William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.
http://www.bartleby.com/332/95.html
Song: ‘Sabrina fair’ |
By John Milton (1608–1674) |
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Resources to the Poem
Direct Quote (pg 173) from The Poetical Works of John Milton, W. Kent & Co, London, 1859 - click link here
William Stanley Braithwaite's The Book of Restoration Verse - clink link here
found under Song: ‘Sabrina fair’ by John Milton
Braithwaite's The Book Of Restoration Verse, Vol 1
Braithwaite's The Book of Restoration Verse, Vol 2
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comus_(John_Milton)
Complete text of poems Arcade and Comus with Introduction, Notes, and Indexes
http://www.poemhunter.com/john-milton/biography/
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth (republic) of England under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost.
Milton's poetry and prose reflect deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. Writing in English, Latin, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica, (written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship) is among history's most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and freedom of the press.
William Hayley's 1796 biography called him the "greatest English author", and he remains generally regarded "as one of the preeminent writers in the English language"; though critical reception has oscillated in the centuries since his death (often on account of his republicanism). 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". Though Johnson (a Tory and recipient of royal patronage) described his politics as those of an "acrimonious and surly republican".
Because of his republicanism, Milton has been the subject of centuries of British partisanship (a "nonconformist" biography by John Toland, a hostile account by Anthony à Wood etc.).
(Partial) Biography
The phases of Milton's life parallel the major historical and political divisions in Stuart Britain. Under the increasingly personal rule of Charles I and its breakdown in constitutional confusion and war, Milton studied, travelled, wrote poetry mostly for private circulation, and launched a career as pamphleteer and publicist. Under the Commonwealth of England, from being thought dangerously radical and even heretical, the shift in accepted attitudes in government placed him in public office, and he even acted as an official spokesman in certain of his publications. The Restoration of 1660 deprived Milton, now completely blind, of his public platform, but this period saw him complete most of his major works of poetry.
Milton's views developed from his very extensive reading, as well as travel and experience, from his student days of the 1620s to the English Revolution. By the time of his death in 1674, Milton was impoverished and on the margins of English intellectual life, yet unrepentant for his political choices, and of Europe-wide fame.
Complete Biographies & Additional Resources
Poem Hunter - http://www.poemhunter.com/john-milton/biography/
Poetry Foundation - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-milton#poet
Wikipedia Bio - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_milton
Amazon Links to John Milton
List of Poetry Books - click here
List for Comus - click here