John+Milton

===media type="file" key="CornMilton.mp3"[|CornMilton.mp3] === ===John Milton was born December 9, 1608 and died on November 8, 1674. He was an English poet and a civil servant for the CommonwJohn Milton was born December 9, 1608 to John Milton Sr. and Sara Jeffrey. Milton wasealth of England. His father was John Milton, Sr., and his mother was Sara Jeffrey. After private tutoring, at about 1620, Milton entered St.Paul's school. He was then sent to Christ's College at the age of 15 to become a priest. He was temporarily expelled for a disagreement with his tutor in 1626. Milton was later assigned a different tutor and starting composing Latin poems.  [[|edit]]  Religion  === Milton was writing at a time of religious and political flux in England. His poetry and prose reflect deep convictions, often reacting to contemporary circumstances, but it is not always easy to locate the writer in any obvious religious category. His views may be described as broadly [|Protestant]. As an accomplished artist and an official in the government of [|Oliver Cromwell], it is not always easy to distinguish where artistic licence and polemical intent overshadow Milton's personal views. Milton embraced many theological views that put him outside of contemporary [|Christianity]. A prime example is Milton's rejection of the [|Trinity] in the belief that the Son was subordinate to the Father, a position known as [|Arianism]; and his probable sympathy with [|Socinianism] (modern-day [|Unitarianism]), which held that Jesus was not divine. Another controversial view Milton subscribed to, illustrated by //Paradise Lost//, is [|mortalism], the belief that the soul dies with the body.[|[17]] Milton abandoned his campaign to legitimize divorce after 1645, but he expressed support for [|polygamy] in the //De doctrina christiana//, the unpublished theological treatise that provides evidence for his heretical views. [|[18]] Like many [|Renaissance] artists before him, Milton attempted to integrate Christian theology with classical modes. In his early poems, the poet narrator express a tension between vice and virtue, the latter invariably related to [|Protestantism]. In //Comus// Milton may make ironic use of the [|Caroline] court [|masque] by elevating notions of purity and virtue over the conventions of court revelry and superstition. In his later poems, Milton's theological concerns become more explicit. In his 1641 treatise, //Of Reformation//, Milton expressed his dislike for [|Catholicism] and [|episcopacy], presenting [|Rome] as a modern [|Babylon], and bishops as Egyptian taskmasters. These analogies conform to Milton's [|puritanical] preference for [|Old Testament] imagery. Through the [|Interregnum], Milton often presents England, rescued from the trappings of a worldly monarchy, as an [|elect] nation akin to the Old Testament [|Israel], and shows its leader, Oliver Cromwell, as a latter-day [|Moses]. These views were bound up in Protestant views of the [|Millennium], which some sects, such as the [|Fifth Monarchists] predicted would arrive in England. The [|Restoration] of the [|Stuart] monarchy in 1660 began a new phase in Milton's work. In [|//Paradise Lost//], [|//Paradise Regained//] and [|//Samson Agonistes//] Milton mourns the end of the godly [|Commonwealth]. The [|Garden of Eden] may allegorically reflect Milton's view of England's recent [|Fall from Grace], while [|Samson's] blindness and captivity – mirroring Milton's own lost sight – may be a metaphor for England's blind acceptance of [|Charles II] as king. However, despite the Restoration of the monarchy Milton did not lose his own faith; Samson shows how the loss of national [|salvation] did not necessarily preclude the [|salvation] of the individual, while [|//Paradise Regained//] expresses Milton's continuing belief in the promise of Christian salvation through [|Jesus Christ]. Though he may have maintained his personal faith in spite of the defeats suffered by his cause, the [|Dictionary of National Biography] recounts how he had been alienated from the [|Church of England] by Archbishop [|William Laud], and then moved similarly from the [|Dissenters] by their denunciation of religious tolerance in [|England]. "Milton had come to stand apart from all sects, though apparently finding the [|Quakers] most congenial. He never went to any religious services in his later years. When a servant brought back accounts of sermons from [|nonconformist] meetings, Milton became so sarcastic that the man at last gave up his place". In the spring of 1642, Milton married Mary Powell, 17 years old to his 34, but the relationship was an unhappy one, and Mary left him to visit the family home briefly thereafter, and did not return. Matters were not improved when the Powells declared for the King in the Civil War which broke out in August. This prompted Milton to write his so-called 'Divorce Tracts' speaking for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. In 1643, Milton published the //Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce//, which had its second, longer edition in early 1644. In 1644, Milton also published //The Judgement of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce//. The 'Divorce Tracts' caused an uproar both in parliament and amidst the clergy, as well as with the general populace, which earned him the nickname "Milton the Divorcer." 2 It is in reference to the attempted censorship of the same by the Stationers' Company, that Milton published his eloquent //Areopagitica//, an oration advocating freedom of the press, in late 1644. 3 Milton had also had time to write a treatise //Of Education//, which prescribed a rigorous course of study for English youth. In 1645, Milton published //Tetrachordon// and //Colasterion//, and registered //Poems of Mr. John Milton, Both English and Latin//.

