The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of

John Milton is, next to William Shakespeare, the most influential English poet, a writer whose work spans an incredible breadth of forms and subject matter.The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Miltoncelebrates this author's genius in a thoughtfully assembled book that provides new modern-spelling versions of Milton's texts, expert commentary, and a wealth of other features that will please even the most dedicated students of Milton's canon. Edited by a trio of esteemed scholars, this volume is the definitive Milton for our time. In these pages you will find all of Milton's verse, from masterpieces such as Paradise Lostwidely viewed as the finest epic poem in the English languageto shorter works such as theNativity Ode, Lycidas, A Masque, andSamson Agonistes. Milton's non-English language sonnets, verses, and elegies are accompanied by fresh translations by Gordon Braden. Among the newly edited and authoritatively annotated prose selections are letters, pamphlets, political tracts, essays such asOf EducationandAreopagitica, and a generous portion of his hereticalChristian Doctrine. These works reveal Milton's passionate advocacy of controversial positions during the English Civil War and the Commonwealth and Restoration periods. With his deep learning and the sensual immediacy of his language, Milton creates for us a unique bridge to the cultures of classical antiquity and medieval and Renaissance Christianity. With this in mind, the editors give careful attention to preserving the vibrant energy of Milton's verse and prose, while making the relatively unfamiliar aspects of his writing accessible to modern readers. Notes identify the old meanings and roots of English words, illuminate historical contextsincluding classical and biblical allusionsand offer concise accounts of the author's philosophical and political assumptions. This edition is a consummate work of modern literary scholarship. Praise "Over the coming months, [John Milton's] 400th anniversary will be celebrated in many different ways, but it is highly unlikely that any of the tributes he receives will do as much for him as the appearance of the Modern Library edition of his collected poetry and selected prose. The edition is a model of its kind, well designed and attractively produced. There are scholarly but unintimidating footnotes and helpful introductions to the major works. Spelling and punctuation have been modernized -- a difficult decision but the right one....A great deal has been packed in, but Milton has still been left room to breathe. The whole enterprise is meant to be reader-friendly, and it succeeds." The Wall Street Journal "This magnificent edition gives us everything we need to read Milton intelligently and with fresh perception. You could take it to a desert island, or just stay home and further your education in a great writer." William H. Pritchard, Amherst College "For generations of readers Milton has been the measure of both eloquence and nobility of mind. For the next generation this new Modern Library volume will be the standard: it is meticulously edited, full of tactful annotations that set the stage for his work and his times, and it brings Milton, as a poet and a thinker, vividly alive before us." Robert Hass "Years ago I began a series of poems about Milton and his daughters. Ever since, I have been combing through Milton's poems and prose for those moments when the poet would turn and speak to the poet in me. It is in the new Kerrigan-Rumrich-Fallon edition that I now find prompt rejoinders to questions, ready clarifications of problems, and a more intimate dimens

John Milton (1608-74), the great English poet, is best known for his epic masterpiece, Paradise Lost. In addition to writing brilliant verse and overtly political works, Milton was also a private tutor and, during the Commonwealth period, served as Secretary for Foreign Tongues, a position mostly involving the composition of the English Republic’s foreign correspondence in Latin.

About the Editors
William Kerrigan is the author of many books, including The Sacred Complex: On the Psychogenesis of Paradise Lost, for which he won the James Holly Hanford Award of the Milton Society of America. A former president of the Milton Society, he has also earned numerous honors and distinctions from that group, including its award for lifetime achievement. He is professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts.

John Rumrich is the author of Matter of Glory: A New Preface to Paradise Lost and Milton Unbound: Controversy and Reinterpretation. An award-winning editor and writer, he is Thaman Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, where he teaches early modern British literature.

Stephen M. Fallon is the author of Milton’s Peculiar Grace: Self-Representation and Authority and Milton Among the Philosophers: Poetry and Materialism in Seventeenth-Century England, winner of the Milton Society’s Hanford Award. He is professor of liberal studies and English at the University of Notre Dame.

