Download Life of John Milton

By : Olga Kaziyeva
Parents Of Milton
John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, in Bread Street,
London.
He was the second child of John Milton and Sara Jeffrey.
The Miltons had three children: Anne, John, and Christopher
One of few Milton's father’s jobs was that he was a
composer of church music.
Milton had taken an interest in music for most of his life.
His parents were settled financially pretty well and had
afforded tutors for Milton to be taught different languages.
Early Works
In 1625, Milton had entered Christ's College in Cambridge.
Milton was very “argumentative” with his tutor and ended up
suspended in 1626.
When Milton returned to London for a little while, he went to see
some plays, and after began his first works of poetry.
In 1628 Milton wrote his first major English poem, On the Death of a
Fair Infant, Dying of the Cough, about the death of his sister's baby.
When he returned to Cambridge, he composed "On the Morning of
Christ's Nativity" on December 25, 1629.
Milton wrote his work in English, Latin and Italian.
In May 1638, Milton went on a tour in France.
His traveling provided him with new experience of artistic and religious
traditions, especially Roman Catholicism.
During the period of Civil war, Milton began writing pamphlets on
political and religious matters; Of Reformation, Animadversions, and Of
Prelatical Episcopacy were published in 1641, The Reason for Church
Government in February, 1642.
John developed the love of music, which later spread through his
poetry.
He first intended to become a priest in the Church of England.
He composed Latin poems and epigrams.
Marriage & Divorce
In the spring of 1642, Milton married Mary Powell, her 17 years old to
his 34. They both realized their marriage wasn’t filled with happiness
and Mary then decided to leave him and go visit her family. After
some time he knew she would not return.
At that point Milton wrote his 'Divorce Tracts' discussing 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.
The 'Divorce Tracts' had become a topic of anger and offensive in
parliament and the clergy, as well as with the public. Due to his work
on topic of divorce he had earned the nickname "Milton the
Divorcer."
A Twist in Milton’s Marriage
Milton already planned to remarry but before he was able to
make it official his “loving” wife Mary Powell finally
returned. Both settled their issues and shortly after, their
daughter Anne was born in 1646. their daughter Mary was
born in 1648.
Milton's first son, John, was born in March and then the Miltons
moved to Westminster.
The year of 1652 was one of many personal losses for Milton. In
February, Milton lost his sight. This triggered him to write the
sonnet "When I Consider How My Light is Spent." In May, 1652,
Mary gave birth to a daughter, Deborah, and died a few days
later. In June, one year-old John died.
Milton’s Remarried!
Milton then married Katherine Woodcock. Both had a marriage that
was going smoothly but not for long.
Milton's daughter Katherine was born in late 1657, but by early 1658,
both mother and daughter had passed away. To the memory of his
wife, Katherine Woodcock, Milton wrote the sonnet "Me thought I
saw my late departed saint."
In 1663, Milton remarried again, to Elizabeth Minshull. She was one
woman that his daughters were not fond of.
Paradise Lost
Milton had spent majority of time tutoring
students and finishing his greatest work,
Paradise Lost.
With Milton's blindness— he would
compose verse upon verse at night in his
head and then dictate them from memory
to his aides in the morning.
Paradise Lost had been published in 1667, in
ten books. It was reissued in 1668 with a
new title-page and additional materials.
It was inspired by the Bible story of the
Creation, the fall of Adam and Eve, the
rebellion of Satan against God, and Satan
being cast out from heaven.
The book interested and fascinated many
people.
Bibliography
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/milton/miltonbio.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Milton
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ma-Mo/Milton-John.html