John Milton

John Milton (December 9, 1608-November 8, 1674) was a British poet and political writer. He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667, revised 1674). With the parliamentary victory in the British Civil War (1646), Milton wrote in defense of the republican principles represented by the Commonwealth. His The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates (1649) defended popular government and implicitly sanctioned the regicide. Milton's political reputation earned him the appointment as Secretary for Foreign Tongues by the Council of State in March 1649. By 1652, Milton was totally blind which prompted him to write the sonnet When I Consider How My Light is Spent (1655) and On His Blindness.