John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost , written in blank verse.
Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, Greek, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica , written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship, is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of free speech and freedom of the press.
William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author", and he remains generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language", though critical reception has oscillated in the centuries since his death . Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as "a poem which...with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind", though he described Milton's politics as those of an "acrimonious and surly republican".
“Blind mouths! That scarce themselves know how to hold
A sheep-hook.”
Source: Lycidas (1637), Line 119
“O nightingale, that on yon bloomy spray
Warbl'st at eve, when all the woods are still.”
Sonnet, To the Nightingale (c. 1637)
The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643), Introduction
“No man who knows aught, can be so stupid to deny that all men naturally were born free.”
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649)
Introduction to Paradise Lost Added, 1668
Source: Lycidas (1637), Line 139
“Swinges the scaly horror of his folded tail.”
Hymn, stanza 18, line 172
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity (1629)
“Such as may make thee search the coffers round.”
At a Vacation Exercise. Line 31, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 159
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 97
“Herbs, and other country messes,
Which the neat-handed Phillis dresses.”
Source: L'Allegro (1631), Line 85
“And join with thee, calm Peace and Quiet,
Spare Fast, that oft with gods doth diet.”
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 45
“Towered cities please us then,
And the busy hum of men.”
Source: L'Allegro (1631), Line 117
“Or call up him that left half told
The story of Cambuscan bold.”
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 109
Stanza 1, line 1
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity (1629)
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 128
“Peor and Baälim
Forsake their temples dim.”
Hymn. Line 197
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity (1629)
“Under the shady roof
Of branching elm star-proof.”
Arcades (1630-1634), line 88
“Hence vain deluding Joys,
The brood of Folly without father bred!”
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 1
Source: L'Allegro (1631), Line 110
To Cyriack Skinner, upon His Blindness (c. 1655)
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 79
Source: L'Allegro (1631), Line 31
Source: Lycidas (1637), Line 123
“New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ Large.”
On the new forcers of Conscience under the Long Parliament (1645)
“A poet soaring in the high reason of his fancies, with his garland and singing robes about him.”
The Reason of Church Government (1641), Book II, Introduction
Source: Lycidas (1637), Line 64; comparable to: "Erant quibus appetentior famæ videretur, quando etiam sapientibus cupido gloriae novissima exuitur" (Translated: "Some might consider him as too fond of fame, for the desire of glory clings even to the best of men longer than any other passion"), Tacitus, Historiae, iv. 6; said of Helvidius Priscus.
“And add to these retired Leisure,
That in trim gardens takes his pleasure.”
Source: Il Penseroso (1631), Line 49
“In mirth that after no repenting draws.”
To Cyriack Skinner, upon His Blindness (c. 1655)
“Peace hath her victories
No less renowned than war.”
To the Lord General Cromwell (1652)
Quoted by President Benjamin Harrison in his dedication of the Chicago Auditorium, and thereafter inscribed on the building, as reported in Dr. William Carter, "Progress in World's Peace Movement", California Outlook (1913), Vol. 14, p. 11
