John Milton

John Milton later in life
source: University of Texas Libraries
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I came to the name of John Milton looking for the origin of an expression (Then to the well-trod stage annon...); where I found this and how it led me to Milton, I will tell you sometime, hopefully before long. I knew of course about him and his Paradise Lost; the expression above is from another of his poems.

Due to his strong political views, Milton was the subject of equally strong partisanship. William Hayley considered him the greatest English author, while others were more balanced, and others were hostile. Samuel Johnson praised Paradise Lost as a poem which...with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind (wiki).

Was Milton the greatest English author?  Let's rather say, among the greatest ones, among the Happy Few.

• A Portrait of John Milton by Pieter Van Dyke
• De Doctrina Christiana

(A Life in Books)