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John Milton
Milton, John
A Dictionary of British History
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2004
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© A Dictionary of British History 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information)
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Milton, John (1608–74). Milton was intended for the ministry by his father, a well‐to‐do London scrivener, and was educated at St Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge. He became increasingly dedicated to poetry, however, nurturing a vocation to write a great Christian epic. But he put this aside soon after the
Long Parliament met, because he believed that England was on the brink of a great new reformation and that he must serve it with his pen, in prose.
Areopagitica (1644), a plea for a free press, presented a vision of England as ‘a noble and puissant Nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks’. The establishment of the
Commonwealth brought him fresh hope, however, and his
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates eloquently justified the trial of Charles I. Gratefully, the
Council of State appointed him as its secretary for foreign tongues. Besides various diplomatic duties, this entailed writing (with the last of his eyesight) lengthy defences of the Commonwealth in both English and Latin. He eulogized Cromwell's
Protectorate too, but gradually turned against its ecclesiastical policies and monarchical tendencies. He was briefly imprisoned at the Restoration, but was spared to complete the epic masterpieces
Paradise Lost,
Paradise Regained, and
Samson Agonistes, whose composition he had postponed for so long.
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Milton Academy Class of 2005
Newspaper article from: The Patriot Ledger Quincy, MA; 6/11/2005; ; 700+ words
; ...Wellesley; Brittany Delany, Milton; David Dennis, Boston; John Dennison, Providence, R...Milton; Claire Lewis, Milton. Jordan Lewis, Marblehead; Yi Li, Forest Hills, NY; John Lingos- Webb, Milton; David Liu, North Andover...
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Milton national saviour
Magazine article from: The Spectator; 4/21/2001; ; 700+ words
; ...Blake's illustrations to his poem `Milton' in the recent Blake show at Tate...little read today, in Blake's time John Milton was recognised as England's greatest...as a secular national saviour. Milton was subjected in the 1920s and 1930s...
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Milton in America.
Magazine article from: American Scholar; 1/1/1998; ; 700+ words
; Reviewed by MORRIS FREEDMAN John Milton's place in the pantheon of world literature has not been firm or unassailable. John Dryden, his younger contemporary, took Milton much at his own evaluation, as belonging...
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Milton's "sage and serious Poet Spencer": error and imitation in The Faerie Queene and Areopagitica.(John Milton, Edmund Spencer)(Critical essay)
Magazine article from: Texas Studies in Literature and Language; 6/22/2007; ; 700+ words
; ...clashes with most readings of Spenser's poem, and John Guillory has noted the unusual complexity of critical debate surrounding Milton's words (Guillory, "Milton, John," 474). Probably more than anyone else, Harold...
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Milton Unbound: Controversy and Reinterpretation.(Review)
Magazine article from: CLIO; 9/22/1998; ; 700+ words
; Milton Unbound: Controversy and Reinterpretation. By John P. Rumrich. Cambridge...1996. xv + 186 pages. In Milton Unbound, John Rumrich argues that underlying the apparent diversity of Milton criticism is a single paradigm...
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Milton, marriage, and a woman's right to divorce.(John Milton)
Magazine article from: Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900; 1/1/1999; ; 700+ words
; Milton's reliance on John Selden's Uxor Hebraica [Jewish Wife...been increasingly argued by a number of Milton's critics since Eivion Owen's pioneering...Christian Doctrine (DDC) is in fact John Milton, a question that had been opened by...
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Milton and Midrash.
Magazine article from: Judaism: A Quarterly Journal of Jewish Life and Thought; 1/1/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...seventeenth-century English poet John Milton is often identified as a central...found an antecedent in an antinomian Milton constructed out of a very particular...continuing presence of an Hebraic ethos in Milton's work. Ezra Pound's censure...
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Milton vs. the Indians / In Ackroyd's fantasy, the blind poet's puritanism is tested in the New World.(Review)
Newspaper article from: San Francisco Chronicle; 3/30/1997; ; 700+ words
; MILTON IN AMERICA By Peter Ackroyd Doubleday; 307 pages...in the ways of the world. This man is the aging poet John Milton, who in reality never visited these shores. "Milton in America" is a New World adventure story, and a parable...
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Milton and Republicanism.
Magazine article from: Renaissance Quarterly; 9/22/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...collection are parts 3 and 4, "Milton and the Republican Experience" and "Milton and the Republican Tradition...Republicanism in the 1650s: John Streater's 'Heroick Mechanicks,'" and Blair Worden's "Milton and Marchamont Nedham" emphasize...
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Milton and the Terms of Liberty.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: The Modern Language Review; 4/1/2004; ; 700+ words
; ...comes Quentin Skinner: 'John Milton and the Politics of Slavery...into hindsightedness? John Creaser, in 'Prosody and Liberty in Milton and Marvell', ponders...an 'International' Milton Symposium. JOHN K. HALE UNIVERSITY OF...
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Milton, DeLisha 1974–
Book article from: Contemporary Black Biography
DeLisha Milton 1974 – Professional basketball...ranks and ultimately to the pros, DeLisha Milton has created a marriage of sweetness...extreme focus and dedication to the sport, Milton has proven success on every level of the...
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Milton, John
Encyclopedia entry from: U*X*L Encyclopedia of World Biography
John Milton Born: December 9, 1608 London, England...English poet and essayist The English poet John Milton was a champion of liberty. As a Protestant...publication. Background and education John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, in London...
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John Milton
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
John Milton 1608-74, English poet, b. London...and Works The son of a wealthy scrivener, Milton was educated at St. Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge. While Milton was at Cambridge he wrote poetry in both...
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Milton, John (1608–1674)
Encyclopedia entry from: Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
MILTON, JOHN (1608 – 1674) MILTON, JOHN (1608 – 1674), English poet. England's epic poet and champion of civil and religious liberties was born in London on 9 December 1608, entered Christ's College, Cambridge...
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Milton, John (1608–1674)
Book article from: The Renaissance
Milton, John (1608 – 1674) Essayist and poet whose Paradise...purity and temptation, and was a precursor to subjects Milton would take up in his most famous work. Milton lived on his family's country estate after leaving Cambridge...
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