约翰米尔顿

约翰 米尔顿(John Milton) 1608-1674 Major works: (1) Paradise Lost. 失乐园 (2) Paradise Regained. 复乐园 (3) Samson Agonistes. 力士参孙

约翰.弥尔顿,伟大的诗人,革命文豪。很多文学批评家都认为，英国诗人中除了莎士比亚之外，当首推弥尔顿。他生于伦敦，在剑桥大学的克莱斯特学院获得学士和硕士学位后，便开始专心于诗歌创作。

1632年至1638年五年间，弥尔顿辞去了政府部门的工作，住到他父亲郊外的别墅中，整日整夜的阅读，他几乎看全了当时所有英语、希腊语、拉丁语和意大利语作品。在这段时期弥尔顿写作了《酒神之假面舞会》等一些作品。1632年至 1637年期间，弥尔顿几乎读遍了当时所有英语，希腊语，拉丁语和意大利语的作品。

1638年，弥尔顿去欧洲旅行，他在意大利停留了大部分时间。由于英国动荡的宗教局面弥尔顿提前回国，他所写的一些小册子被歪曲，他本人也被烙上了激进分子的烙印。1642年，弥尔顿与玛利·普威尔结婚，新娘只有十七岁。六个星期后，无法处理好新婚生活的玛利回到了她父母家，弥尔顿写信要求离婚。但最终他们和解了，玛利为弥尔顿生下了四个孩子，其中的一个孩子生下没多久就夭折了。1651年，弥尔顿原本就衰弱的视力变得更坏，他彻底失明了。玛利死后，弥尔顿再婚，几个月后，这位新妻子因为难产而死。弥尔顿的第三任妻子是伊丽莎白·明萨尔，这段婚姻维持的较长也较幸福。

1639年，由于英国动荡的宗教和政治形势，弥尔顿于翌年回国，准备投身于即将爆发的英国革命。弥尔顿随后写出一系列政论文，支持清教徒的革命。1649年他担任克伦威尔派的弥尔顿曾在其国务会议中任拉丁文秘书。他先后写了《为英国人声辩》，《再为英国人声辩》两篇檄文，为”弑君“正名，成功地反击了欧洲的保皇派，自己也因此声望大增。由于过度疲劳，弥尔顿于1652年双目失明，他随即辞去了公职，但从未停止为革命呐喊，在复辟前两个月还发表了《建立共和国的捷径》一文。复辟后，弥尔顿获罪入狱，获释后深居简出，潜心写诗，完成了三首著名长诗的创作。弥尔顿的创作可以分为三个时期：投身革命前，他写了二十三首二四行诗及一些优美的短诗，如《快乐的人》，《幽思的人》，《利西达斯》等；投身革命后的绝大部分作品都是政治性散文，论点鲜明，论证有力，言辞激烈，才华横溢，集中表达了他的理想；革命失败后，弥尔顿在失明后创作了不朽的史诗《失乐园》Paradise Lost，《复乐园》Paradise Regained 和希腊式悲剧《力士参孙》Samson Agonistes ，反映了他不变的信仰，坚定的信心和复杂的心情。在弥尔顿身上，我们不仅可以看到清教主义的严峻，还能够看到人文主义的文雅；两者结合，使他的诗既雄迈又俊美。

弥尔顿死于1674年11月8日，死后他与乔叟、莎士比亚齐名。

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《失乐园》是弥尔顿的代表作。1655年，弥尔顿在失明的情况下构思这部作品，1658年开始写作，1667年出版。这部叙事长诗共分12卷，一万余行，取材于《旧约·创世纪》。作品中描写天使撒旦率众反抗上帝，败后被打入地狱，变成魔王。听说上帝在创造新的世界伊甸园，里面居住新的种族“人类”。撒旦决心以引诱人类来完成复仇使命。他飞出地狱之门，来到伊甸园。先是偷听了亚当和夏娃的谈话，知道上帝禁止人吃智慧树的果实。他变形为蟾蜍，使夏娃做了一个想吃智慧果的梦，后又变形为蛇，引诱夏娃偷尝智慧果。亚当为了和夏娃共命运，也吃了禁果。上帝知道后，将他们逐出伊甸园。亚当和夏娃擦干懊悔的眼泪，携手踏上孤寂的路途。撒旦及众魔受到上帝的诅咒，蜕变为蛇，用腹行路，终生吃土。 弥尔顿在诗歌开篇处指出，《失乐园》的目的是证明“上帝对待人的行为是正确的”。但是，诗歌中的上帝形象并不那么可爱。他要人绝对服从，显得独断专横，预见到人要堕落，却又禁食智慧果，显得不合情理。和抽象，灰暗，遥远的上帝相比，撒旦的形象具体而又可信。初看起来，撒旦与上帝为敌，诡计多端，是诗歌中罪恶的化身。但是，渐渐地，读者便发现撒旦其实追求自由，怀疑上帝的统治，对上帝的权威提出挑战。撒旦被天雷打入地狱后，和其他造反的天使在火海中遭受煎熬，仍然表现出昂扬的斗志。他说，“战场失败有什么可怕？我的不可征服意志，报复的决心，切齿的仇恨和永不屈膝投降的志气并没有丧失。”威武不屈，坚持斗争，反对上帝的撒旦颇像革命时期的弥尔顿。因为弥尔顿和撒旦一样，都是挑战权威的叛逆者，而这两个叛逆者似乎都以失败告终。作品中的撒旦是一个敢于反抗上帝权威和专制统治的叛逆者，也是英国资产阶级革命者的象征。长诗同时探讨了英国革命失败和人类不幸的根源。