Milton had made plans to remarry, when Mary Powell returned. The two seem to have reconciled, since their daughter Anne was born in 1646. The whole Powell clan moved in with the Miltons, because Royalists had been ousted from Oxford. The situation was not savory. The year 1647 saw the death of both Milton's father and his father-in-law. The Powells eventually moved out and the Miltons moved to the neighborhood of High Holborn, where their daughter Mary was born in 1648. In 1651 Milton became blind, but like [|Jorge Luis Borges] centuries later, blindness helped him to stimulate his verbal richness. "He sacrificed his sight, and then he remembered his first desire, that of being a poet," Borges wrote in one of his lectures. One of his assistants was the poet and satirist Andew Marvell (1621-78), who spoke for him in Parliament, when his political opinions stirred much controversy. After the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, Milton was arrested as a noted defender of the Commonwealth, but was soon released. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/milton/miltonbio.htm http://kirjasto.sci.fi/jmilton.htm McGraw World History of Geography pg 423

Script John Milton was born December 9, 1608 to John Milton Sr. and Sara Jeffrey. He was and is considered one the most learned English poets. He is best known for his epic poem, Paradise Lost, which was written in 1667. Milton was originally tutored privately but later attended St. Paul’s school in 1620. At age fifteen, he was sent to Christ’s college to become a priest. After an argument with his tutor, Milton was temporarily expelled in 1626. When he was allowed to attend school once more, he was assigned a new tutor. With his new tutor, Milton started composing poems in Latin. In fact most of Miltons early work was poems written in Latin. For example, one of his early shorter poems was entitled, “ On the Morning of Christ's Nativity.” Upon receiving his MA in 1632, Milton retired to his father’s country homes and undertook six years of self-directed private study by reading both ancient and modern works of theology, philosophy, history, politics, literature ,and science, in preparation for his prospective poetical career.  Milton continued to write poetry during this period of study. After completing his private studies in 1638, Milton embarked upon a tour of France and Italy. On his trip, Milton was introduced to many influent people. After some time spent in Venice and other northern Italian cities, Milton returned to England. Upon returning to England, Milton decided to temporarily stop his poetry to write prose tracts in service to the Puritan and Parlimentary cause. In 1642, Milton was married to Mary Powell but this marrage was short-lived. In response to his failed marrage Milton published a series of pamphlets arguing for the legality and morality of divorce. Milton wrote next one of his finer works, Areopagitica, which was an attack on censorship. Milton became blind in 1651. It was believed that his blindness helped to stimulate his vocabulary. Milton's literary career cast a formidable shadow over English poetry in the 18th and 19th centuries; he was often judged equal or superior to all other English poets, including William Shakespeare. Like many Rennisance artists before him, Milton attempted to integrate Christian theology with classical modes. In his early poems, the poet narrator express a tension between vice and virtue, the latter invariably related to Protestantism. Paradise Lost was originally published in ten books; a second edition followed in1674, redivided into twelve books with minor revisions throughout and a note on the versification. The poem concerns the Judeo-Christian story of theFall of Man. Which is the temptation of Adam and Eve by the Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In the early nineteenth century, the Romantics began to regard Satan as the protagonist of the epic. Milton presents Satan as an ambitious and proud being who defies his creator, God, and who wages war on Heaven, only to be defeated and cast down. Milton incorporates Paganism, classical Greek references and Christianity within the story. The poem grapples with many difficult theological issues, includingfate, predestination, and the Trinity.