John Milton
John Milton (1608 – 1674) was an English poet, prose polemicist and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Cromwell. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost.

On the Morning of Christ's Nativity
Milton wrote this short poem while studying for his MA at Cambridge in 1629.

6 pages

Paradise Lost
Milton’s magnum opus, the blank-verse epic poem Paradise Lost was composed by the blind Milton from 1658-1664. It reflects his personal despair at the failure of the Revolution, yet affirms an ultimate optimism in human potential.

374 pages

Paradise Regained
Milton followed up Paradise Lost with its sequel, Paradise Regained, published in 1671. It deals with the subject of the Temptation of Christ. Many consider Paradise Regained inferior to Paradise Lost, as it offers less complexity in characterisation and moral ambiguity. However, this is less a consequence of stylistic inadequacy than of narrative constraints, as the Temptation is less open to interpretive license than the Creation. Nevertheless, Milton takes plenty of poetic license in expanding the core story without changing the story.

38 pages