey
Siblings: 1 brother: Christopher; 1 sister: Anne
Spouse: 1) Mary Powell; 2) Katherine Woodcock; 3) Elizabeth Minshull
Children: by Powell: 3 daughters: Mary; Anne; Deborah
Education: St Paul's Cathedral school, London; Christ's College, Cambridge
Major Work:
"Paradise Lost' (1667)
Life & Times:
In December 1629 Milton wrote his famous ode "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity," marking the beginning of his work as an English poet.
Among other verse he wrote during this period are the well-known lyrics "Il Penseroso" and "L'Allegro.” Milton left Cambridge after he received his master’s degree in 1632 and
spent the next six years at his father's house in Horton, Buckinghamshire.
There was growing dissent within the English church at that time between Anglicans and Puritans, particularly after [opposed ideas of] Laud* became archbishop in 1633. Laud was associated with the followers of [opposed ideas of] Arminius* who favored the traditional high-church rituals and observances which appeared popish to the Puritans. Milton's sympathies lay with the progressive reformers in the church.
While at Horton, Milton wrote two of his early masterpieces. "Comus" (1634) was a
masque in which the moral theme embodies a fusion of Christian and Platonic ideals, and "Lycidas" (1637) which included an attack on corrupt clergy.
In 1638-9 Milton travelled on the continent and in Paris met the humanist lawyer [met] Grotius*. In Florence he was taken to see the ageing [met] Galileo*, confined to his villa on orders of the Inquisition. Milton was shocked by this evidence of religious bigotry and spoke of the meeting in his poem "Areopagitica" (1644).
Milton decided to cut short his travels and return to England where political tensions were mounting as the Scots Presbyterians rebelled against the restrictions enforced by Laud and [opposed] Charles I*. He settled in London and set up a school while also writing pamphlets about the controversy then raging over the abolition of bishops. He wrote five tracts against episcopacy, including a rebuttal of Archbishop [opposed] Ussher's* position in "Against Prelaty" which was also the first pamphlet Milton published under his own name.
In 1644 he published "Areopagitica,” a prose work in defence of freedom of the press. In the same year he published a treatise in the form of a letter to his friend [a pal of] Hartlib* setting out a plan for the reform of education along humanist lines.
He was always interested in education and he supported the efforts of Hartlib and others like [a pal of] Oldenburg* to introduce a new type of schooling. Before Charles I was sentenced Milton wrote a pamphlet ("The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates" ) in which he argued that the people had a right to try and even execute a ruler who has become a tyrant. The work was published in February 1649 after the king's execution and as a result Milton was appointed Latin secretary to the Council of State, the new governing body.
His job involved writing all foreign correspondence, translating documents and meeting foreign envoys. He was also expected to write propaganda for the new regime and defend its actions against royalist both at home and abroad.
In 1652 Milton became blind after suffering from failing eyesight for some time. In 1658 he began serious work on the epic he had long planned to write about the Fall of Man and the regeneration of mankind. Scholars have speculated that the subject matter was suggested much earlier by Grotius' Latin play "Adamus Exul.”
Milton also wrote more poems, including some sonnets on his blindness. After the death of [supporter of] Cromwell* in 1659, Milton wrote more political pamphlets in protest at the idea of a restoration of the monarchy, and when [opposed] Charles II* returned to the throne the following year he lost his job.
For the last decade of his life he lived quietly, concentrating on his literary work and supported by his many friends, including the poets [a pal of] Marvell* and [a pal of] Dryden*.
In 1665 Milton completed his epic poem "Paradise Lost," published in 1667. The poem is now regarded by most critics as the finest English epic poem. On the whole it was approved of by Presbyterians but, although it was praised by Dryden, it was not an instant success. In 1671 Milton published his last two poetical works, "Paradise Regained" and "Samson Agonistes.”
Extra Connections: [written about by] Joseph Addison* wrote an essay on “Paradise Lost”
[work used by] Haydn* based “Creation” on “Paradise Lost”
Influenced [influenced] Herder*
Assessment: Milton is recognised as probably the greatest English poet after
Shakespeare.
Oneliner: John Milton, English Puritan poet
Bibliography:
- Wilson, A N, The Life of John Milton, Oxford University Press, 1983.