A Chronology of Milton's Life
Minutes of the Life of Mr. John Milton
A Chronology of Milton's Poetry
English Poems
Psalm 114	p. 3
Psalm 136	p. 4
On the Death of a Fair Infant Dying of a Cough	p. 6
At a Vacation Exercise	p. 11
Song: On May Morning	p. 15
The Fifth Ode of Horace, Lib. I	p. 16
On the Morning of Christ's Nativity	p. 18
The Passion	p. 30
On Shakespeare	p. 34
On the University Carrier	p. 35
Another on the Same	p. 36
An Epitaph on the Marchioness of Winchester	p. 37
L'Allegro	p. 41
II Penseroso	p. 46
Arcades	p. 52
At a Solemn Music	p. 57
On Time	p. 58
Upon the Circumcision	p. 60
A Masque Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634 [Comus]	p. 61
Lycidas	p. 99
Psalms 80-88	p. 110
Psalms 1-8	p. 123
Translations from the Prose Works	p. 132
English and Italian Sonnets
Sonnets 1-23	p. 139
On the New Forcers of Conscience Under the Long Parliament	p. 163
Latin and Greek Poems
Elegiac Verses
"Get up, go, get up, it's time now"	p. 169
Kings should not oversleep	p. 170
The Fable of the Peasant and the Lord	p. 170
A Philosopher to a King	p. 171
Book of Elegies
Elegy 1. To Charles Diodati	p. 172
Elegy 2. On the Death of the Beadle of Cambridge University	p. 175
Elegy 3. On the Death of the Bishop of Winchester	p. 177
Elegy 4. To Thomas Young, his tutor, at present performing the office of chaplain among the English merchants living in Hamburg	p. 180
Elegy 5. On the Arrival of Spring	p. 185
Elegy 6. To Charles Diodati, staying in the country	p. 190
Elegy 7	p. 194
A postscript to his elegies	p. 198
On the Gunpowder Plot	p. 198
On the same	p. 199
On the same	p. 199
On the same	p. 200
On the Inventor of Gunpowder	p. 200
To Leonora singing in Rome	p. 200
To the same	p. 201
To the same	p. 202
Book of Miscellaneous Poems
On the Death of the Vice-Chancellor, a Physician	p. 203
On the Fifth of November	p. 205
On the Death of the Bishop of Ely	p. 213
That Nature does not suffer from old age	p. 215
Of the Platonic Idea as understood by Aristotle	p. 218
To His Father	p. 220
Psalm 114	p. 225
To Salzilli, the Roman poet, being ill. Scazons	p. 226
Manso	p. 227
Epitaph for Damon	p. 232
On the Engraver of His Portrait	p. 242
To John Rouse, Librarian of Oxford University	p. 243
Epigram from A Defense of the English People	p. 247
Epigrams from A Second Defense	p. 248
Late Masterpieces
Introduction to Paradise Lost	p. 251
Paradise Lost	p. 283
Introduction to Paradise Regained	p. 631
Paradise Regained	p. 635
Introduction to Samson Agonistes	p. 699
Samson Agonistes	p. 707
Prose Works
Familiar Letters
Diodati Greets Milton Cheerfully	p. 767
Diodati Greets Milton	p. 767
To Alexander Gill	p. 768
Letter to a Friend	p. 769
To Charles Diodati	p. 772
To the Same	p. 773
Sir Henry Wotton to Milton	p. 775
To Lukas Holste in the Vatican at Rome	p. 777
To Leonard Philaras	p. 779
To the Most Distinguished Mr. Henry de Brass	p. 781
Prolusions
Prolusion 1	p. 785
Prolusion 7	p. 793
Controversial Prose
Selections from Of Reformation	p. 805
A Selection from The Reason of Chunk Government Urged gainst Prelaty, The Second Book	p. 835
A Selection from An Apology for Smectymnuus	p. 845
Selections from The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce	p. 853
Areopagitica	p. 923
Of Education	p. 967
Selections from Tetrachordon	p. 983
Selections from The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates	p. 1021
Selections from Eikonoklastes	p. 1057
Selections from Second Defense of the English People	p. 1069
The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth	p. 1111
Selections from Christian Doctrine	p. 1137
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The Complete Poetry and Essential Prose of John Milton

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials