John Milton

John Milton (December 9, 1608 – November 8, 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and man of letters who achieved lasting fame for his epic poem Paradise Lost. Born in London to a prosperous merchant family, Milton received an exceptional education at St. Paul's School and Christ's College, Cambridge, where he began composing poetry in multiple languages. He served as a government official under Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War, writing tracts defending regicide and religious liberty. After the Restoration, Milton was imprisoned and his property confiscated, but he devoted his final years to completing Paradise Lost, published in 1667. The twelve-book epic retells the biblical story of humanity's fall from grace with extraordinary linguistic innovation and philosophical depth, exploring themes of free will, divine justice, and human ambition. Blind by the end of his life, Milton dictated much of his later work. His influence on English literature is immeasurable—Paradise Lost established him as one of the greatest poets in the English language, and his political writings on freedom and individual rights remain influential in democratic thought.