John Milton | English Poet | Biography and Important Points

 John Milton | English Poet | Biography and Important Points

Hello and welcome to the Discourse. We are going to discuss John Milton, one of the most important English poets and authors. While we will discuss all the major works of John Milton (including Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes) in detail, let us begin with a quick go through his life. Having an idea of his biography will certainly help in understanding his literary work. John Milton was among such few poets and authors who created their best works during the latter half of their life, after the age of 50.

John Milton took birth on December 9, 1608, in London. His grandfather was a staunch Roman Catholic but his father decided to be a protestant and supported the Anglican Church. John Milton himself was attracted to the principles of Puritans. His grandfather expelled his father and disinherited him as his father sided with the Anglican Church and read the English Bible. His father shifted to London and established himself as a successful scrivener and moneylender. Milton began his schooling at St. Paul’s School, London. His father was very much interested in arts and hence, he arranged a private tutor to instruct and help John Milton along with his formal education. This tutor was Thomas Young, a Scottish Presbyterian who influenced John Donne with his ideas of religion and politics. John Donne remained in contact with Thomas Young through letters for a long period. At school, he befriended Charles Diodati who remained a long-time friend of Milton.

During those years, John Donne was the Dean of St. Paul Cathedral and John Milton heard some of his sermons. John Donne’s influence on John Milton can be felt in his magnum opus Paradise Lost. Milton was being educated in Greek and Italian at St. Paul’s School and he gained proficiency in these languages.

Being the son of a scrivener, John Milton had a dream of becoming a Minister in the court. He got admission to Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1625 to be educated for the ministry. However, he got involved in a heated debate against his tutors at college. As a result, he was rusticated for a period from college. He didn’t have many friends in college. After some time, a new tutor named Nathaniel Tovey was appointed for him and he got back into the college. He excelled in his studies and got his Bachelor of Arts in 1629. He received his Masters's degree in 1632 with excellent marks. Despite being a bright student, he wasn’t so popular in college and didn’t have many friends. He was being ridiculed as the ‘Lady of Christ College,’ by other students. He got this nickname because of his unusually fair complexion, delicate facial features, and girl-like long auburn hair. Yet, he befriended Edward King at Christ College.

After completing his Masters's degree, he decided to give up his aim of becoming a minister perhaps because he was not comfortable with other students who might have become his colleagues if he had chosen to be a minister.

Ultimately, he decided to turn his attention to poetry. His father was an avid supporter of poetry and other forms of arts. As his father was enjoying success in his business, he got ample support from his father. After college, he returned to his family in Hammersmith on the outskirts of London. Those were the days of the Bubonic plague and to save his family, his father decided to move to a more pastoral location at Horton in Buckinghamshire. Milton spent six years in Horton during which he hardly met anyone and spent most of his time studying Greek and Latin poets and authors. By the end of six years, he was familiar with all major works of Homer, Virgil, Ovid, and other major Greek and Latin writers.

In 1638, John Milton decided that he has gained enough from books and he must now go out to learn from the world. His father again helped him and he went on a tour to Continental Europe along with a male servant. He spent most of his time in Italy, especially in the city of Rome and Florence. He was touched by the humanist approach of Italian literati. We already discussed Humanism in our previous videos. The basic idea of the humanistic approach was that God pervades all humans and just like God has special powers, a human can also have special powers that he may use. Humanism was about celebrating humanity. Milton made many friends in the literary circles of Italy and remained in touch with them through written correspondences after returning to England. Just like John Donne, John Milton also had a strong interest in new science and astronomy. During his tour to Italy, he managed to meet Galileo who was very old and blind at that time. Galileo was under house arrest when Milton met him. They discussed astronomy, science, and other varied subjects. Milton was just 30 years old at that time and he was too impressed by Galileo. Galileo was the only contemporary person of John Milton who got a mention in Paradise Lost.

John Milton knew many languages and he excelled in Latin, Greek, and English. He was a staunch puritan who continued to oppose Catholics. Yet, during his visit to Italy, he befriended many Catholics and got the help of high-ranking Catholics at the Library of the Vatican to gain access to the vast resource of knowledge.

