Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets)
John Milton (1608-74) was celebrated in his time as a public servant of the Cromwellian regime and as the author of brilliant polemical pamphlets about education religion and freedom of speech, but his posthumous reputation rests principally on his work as a poet, noteably in PARADISE LOST. This poem, written after the poet was driven out of public life by the Restoration, and begun when he was already blind, is a worthy successor to the epics of Homer and Virgil. In majestic blank verse it describes Lucifer's fall from heaven, the creation of mankind, Eve's temptation, and the expulsion of Adam and Eve from paradise. After the Bible, this is perhaps the greatest masterpiece of Christian literature. The present volume contains extensive selections from PARADISE LOST, chosen to illustrate its author's genius for high drama, vivid description and savage irony. In addition, there are substantial extracts from COMUS and SAMSON AGONISTES, and many of Milton's sonnets and shorter poems, including the famous LYCIDAS.
| Author | John Milton |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Format | Hardback |
| Author detail | John Milton was born on 9 December 1608 in Cheapside,London. He published little until the appearance of Poems of Mr John Milton, both English and Latin in 1646, when he was 37. By this time he was deeply committed to a political vocation, and became an articulate and increasingly indispensable spokesman for the Independent cause. He wrote the crucial justifications for the trial and execution of Charles I, and, as Secretary for Foreign Tongues to the Council of State, was the voice of the English revolution to the world at large. After the failure of the Commonwealth he was briefly imprisoned; blind and in straitened circumstances he returned to poetry, and in 1667 published a ten-book version of Paradise Lost, his biblical epic written, as he put it, after 'long choosing, and beginning late'. In 1671, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes appeared, followed two years later by an expanded edition of his shorter poems. The canon was completed in 1674, the year of his death, with the appearance of the twelve-book Paradise Lost, which became a classic almost immediately. His influence on English poetry and criticism has been incalculable. |
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