John Milton
(1608 - 1674)
Timothy H. Wilson
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Portrait of John Milton (1670)William FaithorneNational Portrait Gallery, London
While William Shakespeare is the greatest writer to have ever lived, John Milton's Paradise Lost is, in my opinion, the greatest individual literary work in the Western Canon. It is difficult to imagine a work surpassing the audacious scope of what is represented in the poem: from the depths of Hell to the ethereal heights of Heaven, from the first moment of creation to the end of times. Milton's epic stands at the pinnacle of a long tradition of classical epic and blends that tradition masterfully with the Biblical tradition. In the words of Northrop Frye, Milton thereby tells us the "story of all things".
Both of Milton's great epics find a place on my list of 101 Greatest Books of the Western Canon:
Paradise Lost (1667/74)
Paradise Regained (1671)
In addition, his complete works are included in my list of 1001 Great Books of the Western Canon.
Minor Poems (1630’s)
Of Reformation in England (1641)
The Reason of Church Government Urged against Prelaty (1642)
Apology for Smectymnuus (1642)
Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643)
On Education (1644)
Areopagitica (1644)
The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649)
Eikonoclastes (1649)
A Second Defence of the People of England (1654)
The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth (1660)
Samson Agonistes (1671)
On Christian Doctrine (1674)
Course Materials
Course Materials
On Milton's Paradise Lost: Books I and II
An introduction to the study of Milton's magnificent epic poem. The lecture discusses the Milton's life and works, the history of the reception of Paradise Lost, the epic tradition and conventions that Milton used and transformed, and the history of the conception of Satan.
On Milton's Paradise Lost: Books III to VI
A discussion of Books III to VI of Milton's epic poem. A discussion of our initial view of God as cold and distant, Milton's use of Gematria and the epic war in heaven.
On Milton's Paradise Lost: Books VII to XII
A discussion of Books VII to XII of Milton's epic poem. A discussion of the ultimate marriage of love and virtue that Milton effects in his epic, wherein Adam and Eve are able to cultivate a paradise within as well as the wide world before them.
Reflections on the Great Books
Reflections on the Great Books
Paradise Lost (1667/74)
Milton's Paradise Lost: An Introduction -- Detailed notes from a very close reading undertaken in Winter 2018
Milton's Paradise Lost: An Introduction -- Lecture notes
Paradise Regained (1671)
Minor Poems (1630’s)
Of Reformation in England (1641)
The Reason of Church Government Urged against Prelaty (1642)
Apology for Smectymnuus (1642)
Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce (1643)
On Education (1644)
Areopagitica (1644)
The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649)
Eikonoclastes (1649)
A Second Defence of the People of England (1654)
The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth (1660)
Samson Agonistes (1671)
On Christian Doctrine (1674)
Publications on Milton
Publications on Milton
The Ancient Liberty of Milton's Epic Verse
An interpretation of Milton's Paradise Lost in light of his relation to the poetic tradition as well as in relation to Milton's concepts of political liberty and freedom of the will in relation to the Divine. The Imaginative Conservative (March 2021)The essay is a discussion of Milton's Paradise Lost that takes as its point of departure the reflections on "The Verse" that Milton appended to the poem in the 1674 edition. While the epic invocation boldly states that Milton will describe things "unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime" (Book I.16), the preface on "The Verse" claims that Milton's poem is to be situated within a poetic tradition reaching back to Homer and Virgil. The rules of this poetic tradition provide a certain "ancient liberty", which Milton contrasts with "license" in Sonnet 12. The essay makes the point that part of what is original in Milton's epic is his search for first causes -- "say first what cause" (Book I.28) -- that transcends the search for causes in material bodies undertaken by philosophers as well as the search for divine causes undertaken in the "middle flight" of pagan poets. Yet, Milton's poetic form and language also adhere to and expand upon the poetic tradition, in particular with his use of epic similes that consciously refer to the epic similes utilized by Dante, Virgil and Homer. The essay concludes by alluding to this pious reverence for the poetic tradition as one of the ways in which we can distinguish Miltonic poetics from the the pride of Satan. That is, although both Satan and Milton audaciously attempt things "unattempted", Satan's goal is self-assertion while Milton's goal is the revelation of God's Will as that which is "first" in the highest sense.
External Links
External Links
Works by John Milton at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about John Milton at Internet Archive
Works by John Milton at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
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