John Milton

John Milton was born in London in 1608, as the son of the prosperous composer John Milton and his wife Sarah. Milton had a private tutor and later attended St. Paul’s School in London and then Cambridge. For a number of years after receiving his M.A., Milton studied, traveled, and wrote poetry, also working as a publicist and pamphleteer. In 1649, Milton was appointed as England’s Secretary for Foreign Tongues. In 1654, Milton went blind from glaucoma or retinal detachment. It was not until late in his life, after the Restoration of 1660 had stripped Milton of his position and wealth, that the blind poet’s poetry, including his magnum opus Paradise Lost, began to see a wide readership.