MILTON 237 MILTON ments in its perception of the beauty of the old religious faiths put to flight by the coming of Christ and anticipated the theme of "Paradise Lost." During the Horton period he wrote "L'Allegro" and "II Penseroso" (1634), studies in contrasted moods, representing what were to him the two sides of a well-propor- tioned life. Less elaborate than Spenser's first work, the "Shepheards Calender," these two poems were not less definitely the prologue to a new poetic achievement. This impression was deepened by other Horton work, notably "Comus" (1634), a pastoral masque showing indebtedness to Spenser and subtly promising an end of the court party under the rising tide of Puritanism; and "Lycidas" (1637), ostensibly a pastoral dirge in memory of a Cambridge acquaintance, but really prophecy once more of coming change. All these poems are learned in poetic tradition, but the learning is concealed by the infinite variety of their melodies, by the assured individuality of their thought, and by their promise of greater things to come. In 1638 Milton went to Italy. Here he met men of letters and learning, among them probably the aged Galileo. He wrote little — -a few Italian sonnets, together with some further examples of his skill in Latin verse (he had written six Latin elegies while a Cambridge student). This series of Latin poems he brought to an end, soon after his return to England, in a pastoral dirge in memory of his friend Diodati ("Epitaphium Damonis), a marvelously beautiful poem significant also for the indications it gives of his plan for writing a great epic, something that the world would "not willingly let die." The Italian journey was cut short by the increasing tension in English affairs. He afterward remarked, "I thought it base to be travelling for amusement abroad, while my fellow citizens were fighting for liberty at home." The re- mark is deeply signficant of his charac- ter, which was marked by intense patriotism and an equally intense love of liberty. In the twenty years next following he wrote no poetry except a few sonnets. His time was divided be- tween his duties as Latin Secretary under Cromwell, which involved not only carry- ing on the government correspondence with European powers but also the various defenses of the Commonwealth; and a series of prose works in which he set forth his political and ethical philosophy. Of the first of these oc- cupations there is no space here to treat. His more significant prose work was ushered in by "Of Reformation in Eng- land" (1641), a treatise on government of the Church, and was followed by "Reason of Church Government" (1642), which has additional value because of autobiographical passages. His first marriage, in 1643, was unhappy. This partly, though not wholly, accounts for the treatise on Divorce (1643). He was interested in humanist conceptions of education, and his tractate "Of Edu- cation" (1644) is an eloquent and in- spiring treatment of the subject. In the same year appeared his finest prose work, "Areopagitica," a plea for freedom of thought marked by eloquence, high phil- osophical purpose, and the passion for liberty that is a keynote of his life. In this work he bore witness to the influence of Spenser upon him, and Spenser's adaptation of Plato and Aristotle, here summarized by Milton, supplied much of the philosophy that is blended wdth Christian dogma in "Paradise Lost." In 1645 he published the first collected edition of his poems. Literary and phil- osophical interests of this kind, however, were carried on with difficulty in the face of the increasing demands of the Puritan party on his time. In 1645 he became Latin Secretary and in the next few years published eleven pamphlets, mainly controversial, and sacrificed his sight to the Puritan cause. The sincerity of his devotion is marked not only by the continuance of this work /hen it became certain that blindness would result, but also by his publication in 1660, when the cause was lost, of his tract on "A Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Com- monwealth," a book that brought him into peril of his life. The youthful purpose to write a great epic poem he had never abandoned. The prevailing view of most of Milton's biog- raphers that the long period from his return from Italy to the beginning of active work on "Paradise Lost" were wasted and that he gave his best years to work that a less gifted man might have done is in error. "Paradise Lost" would not be the poem that he made it had it not been for his experience with men and affairs, his saturation with an enormous body of thought, and the con- stant planning and ripening of mind that prepared him to write. A part of the poem was probably written during the Protectorate; with the Restoration he carried forward the great project to such purpose that it was complete by 1663, though not published until 1667. Before the publication he had already begun work on "Paradise Regained," which was published in 1671, when "Samson Agonistes," his last important work, also appeared. The three great poetical works Vol. VI— Cyc— P
