John Milton
John Milton
John Miltonwas an English poet, polemicist, and man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth 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, written in blank verse...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth9 December 1608
christian tears done
There is no Christian duty that is not to be seasoned and set off with cheerishness, which in a thousand outward and intermitting crosses may yet be done well, as in this vale of tears.
perseverance done sensitive
No worthy enterprise can be done by us without continual plodding and wearisomeness to our faint and sensitive abilities.
bible song zion
There are no songs comparable to the songs of Zion, no orations equal to those of the prophets, and no politics like those which the Scriptures teach.
bible men hands
It is not hard for any man who hath a Bible in his hand to borrow good words and holy sayings in abundance; but to make them his own is a work of grace only from above.
offering path ends
Apostate, still thou err'st, nor end wilt find Offering, from the paths of truth remote.
wings display
The helmed Cherubim, And sworded Seraphim, Are seen in glittering ranks with wings display'd.
light choices taste
What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice, Of Attic taste?
men endurance desert
Wealth and honours, which most men pursue, easily change masters; they desert to the side which excels in virtue, industry, and endurance of toil, and they abandon the slothful.
arches shade brooks
Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks In Vallombrosa, where th' Etrurian shades High over-arch'd imbower.
country skills people
When language in common use in any country becomes irregular and depraved, it is followed by their ruin and degradation. For what do terms used without skill or meaning, which are at once corrupt and misapplied, denote but a people listless, supine, and ripe for servitude?
temples christ force
We read not that Christ ever exercised force but once; and that was to drive profane ones out of his Temple, not to force them in.
thinking land understanding
Truth and understanding are not such wares as to be monopolized and traded in by tickets and statutes and standards. We must not think to make a staple commodity of all the knowledge in the land, to mark and license it like our broadcloth and our woolpacks.
art dust return
Know thy birth! For dost thou art, and shalt to dust return.
war heaven violence
Heaven, the seat of bliss, Brooks not the works of violence and war.