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Article: Milton, John (1608–1674)
- Article from:
- Europe, 1450 to 1789: Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World
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MILTON, JOHN (1608
–
1674)
MILTON, JOHN
(1608
–
1674), English poet. England's epic poet and champion of civil and religious liberties was born in London on 9 December 1608, entered Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1625, and earned his M.A. in 1632. His conscience prevented him from becoming a clergyman in the Church of England under the repressive Archbishop William Laud, and his talent and his "great taskmaster" (Sonnet 7) led him to poetry, "the inspired guift of God . . . of power beside the office of a pulpit, to imbreed and cherish in a great people the seeds of vertu, and publick civility . . . and set the affections in right tune" (
CPW
1:816
–
817). In 1638
...