John Milton

Author profile

born

in Cheapside, London, England, The United Kingdom

December 09, 1608

died

November 08, 1674

gender

male

genre

Poetry

influences

William Shakespeare, Ovid

About this author

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John Milton was an English poet, prose polemicist, and civil servant for the English Commonwealth. Most famed for his epic poem Paradise Lost, Milton is celebrated as well for his eloquent treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica. Long considered the supreme English poet, Milton experienced a dip in popularity after attacks by T.S. Eliot and F.R. Leavis in the mid 20th century; but with multiple societies and scholarly journals devoted to his study, Milton’s reputation remains as strong as ever in the 21st century.

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John Milton's Books

Average rating: 3.78 · 64,740 ratings · 1,911 reviews · 183 distinct works · Similar authors

	Paradise Lost by John Milton, John Leonard (Editor, Contributor) 3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 avg rating — 55,833 ratings — published 1667 — 311 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by John Milton, Christopher Ricks (Annotations) 4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 2,310 ratings — published 1671 — 34 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Complete Poetry by John Milton, John T. Shawcross (Editor) 4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 avg rating — 1,504 ratings — published 1673 — 65 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paradise Regained 3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 avg rating — 763 ratings — published 1671 — 48 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Samson Agonistes by John Milton, Arthur Wilson Verity (Introduction) 3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 737 ratings — published 1671 — 17 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Areopagitica 3.8 of 5 stars 3.80 avg rating — 641 ratings — published 1644 — 68 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Complete Poems and Major Prose by John Milton, Merritt Y. Hughes (Editor) 4.15 of 5 stars 4.15 avg rating — 575 ratings — published 1957 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Paradise Lost and Other Poems by John Milton, Edward Le Comte (Annotations) 3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 avg rating — 288 ratings — published 1942 — 21 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus, and Lycidas 4.02 of 5 stars 4.02 avg rating — 162 ratings — published 2008 — 9 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	John Milton: The Major Works by John Milton, Jonathan Goldberg (Editor), Stephen Orgel (Editor) 4.37 of 5 stars 4.37 avg rating — 131 ratings — published 2003 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by John Milton…

Series by John Milton

Paradise (2 books)
by John Milton
3.759345397752351 of 5 stars 3.76 avg rating — 58,906 ratings

Quotes by John Milton

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

tags: inspirational, religion

2,227 people liked it

“For books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are; nay, they do preserve as in a vial the purest efficacy and extraction of that living intellect that bred them.”
― John Milton, Areopagitica

tags: books, censorship, ideas, intellect

1,252 people liked it

“Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven.”
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

319 people liked it

See all John Milton's quotes »

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