Milton's Other Sonnets example essay topic

Milton and his Life John Milton was born in London. He is known for being one of the greatest poets of the English language, best known for his epic poem PARADISE LOST, written in 1667. Milton's poetry has been said to be powerful and having rhetoric prose and a huge influence on the 18th century verse. Milton has also published pamphlets defending civil and religious rights.

Milton was educated at Saint Paul's School and Christ's College, University of Cambridge. He first attended to become a clergyman in the Church of England but then he grew dissatisfaction with the state of the Anglican clergy and began developing poetic interest. From 1632 to 1638 he prepared himself for his poetic career by entering upon an ambitious program of reading the Latin and Greek classics and political history. He then settled in London and began writing a series of social, religious, and political tracts. In 1642 he married Mary Powell, who left him after a few weeks because their differences in temperaments, but was reconciled in 1645. In his writings Milton supported the parliamentary cause in the civil war between Parliamentarians and Royalists, and he was appointed foreign secretary by the government of the Commonwealth.

He became totally blind about 1652 and thereafter carried on with his poetry with the help of an assistant. In 1656 he married a second wife, who died years later. With the restoration, Milton was punished for his support of Parliament by a fine and a short term of imprisonment. One of the poet's personality, memoirs written by Milton's contemporaries indicate that his work was a blend of grace and sweetness and of force and severity amounting almost to harshness. I think that in some of his writings he reveals his arrogance and bitterness.

Although he was blind, he seemed to fulfill the tasks and goals that he had set for himself, enlightens his days with music and conversation. Milton's Sonnets In sonnet 7 Milton is dedicating himself to God. He has to be patient with his inner growth and isn't sure where he will be lead. Milton believes that God has a will for him and he doesn't know what it is. He wonders to himself how does he respond to God's will? Then is known, with strong patients.

He believes that God's will is going to become clear. And in the end it does. This poem is seems personal and is focused on inner agonies and guilt. This poem is said to have enjambment, which is where there is no punctuation therefore you are forced to continue reading with no pause. This gives the reader the capacity to flow from line to line. This poem brings on factors that influence Milton's other sonnets.

Milton's great commitment to God and poetry are involved with each other. There is a paradox for isolation with a desire to be noticed. In sonnet 16, written in 1652, Milton is defending Cromwell against attack and criticism. Some people say that this sonnet can be described as a "ma and pa" sonnet. The purpose of this sonnet is to praise Cromwell who was guided by faith and attacked people for being involved with the church, and Milton said that there should be more political changes that need to be made... 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.

His blank verse is of remarkable variety and richness, so skillfully modulated and flexible that it has been compared to organ tones. Milton's career as a writer can be divided into three periods. The first, from 1625 to 1640, was the period of such early works as the poems written while he was still at Cambridge, the ode "On the morning of Christ's Nativity" (1639), the sonnet "On Shakespeare" (1630), Comus (1637), and the elegy Lycidias (1638). His second period, from 1640 to 1660 was devoted chiefly to writing the prose tracts that established him as the ablest pamphleteer of his time.

In the first group of pamphlets, Milton attacked the institution of bishops and argued in favor of extending the spirit of the English Reformation Touching Church Discipline in England. During his years as a prose writer and government servant, Milton composed part of his great epic poem Paradise Lost and 17 sonnets, among which are some of the most notable in the English language. The apogee of Milton's poetic career was reached in his third period, from 1660 to 1674, during which he completed Paradise Lost and composed the companion epic Paradise Regained and the poetic drama Samson Agonist ies. Paradise Lost is considered Milton's masterpiece and one of the greatest poems in the world of literature.

In its 12 cantos he tells the story of the fall of Adam in a context of cosmic drama and profound speculations. The poets announced aim was to "justify the ways of God to men". The poem was written with soaring imagination and far-ranging intellectual grasp in his most forceful and exalted style. Milton died from "gout struck in" on November 8, 1674 in Chalfont, St. Giles, Buckinghamshire.

As a writer Milton's towering figure was recognized early, but his personality and works have continued to arouse discussion.

Bibliography

Books and Writers. web 2001 Classics.
web 2001.