John Milton was born in 1608 at bread street, London St. Paul
After taking his degree he went to little village of Horton
He became a poet at Horton. He mastered Greek, Latin literature, learned French, Italian, Spanish, and learned theories of science. He was an educated puritan. He traveled to France and Italy to improve his French and Italian. He wanted to go to Greece but the struggle of the puritans prevented him from going to Greece.
In 1639, he came back and joined the struggle. He helped the struggle not with guns and bullets but with his pen. He did not write poetry for twenty years but he wrote prose. One of the greatest works was Areopagitica defending the freedom of the press.
In 1649, he became Latin Secretary to Cromwell. He worked so hard. He read and translated letters. He became blind. His doctor had warned him before. He continued his work in his blindness. He wrote poems in his blindness. When Cromwell died, he and other puritan leaders were captured. Charles II, the son of the King of England came back from France
He escaped from London London Milton
Here is one of his poems written in Horton. It is from L’Allegro, it tells about the beauty of the English countryside.
Haste thee, Nymph and bring with the
Jest, and youthful Jollity.
Sport that wrinkled Care derides,
And laughter holding both his sides.
And in thy right hand lead with thee
The mountain nymph, sweet Liberty;
And, If I give thee honour due,
Mirth admit me of thy crew,
To live with her, and live with thee,
In unreproved pleasures free,
To hear the lark begin his flight,
And singing, startle the dull night,
From his watch-tower in the skies,
Till the dappled dawn doth rise;
While the cock, with lively din,
Scatters the rear of darkness thin,
And the stack, at the barn-door,
Stoutly struts his dames before,
Oft listening how the hounds and horn
Cheerly rouse the slumbering morn,
From the side of some hoar hill,
Through the high wood echoing shrill,
Sometime walking, not unseen,
By hedge-row elms, on hillocks green,
While the ploughman, near at hand,
Whistles o’er the furrowed land,
And the milkmaid singeth blithe,
And the mower whets his scythe,
And every shepherd tells his tale
Under the hawthorn in the dale.
(Essential English Book IV C.E.Eckersley, Longman, London 1958)
This is a classic poem that no many people can understand the meaning of the words.
These are definition of the words in the poem but they cannot cover all the meaning.
Blithe : Joyful
Dappled : spotted with light and shade
Deride : make fun
Din : noise
Elm : kind of big tree
Furrow : long line cut the earth by plough
Hawthorn : bush with white, sweet-smelling blossom; used for hedges round fields.
Jest : Joke
Lark : kind of bird
Resource book: Essential English Book IV C.E.Eckersley,Longman, London 1958
Read more biographies!
Mahathir mohammad, osama bin laden, ibn taymiyyah,Shakespeare, J F kennedy,Soekarno , Bill Gates , Bonnie Prince Charlie , Florence Nightingale , Horace Austin Warner Tabor , Bruce Lee , Che Guevara , Malcolm x, Colonel Sanders , Helio Gracie , mas oyamas
E5TU89YV8YPHMahathir mohammad, osama bin laden, ibn taymiyyah,Shakespeare, J F kennedy,Soekarno , Bill Gates , Bonnie Prince Charlie , Florence Nightingale , Horace Austin Warner Tabor , Bruce Lee , Che Guevara , Malcolm x, Colonel Sanders , Helio Gracie , mas oyamas