John Milton Biography

His blank verse is of remarkable variety and richness, so skillfully modulated and flexible that it has been compared to organ tones.

• The severe religious message of his epic was also out of step with the more carefree, anything-goes literary and social atmosphere of the Restoration.

• Milton wrote in blank verse when the new trend was to employ rhymed couplets. Soon after his death, however, Milton came to be recognized by many as the greatest of all English poets.

• John Milton's work is marked by cosmic themes and lofty religious idealism; it reveals an astonishing breadth of learning and command of the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew classics.