John Milton

"Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe." John Milton



Most widely known for his epic poem, Paradise Lost, John Milton began writing poetry at the age of 15. His younger brother described him saying, "He studied very hard and sat up very late, commonly till twelve or one o'clock at night."
As a young man, Milton struggled to gain acceptance from his peers and eventually retired into private study after receiving a Master’s degree at Cambridge University in 1632.

He eventually emerged from isolation and made extensive travels through Europe. There he met several influential people including the political philosopher/poet Hugo Grotis and the astronomer Galileo. Several years later, at the age of forty, Milton lost his eyesight. Nonetheless, he continued to write extensively on political philosophy and eventually published a piece of popular propaganda known as the “First Defense” which spread his fame throughout Europe. He also suffered the loss of two wives through complications in childbirth and one famous sonnet describes his experience after this loss.

Methought I saw my late espoused saint
Brought to me like Alcestis from the grave,…

Love, sweetness, goodness, in her person shined
So clear as in no face with more delight.
But, oh! as to embrace me she inclined,
I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night.

Due to the political upheaval of the Restoration, Milton was forced to go into hiding during the ten years in which he finally wrote his magnum opus, Paradise Lost.

Satan, I know thy strength, and thou knowst mine,
Neither our own but giv'n; what follie then
To boast what Arms can do, since thine no more
Then Heav'n permits, nor mine, though doubled now
To trample thee as mire: for proof look up,
And read thy Lot in yon celestial Sign
Where thou art weigh'd, & shown how light, how weak,
If thou resist. The Fiend looked up and knew
His mounted scale aloft: nor more; but fled
Murmuring, and with him fled the shades of night.

In 1928, The John Milton Society for the Blind was founded by Helen Keller. Its influence is now dedicated to furthering the ideas expressed in one of Milton’s final works entitled Paradise Regained,

But cloud instead and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off, and, for the book of knowledge fair,
Presented with a universal blank
And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.
So much the rather thou, Celestial Light,
Shine inward, and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate; there plant eyes; all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight.


References

Milton, John, Paradise Lost