John Milton
Born: December 9, 1608, Cheapside, London, England.
Died: November 8, 1674, London, England.
John
Milton was born in London in 1608 (seven and a half years before the death of
Shakespeare). His grandfather was a Roman Catholic who had disowned Milton's
father when the latter turned Protestant. The boy was sent to St. Paul's school,
perhaps when twelve, perhaps earlier. From the beginning, Milton was an eager
student (he tells us that from the time he was twelve, he seldom stopped reading
before midnight), and he learned Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and began to try to
write verse. In 1625 he enrolled at Christ's College, Cambridge, clashed with
his tutor the following year and was suspended, returned and was given another
tutor, and graduated on schedule. The University in those days still undertook
to teach largely by rote memorization, and Milton thought his training there of
little value. He undertook to give himself a liberal education by wide reading.
His father had hoped to make a lawyer of him, but took it very well when his son
announced that he intended to make the writing of poetry his life's work.
In 1629 (when he was 21 years old) he wrote a short poem,
"On the morning of Christ's Nativity," his first memorable work, still
widely read at Christmas.
A few years later, he wrote a masque (or mask), which was
presented in 1634, at Ludlow Castle, near the Welsh border, in honor of the Earl
of Bridgewater.
In August 1637, a classmate of Milton's, Edward King, who had
written some poetry himself, was drowned, and several of his friends resolved to
write poems in his memory and publish a collection of them. Milton was asked to
contribute. His poem was called Lycidas.
Between 1641 and 1660, Milton wrote almost no poetry. This
was the time when the English Puritans were setting out to overthrow the English
monarchy on the grounds that it was levying taxes unlawfully (and was, moreover,
in league with the wicked English Church), and to overthrow the English Church
on the grounds that, while nominally breaking with Rome, it had retained many
Romish customs, such as white gowns for the clergy (instead of the black gowns
worn by Puritan clergy, which were obviously more seemly) and that the English
Church was therefore just as bad as the Church or Rome (and was, moreover, in
league with the wicked English monarchy). Milton believed wholeheartedly in the
Puritan cause, and set aside his poetry to write pamphlets in defense of various
aspects of liberty as he saw it.
In 1642, at the age of 33, Milton married Mary Powell, a girl
of 16 from a royalist family. Her family had been large and sociable. Milton's
was small and studious. In a few months, she went home to her family. Milton
reacted by writing a treatise, "On the Doctrine and Discipline of
Divorce," in which he argued that incompatibility of temperament and
personality was a sufficient reason for dissolving a marriage. Both Royalists
and Puritans found the idea disgraceful, and the pamphlet had no discernible
effect in Milton's day. However, it is noteworthy for the importance that Milton
here attaches to friendship and companionship and the meeting of minds (as
opposed to the mere meeting of bodies) as an essential ingredient in a
successful marriage. In 1645 friends brought about a reconciliation, and Mary
returned to her husband. In 1646, when the Civil War had gone against the
Royalists and the Powells were homeless, he took the ten of them into his own
home for a year. Mary bore John three daughters, and died in 1652.
In 1644, Milton published two pamphlets much admired today.
The first was called "Of Education," and outlines a course of study
for producing an enlightened citizenry. Studies are to include the Bible, the
classics, and science. He also published in 1644 his most famous pamphlet, Areopagetica
(air-ee-opp-a-JET-i-ca). Those who have read the Book of Acts in the King James
translation will remember that while in Athens, Paul is said to have preached on
Mars' Hill. In fact, he spoke before the Areopagus, a council of citizens that
got its name from its meeting place, a temple of Ares (or Mars), and that was
responsible for censorship and the safeguarding of public morals. Milton's
pamphlet was written in protest against the setting up by the Cromwell
government of a board of Censorship for all printed works. It is an eloquent and
forceful argument for freedom of the press. Every college library or large
public library will normally have a copy, and most large bookstores will have a
paperback copy or be able to order one.
In February 1649, just after the beheading of King Charles I,
Milton published a pamphlet called "the Tenure of Kings and
Magistrates," arguing that power resides in the people, who may give it to
governors, but are free to withdraw it again. He was invited to become Secretary
for Foreign Languages in Cromwell's Council of State. As such, he continued to
write pamphlets defending the Republic, the killing of the King, and the rule of
Cromwell. He was no mere server of those in power. He was still publishing a
month before Charles II was brought back from exile to take the throne, at a
time when it must have been obvious that the cause was lost, when every
consideration of personal safety demanded that he adopt a policy of silence, if
not of outright reversal of position.
After 1660, with the monarchy restored, Milton's political
dreams lay in ruins under the double blow of the collapse of the Puritan
Republic and the failure of said republic to uphold freedom while it lasted.
Milton retired to private life and returned to his true vocation, the writing of
poetry. He had gone blind while serving as secretary to Cromwell, and now sat
composing his poems in his head, and dictating each day to his daughters the
portion that he had composed. It was in this retirement that he produced his
three long poems, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson
Agonistes. He died 8 November 1674.
Hymns