Comus, a mask

John Milton (1608–1674) was a London scholar-poet who wrote Lycidas and other early poems before devoting twenty years to politics. He wrote pamphlets defending divorce and the freedom of the press, in his famous Areopagitica, and served Cromwell's government as Latin secretary, losing his sight around 1652.

After the monarchy was restored he was briefly imprisoned and lucky to escape execution. Blind, poor and disappointed, he dictated Paradise Lost, published in 1667, followed by Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. He is often ranked second only to Shakespeare among English poets.