《失乐园》结构上继承了古希腊罗马的史诗传统，描写了天堂和地狱、混沌和人间多种壮阔的场景。比如，描写天国的战争时，撒旦发明了火药，动用了排炮，打得天兵天将狼狈不堪，场面十分雄伟奇特。诗歌的用典设喻，内外古今，无所不包。长诗用素诗写成，简练的英语和古典拉丁语相结合，成就了一种“庄严和崇高的文体”。《失乐园》格调高亢，壮怀激越，气魄宏大，形象雄伟。它是17世纪英国诗坛的一部杰作，是英国资产阶级革命的宏伟史诗。

๑۩۩.弥尔顿..۩۩๑（1608～1674）英国诗人、政论家。1608年12月9日出生于伦敦一个富裕的清教徒家庭。父亲爱好文学，受其影响，弥尔顿从小喜爱读书，尤其喜爱文学。1625年16岁时入剑桥大学，并开始写诗，1632年取得硕士学位。因目睹当时国教日趋反动，他放弃了当教会牧师的念头，闭门攻读文学6年，一心想写出能传世的伟大诗篇。

1638年弥尔顿为增长见闻到当时欧洲文化中心意大利旅行，拜会了当地的文人志士，其中有被天主教会囚禁的伽利略。弥尔顿深为伽利略在逆境中坚持真理的精神所感动。翌年听说英国革命即将爆发，便中止旅行，仓促回国，投身革命运动。

1641年，弥尔顿站在革命的清教徒一边，开始参加宗教论战，反对封建王朝的支柱国教。他在一年多的时间里发表了5本有关宗教自由的小册子，1644年又为争取言论自由而写了《论出版自由》。

1649年，革命阵营中的独立派将国王推上断头台，成立共和国。弥尔顿为提高革命人民的信心和巩固革命政权，发表《论国王与官吏的职权》等文，并参加了革命政府工作，担任拉丁文秘书职务。1652年因劳累过度，双目失明。

1660年，王朝复辟，弥尔顿被捕入狱，不久又被释放。从此他专心写诗，为实

现伟大的文学抱负而艰苦努力，在亲友的协助下，共写出3首长诗：《失乐园》(1667)，《复乐园》(1671)和《力士参孙》(1671)。1674年11月8日卒于伦敦。

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如有兴趣:http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/milton/

John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, in London, as the second child of John and Sara (neé Jeffrey). The family lived on Bread Street in Cheapside, near St. Paul's Cathedral. John Milton Sr. worked as a scrivener, a legal secretary whose duties included preparation and notarization of documents , as well as real estate transactions and moneylending. Milton's father was also a composer of church music, and Milton himself experienced a lifelong delight in music. The family's financial prosperity afforded Milton to be taught classical languages, first by private tutors at home, followed by entrance to St. Paul's School at age twelve, in 1620.

In 1625, Milton was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge. While Milton was a hardworking student, he was also argumentative to the extent that only a year later, in 1626, he got suspended after a dispute with his tutor, William Chappell. During his temporary return to London, Milton attended plays, and perhaps began his first forays into poetry. At his return to Cambridge, Milton was assigned a new tutor, Nathaniel Tovey. Life at Cambridge was still not easy on Milton; he felt he was disliked by many of his fellow students and he was dissatisfied with the curriculum. It was at Cambridge that he composed "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity" on December 25, 1629.

In 1632, Milton took his M.A. cum laude at Cambridge, after which he retired to the family homes in London and Horton, Buckinghamshire, for years of private study and literary composition.1 His Second Folio. From this period hail also his "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso." Milton's Comus, a masque, was performed at Ludlow Castle in 1634, to be first published anonymously in 1637, music by the famed court composer was buried at Horton. Only a few months later, in August, Milton's friend Edward King died as well, by drowning. In November, upon his memory, Milton composed the beautiful elegy, Lycidas. It was published in a memorial volume at Cambridge in 1638.

As customary for young gentlemen of means, Milton set out for a tour of Europe in the spring of 1638. He met famed scholar Hugo Grotius in Paris, where he stayed briefly before continuing on to Italy. Milton arrived in Florence in the autumn, where he probably met with Galileo, who was then under house arrest by order of the Inquisition. In Rome, he was a guest of Cardinal Barberini, the Pope's nephew, and visited the Vatican Library. In Naples, Milton met Giovanni Batista, biographer of Torquato Tasso. Milton wrote Mansus in his honor. Upon reaching Geneva to visit with Calvinist theologian Giovanni Diodati, Milton found out about the death of his childhood friend, Charles Diodati in London. Milton's tour of Europe was cut short with rumors of impending civil war in England, and he returned home in July 1639. Shortly after, Milton composed Epitaphium Damonis, a Latin poem to the memory of his dearest friend.

Milton settled down in London, where he began schooling his two nephews, later also taking in children of the better families. The Civil War was brewing —1639, and the Long Parliament was convened in 1640. Milton began writing pamphlets on political and religious matters; Of Reformation, Animadversions, and Of Prelatical Episcopacy were published in 1641, The Reason for Church Government in February, 1642.

In the spring of 1642, Milton married Mary Powell, 17 years old to his 34, but the relationship was an unhappy one, and Mary left him to visit the family home briefly thereafter, and did not return. Matters were not improved when the Powells declared for the King in the Civil War which broke out in August. This prompted Milton to write his so-called 'Divorce Tracts' speaking for divorce on the grounds of incompatibility. In 1643, Milton published the Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce, which had its second, longer edition in early 1644. In 1644, Milton also published The Judgement of Martin Bucer Concerning Divorce. The 'Divorce Tracts' caused an uproar both in parliament and amidst the clergy, as well as with the general populace, which earned him the nickname "Milton the Divorcer."2 It is in reference to the attempted censorship of the same by the Stationers' Company, that Milton published his eloquent Areopagitica, an oration advocating freedom of the press, in late 1644.3 Milton had also had time to write a treatise Of Education, which prescribed a rigorous course of study for English youth. In 1645, Milton published Tetrachordon and Colasterion, and registered Poems of Mr. John Milton, Both English and Latin.

Milton had made plans to remarry, when Mary Powell returned. The two seem to have reconciled, since their daughter Anne was born in 1646. The whole Powell clan moved in with the Miltons, because Royalists had been ousted from Oxford. The situation was not savory. The year 1647 saw the death of both Milton's father and his father-in-law. The Powells eventually moved out and the Miltons moved to the neighborhood of High Holborn, where their daughter Mary was born in 1648.

It is probable that Milton witnessed the public execution of Charles I on January 30, 1649.4 Tenure of Kings and Magistrates was published two weeks later. In March, the Cromwellian government appointed Milton Secretary for Foreign Tongues and ordered him to write an answer to Charles I's purported Eikon Basilike ("Royal Image"). After publishing Observations on the Articles of Peace, Milton published Eikonoklastes ("Image Breaker") in October, 1649. In 1650, the Council of State ordered Milton to write a response to Salmasius' Defensio Regia — the Continental outcry against the English action ("Defense of Kingship"). Defensio pro populo Anglicano was published in February, 1651. Milton's first son, John, was born in March and the Miltons moved to Westminster.

The year 1652 was one of many personal losses for Milton. In February, Milton lost his sight. This prompted him to write the sonnet "When I Consider How My Light is Spent." In May, 1652, Mary gave birth to a daughter, Deborah, and died a few days later. In June, one year-old John died.

In 1654, Milton published Defensio Secunda, the response he had been ordered to write for Pierre du Moulin's Regii sanguinis clamor ("Clamor of the King's Blood"). Andrew Marvell had become his assistant, and he had aides to take dictation, to facilitate the carrying out of his duties as Secretary. In 1655, Defensio Pro Se ("Defense of Himself") was published. In 1656, Milton

married Katherine Woodcock, but the happiness was short-lived. Milton's daughter Katherine was born in late 1657, but by early 1658, both mother and daughter had passed away. It is to the memory of Katherine Woodcock that Milton wrote the sonnet "Methought I saw my late espousèd saint."

Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell died in October, 1658, and the days of the Commonwealth were coming to a close. In early 1659, Milton published A Treatise of Civil Power and Ready and Easy Way To Establish a Free Commonwealth. For his propaganda writings, Milton had to go into Defensio pro populo Anglicano and Eikonoklastes were publicly burned. In early autumn, Milton was arrested and thrown in prison, to be released by order of Parliament before Christmas. King Charles II was restored to the throne on May 30, 1660.

In 1663, Milton remarried again, to Elizabeth Minshull, a match his daughters opposed. He spent his time tutoring students and finishing his life's work, the epic, Paradise Lost. Among the greatest works ever to be written in English, the feat is all the more remarkable for Milton's blindness — he would compose verse upon verse at night in his head and then dictate them from memory to his aides in the morning. Paradise Lost finally saw publication in 1667, in ten books. It was reissued in 1668 with a new title-page and additional materials. The book was met with instant success and amazement; even Dryden is reported to have said, "This man cuts us all out, and the ancients too."5

History of Britain was published in 1670; Paradise Regain'd and Samson Agonistes were published together in 1671. Of True Religion and Poems, &c. upon Several Occasions were published in 1673. In summer 1674, the second edition of Paradise Lost was published, in twelve books. Milton died peacefully of gout in November, 1674, and was in the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. His funeral was attended by "his learned and great Friends in London, not without a friendly concourse of the Vulgar."6 A monument to Milton rests in Poets' Corner at Westminster Abbey