The Complete Poems

Description

Milton devoted much of his adult life to defending the cause of Cromwell's Commonwealth. His later poetry, produced after Charles II's Restoration led to the defeat of his hopes, reflects his understanding of politics and power. In this edition of Milton's poetry, John Leonard has modernized spelling, capitalization and any punctuation likely to cause confusion. He calls particular attention to words invented by Milton and provides full notes to elucidate biblical, classical and historical allusions, many of which complicate or even conflict with the plain sense or moral implications of the text.

John Milton (1608-74) was a master of almost every style of verse, from the pastoral, devotional and tenderly lyrical to the supreme grandeur of his great epic Paradise Lost. John Leonard is currently Professor of English at the University of Western Ontario and has published widely on Milton.