Milton

John Milton

A poet and Humanist scholar who viewed his poetic inspiration as a divine gift.

Opposed

To stand against or fight all forms of tyranny including political, religious, and domestic.

Puritan

A member of a Protestant group that sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship.

Corruption

The decay of morals and integrity, often associated with the Church in his elegy 'Lycidas'.

Commonwealth

The political system established under Oliver Cromwell after the English Civil War.

Advocate

To publicly support or recommend a particular cause or policy, as he did in his pamphlet on divorce.

Monarchy

A form of government led by a king or queen, which was restored in England in 1660.

Blindness

The state of being unable to see, which Milton experienced around 1652.

Imagination

The faculty of the mind by which ideas are produced, enhanced by his blindness.

1667

The year Paradise Lost was published, following a period of personal and political turmoil.