Bent Northrop Memorial Library

Best known as the author of the epic poem Paradise Lost, John Milton (1608–74) was also an accomplished writer of shorter verse forms. This treasury presents twenty of the best of these works: "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity," "On Shakespeare," "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Comus, A Mask," "Lycidas," "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont," "On His Blindness," "On His Deceased Wife," "Samson Agonistes," and more. In this carefully chosen selection,...

Rich as 'Paradise Lost' is in sub-plots and digressions, it adheres unswervingly to its one grand, unified theme - the sin of man and the ultimate love of God. In 'Paradise Regained' the poet narrates the temptation of Christ in the wilderness. 'Samson Agonistes' is the tragedy of the Biblical strong man - a picture, too, of blind Milton helpless before his Royalist foes.