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John Milton Reading Room / A website tip

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I've added a new link to my sidebar. The John Milton Reading Room contains all of John Milton's poetry and a nice selection of his prose.


A short biography of John Milton (1608-1674)

John Milton wrote essays, sonnets and, most importantly, Paradise Lost, considered by many scholars the greatest epic poem of the English language. Milton was a Londoner and received his education at Cambridge (1625-32), where he wrote his famous poem "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity." During his career Milton was an active voice on contemporary issues of politics and religion, and during the English Civil War he sided with the anti-royalists under Oliver Cromwell.

His rousing tracts supporting the Commonwealth -- which included an argument defending the execution of Charles I -- led to a position as a foreign secretary (1649). Milton somehow managed to escape serious punishment after the restoration of the monarchy (1660) and lived the remainder of his life quietly. Blind after 1652, he dictated the entirety of Paradise Lost (1667), the story of Satan's rebellion (and defeat) and the fall of Adam and Eve.

Four years later he published the story of Christ's triumph over Satan's temptations in Paradise Regained and the drama Samson Agonistes. His other famous writings include the masque Comus (1637), a defense of free speech titled Areopagiticaz (1644) and several sonnets, including "On His Blindness" ("When I consider how my light is spent") and "On His Deceased Wife" ("Methought I saw my late espoused saint"). | © Answers.com

A short intro to this page ...Watch the video "Mein Freund" by the band MIA.

Comments

Ravo 9. June 2008, 12:15

Hi Elmar, Thanks for this great post! :yes:

lynnr 9. June 2008, 17:48

And for those who wonder why Milton, The New Yorker magazine recently ran a fabulous piece by Jonathan Rosen on the enduring relevance of John Milton.

E. Driver 10. June 2008, 19:55

Hey David and Lynn,

Nice to see you here! I didn't know the article from the New Yorker. Very nice! :smile:

Have a good time
Elmar

I_ArtMan 25. July 2008, 04:49

i am a total devote' of paradise lost... i read and re-read from it constantly. it is so deep and varied.

E. Driver 9. September 2008, 20:51

Have a looks at Blake's water colour illustrations to Paradise Lost here: http://www.pitt.edu/~ulin/Paradise/Blake1808.htm I guess you'll like it ...

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