The Complete Poems

John Milton (1608-74) was a master of almost every style of verse, from the pastoral, devotional and tenderly lyrical to the supreme grandeur of his great epic Paradise Lost and his Biblical 'Greek tragedy' Samson Agonistes. Although he wrote Comus and 'Lycidas' shortly after leaving Cambridge, Milton devoted much of his adult life - and even sacrificed his eyesight - to defending the cause of Cromwell's Commonwealth. His later poetry, produced after Charles II's Restoration led to the defeat of his hopes, reflects his deep first-hand understanding of politics and power. In this Penguin English Poets edition, John Leonard has modernized spelling, capitalization and any punctuation likely to cause confusion. He calls particular attention to words invented by Milton and those which have changed their meaning since his time. And he provides full notes to elucidate Biblical, classical and historical allusions, many of which complicate or even conflict with the plain sense or moral implications of the text. For all readers seriously wanting to get to grips with one of the giants of English literature, there could be no better place to start.