John Milton was born in London in 1608 at the height of the Protestant Reformation in England.

His
father was a law writer who had achieved some success by the time Milton was born. This prosperity
afforded Milton an excellent education, first with private tutoring, then a private school, and finally
Cambridge. Milton, a studious boy, excelled in languages and classical studies.

His father had left Roman Catholicism and Milton was raised Protestant, with a heavy tendency toward
Puritanism. As a student, he wanted to go into the ministry, but was disillusioned with the scholastic
elements of the clergy at Cambridge. Cambridge, however, afforded him time to write poetry. After
Cambridge, he continued his studies for seven years in a leisurely life at his father's house. It was here
that he wrote some of his first published poems, including "Comus" (1634) and "Lycidas" (1638), both of
which he published in 1645.

Milton toured the European continent in 1638-1639 and met many of the great Renaissance minds,
including Galileo and Grotius. The beginning of the Puritan Revolution found Milton back in England,
fighting for a more humanist and reformed church. For more than twenty years, Milton set aside poetry
to write political and religious pamphlets for the cause of Puritanism. For a time, he served as Secretary
for Foreign Tongues under Cromwell.

Milton was a mixed product of his time. On the one hand, as a humanist, he fought for religious
tolerance and believed that there was something inherently valuable in man. As a Puritan, however, he
believed that the Bible was the answer and the guide to all, even if it went against democracy itself.
Where the Bible didn't afford an answer, Milton would turn to reason.

Milton himself was married three times, all of which were rather unhappy affairs. He defended divorce
in "The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce" in 1643. With this and other treatises, Milton often came in
conflict with the Puritanism he advocated.

At the end of the war, Milton was imprisoned for a short time for his views. In 1660, he emerged blind
and disillusioned with the England he saw around him.

Nevertheless, he was yet to write his greatest work. Paradise Lost was published in 1667, followed by
Paradise Regained in 1671. Milton's ability to combine his poetry with his polemics in these and other
works,was the key to his genius.

The classical influences in his work can be clearly delineated: Homer, Ovid, but especially Virgil.
Shakespeare was the leading playwright of his day, and there are some references to his works in
Milton's own poetry. The style and structure of the Spencer's "The Faerie Queen," was another influence
on Paradise Lost. It was one of only a few books that were owned by the Miltons during John's
upbringing.

Milton died from "gout" in 1674 and was buried in the Church of St. Giles in London.

Study Guides on Works by John Milton

Areopagitica and Other Prose Works John Milton

Areopagitica is a riveting prose work written by John Milton. It is considered one of the most persuasive
protests against prior censorship written to date. Reason being this work has endured beyond the
circumstances of its publication. Milton..
Comus John Milton

The name of John Milton (1608-1674), of a poet, philosopher and essayist, who inextricably linked his
fate with the events of the great English Revolution, is considered to be a symbol of the highest
achievements of the English Literature.
Il Penseroso John Milton

“Il Penseroso” is considered one of John Milton’s more important “minor problems” and dates back to
1631. The poem is usually paired with another, “L’Allegro” written around the same tL'Allegro is a
pastoral poem written by John Milton. It was first published on his collected work "Poems" in 1645.
L'Allegro when translated literally means "the happy man" and it is usually looked at in conjunction with

the mirroring pastoral... Lycidas is a poem written composed by John

Milton in 1637. Often described as a collection of elegies rather than a single cohesive verse, it was
published the next year as elegy commemorating the death of Edward King. King had been a

schoolmate.

On the Morning of Christ's Nativity John Milton

On The Morning Of Christ's Nativity is a poem of twenty-seven stanzas that was written by John Milton
whilst still a student at Cambridge University in celebration of turning twenty one. The poem
commemorates the birth of Christ. Whilst Milton was...

Paradise Lost John MiltonJohn Milton was born on December 9, 1608, around the time Shakespeare
began writing his romance plays (Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, The Tempest) and John Smith
established his colony at Jamestown. Milton's father was a scrivener and, perhaps more...

Samson Agonistes John Milton

Samson Agosnistes is a closet play published in 1671 by British author John Milton. The play is referred
to as being a tragic poem, because on the first page John Milton names it so, letting us know that he did

not wanted to see his work on stage,...

The Sonnets of John Milton John Milton

John Milton was an English writer born on December 9, 1608. As a child and young adult, Milton was an
avid reader and traveled often, which played a great role in shaping his beliefs and political ideologies.
He is known for capitalizing on the...