john milton

English - English

Definition of john milton in English English dictionary

{i} (1608-1674) renowned English poet, author of "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained

an English poet who many people consider to be one of the most important writers in English literature.He wrote the epic poems Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained after he had gone blind. Before this, he was active in politics as a strong supporter of religious freedom and of Oliver Cromwell (1608-74). born Dec. 9, 1608, London, Eng. died Nov. 8, 1674, Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire English poet. A brilliant youth, Milton attended Cambridge University (1625-32), where he wrote poems in Latin, Italian, and English; these included "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso", both published later in Poems (1645). During 1632-38 he engaged in private study writing the masque Comus (1637) and the extraordinary elegy "Lycidas" (1638) and toured Italy. Concerned with the Puritan cause in England, he spent much of 1641-60 pamphleteering for civil and religious liberty and serving in Oliver Cromwell's government. His best-known prose is in the pamphlets Areopagitica (1644), on freedom of the press, and Of Education (1644). He lost his sight 1651, and thereafter dictated his works. His disastrous first marriage ended with his wife's death in 1652; two later marriages were more successful. After the Restoration he was arrested as a noted defender of the Commonwealth but was soon released. In Paradise Lost (1667), his epic masterpiece on the Fall of Man written in blank verse, he uses his sublime "grand style" with superb power; his characterization of Satan is a supreme achievement. He further expressed his purified faith in God and the regenerative strength of the individual soul in Paradise Regained (1671), an epic in which Christ overcomes Satan the tempter, and Samson Agonistes (1671), a tragedy in which the Old Testament figure conquers self-pity and despair to become God's champion. Considered second only to William Shakespeare in the history of English-language poetry, Milton had an immense influence on later literature; though attacked early in the 20th century, he had regained his place in the Western canon by mid century

Related Terms

John Milton Hay

born Oct. 8, 1838, Salem, Ind., U.S. died July 1, 1905, Newbury, N.H. U.S. diplomat and writer. He studied law in Springfield, Ill., where he met Abraham Lincoln. He served as President Lincoln's private secretary (1861-65) and then held diplomatic posts in Europe (1865-70). After writing editorials for the New York Tribune (1870-75), he served as assistant secretary of state (1879-81). He coauthored a 10-volume biography of Lincoln (1890). He was appointed ambassador to Britain (1897-98) by Pres. William McKinley. As secretary of state (1898-1905), Hay helped negotiate the end of the Spanish-American War, supported the decision to retain the Philippines for the U.S., promulgated the Open Door policy, and negotiated treaties that gave the U.S. an exclusive right to build the Panama Canal

Jr. John Milton Cage

in full John Milton Cage, Jr. born Sept. 5, 1912, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. died Aug. 12, 1992, New York, N.Y. U.S. avant-garde composer and writer. The son of an inventor, Cage studied music with Arnold Schoenberg and Henry Cowell. From the early 1940s he was closely associated with the choreographer Merce Cunningham. Though he began as a 12-tone composer (see serialism), by 1943 his sonic experiments had marked him as notably original. He soon turned to Zen Buddhism and concluded that all activities that make up music are part of a single natural process and that all sounds are potentially musical; thenceforth he advocated indeterminism and endeavoured to ensure randomness in his works, using increasingly inventive notation and often relying on the Confucian classic Yijing. By the 1960s he had expanded into the realm of multimedia. His disparate works include Bacchanale for prepared piano (1938), Imaginary Landscape No. 4 for 12 radios (1951), Fontana Mix for tape (1958), HPSCHD for seven harpsichords, 51 tapes, and nonmusical media (1969), and Roaratorio (1979). His widely read books include Silence (1961), A Year from Monday (1967), Notations (1969), and M (1973). His international influence was far greater than that of any previous American composer

Hyphenation

John Mil·ton

Turkish pronunciation

cän mîltın

Pronunciation

/ˈʤän ˈməltən/ /ˈʤɑːn ˈmɪltən/