Balti state university a. Russo chair of english philology

To William Camden 
Camden, most reverend head, to whom I owe 
All that I am in Arts, all that I know 
(How nothing‟s that!) to whom my country owes 
The great renown and the name wherewith she goes, 
Than thee the age sees not that thing more grave, 
More high, more holy, that she more would crave. 
What name, what skill, what faith hast thou in things 
What sight in searching the most antique springs! 
What weight and what authority in thy speech! 
Man scarce can make that doubt, but thou can teach. 
Pardon free truth and let thy modesty 
Which conquers all, be once o‟ercome by thee 
Many of thive this better could than I 
But for their powers, accept my piety. 
(1616) 
The following poem is a piece of irony at the address people that like to be something and do all 
their best for it, but succeed only in the appearance to be so. 
On Something, that Walks Somewhere 
At court I met it, in clothes brave enough 
To be a courtier, and looks brave enough 
To seem a statesman: as I hear it came 
It made me a great face. I asked the name 
“A Lord”, it cried, “buried in flesh and blood, 
And such from whom let no man hope least good, 
For I will do none; and as little ill, 
For I will dare none. “Good Lord, walk dead still”. 
(1616) 

---

70 
70 
John Milton 
(1608 – 1674
) 
John Milton is the greatest of all epic English poets. John Milton was born in London on 
December 9, 1608 in the family of a scrivener(a clerk who copied documents). From the very 
beginning Milton showed prodigious gifts as a student of languages. He graduated the 
Cambridge University with the degree BA in 1629 and MA in 1662. Such an education might 
have helped him take up the career of a church worker. But Milton disliked the trend of religious 
affairs and spent several years in his native place, in Horton, Buckinghamshire, where he wrote 
many poems. Later he traveled on the Continent to put the final touches on the already splendid 
education. 
The literary activity of J. Milton is divided into three major periods. His life falls into three 
divisions. There is a period of youthful education and apprenticeship, which culminates in the 
writing of Lycidas (1637) and his foreign travels. There is a period of prose and controversy 
(1640 – 60). And the third period comprises the last 14 years of his life, when he appeared as a 
mature figure and published his three major poems: Paradise Lost (1667), Paradise Regained 
(1671), and Samson Agonistes (1671). 
His literary career began by publishing tracts against bishops‟ ruling churches. In 1644 he 
wrote a short essay Of education, later the same year he published his work Areopagitica. A 
series of pamphlets appeared and earned his reputation as a radical. His failure in marriage 
supplied him material for an other series of pamphlets, arguing that divorce should be granted on 
grounds of incompatibility. It was a scandalous work for that time. The third set of pamphlets 
was published after the execution of Charles I in 1649. That year J. Milton was made foreign 
Secretary of the New Republican Government and the next ten years of his life were busy with 
politics and official work. Milton was closely connected with the puritan revolutionaries who 
often consulted him. In all his publicist works he attacked the enemies of the Republic.
With the restoration of monarchy Milton was deprived of his office and consequently of 
his livelihood. Many of his pamphlets had been burned but his militant spirit could not be 
crushed. They tried to get rid of Milton but his poor state of health saved him form being 
executed. In 1652 Milton lost eyesight. The years of his retirement became the third period in his 
literary career, which turned out to be the most prolific though he could not write or read on his 
own. During this time Milton created the most significant works of his: Paradise Lost, Paradise 
Regained and Samson Agonistes, with the help of some of his friends and hid youngest daughter, 
Deborah.  Milton died on November 8, 1674.

---

71 
71