In 1637, Milton got information about the death of his college friend Edward King who drowned while crossing the Irish sea. John Milton wrote a pastoral elegy titled Lycidas in the memory of Edward King. This elegy was published as the last elegy of the compilation “Obsequies in the memory of Edward King’ in which many other ex-students of Cambridge wrote elegies for Edward King.

Milton was planning to leave Italy and move to Greece as his next destination during the tour when he got the information of the death of his childhood friend Charles Diodati. At the same time, he got the news of the impending civil war in England against the monarchy. John Milton decided to return to England and help the Parliamentarians against the Royalists.

Milton himself was a puritan and he had great respect for Oliver Cromwell who was leading the revolution. On his return to London, he wrote an elegy for Charles Diodati in Latin who probably died of the plague. The title of this elegy was Epitaphium Damonis (Damon’s Epitaph).

After returning to London, he almost left poetry and decided to devote his energies to writing pamphlets supporting Oliver Cromwell’s commonwealth. So while cavalier poets were trying to popularize King Charles I, Puritan poets like John Milton decided to provide support to Roundheads headed by Oliver Cromwell. From 1640 to 1660, John Milton wrote many proses works almost all supporting the Puritan ideas and the government of Cromwell.

In 1642, John Milton got married to Mary Powell but their marriage proved to be a disaster as Powell left Milton just one month after their marriage. Mary Powell was just 17 years old then while Milton was 24 years old. Another reason for their separation was that Mary belonged to a family that supported Royalists while Milton was increasingly supporting the Roundheads. During his estrangement from his wife, Milton wrote four prose works on the subject of Divorce known as the Divorce Tracts of John Milton. They were titled The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (published in 1643), The Judgment of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce (1644), Tetrachordon (1645), and Colasterion (1645).

However, Mary Powell didn’t divorce John Milton and she returned to him in 1646 after which they had three daughters and a son who died at an early age. In 1652, Mary Powell died while giving birth to their third daughter Deborah. Powell was just 27 years old.

John Milton came in contact with educational reformer Samuel Hartlib and in 1644, he published his short tract ‘On Education’ in which he advocated reform of national universities.

Meanwhile, he continued to support the Oliver Cromwell government. In 1649, he published ‘The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates’ in which he implicitly supported the regicide (execution of King Charles I). Impressed by his support for Puritans, he was appointed as Secretary for Foreign Tongues by the Council of State in 1649. His major duty was to keep a proper look at the criticism of the Commonwealth Government in various pamphlets and publications and offer a proper rebuttal. His job included the duty of producing propaganda in support of the Commonwealth government. However, his post demanded him to compose the English Republic’s correspondences to other nations in Latin and other languages. Milton was a friend of contemporary metaphysical poet Andrew Marvell who was also a supporter of Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth government. Andrew Marvell worked as the assistant Milton when he was working as the Secretary of Foreign Tongues.

Milton got partially blind in the year 1652 and his eyesight continued to deteriorate. In 1652, he lost his wife Mary Powell too who died while giving birth to their third daughter Deborah. In 1656, John Milton married Katherine Woodcock who died after four months of their marriage. Gradually, Milton turned completely blind. In 1663, he married the third time to a girl named Elizabeth Mynshell who was very compassionate towards him. She acted as a nurse to him and took proper care of him. From 1640 to 1660, Milton continued to write prose, pamphlets articles, and books in support of the Commonwealth government. After the return of Charles II as the king of England, during the age of Restoration, Milton suffered the wrath of the new government under the Monarch. He was shortly imprisoned but was helped by Andrew Marvell and other supporters and was rescued. He again turned his focus to poetry and in 1660 and in 1663 he completed his magnum opus Paradise Lost which was published in 1667. Milton died on 8^th November 1671.

So we have discussed the major incidences of life of John Milton. His biography will help us in understanding the prose and verses by John Milton that we will continue to discuss in detail. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards!