John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) is an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England.
He is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost.
He is a scholarly man of letters, a polemical writer, and an official serving under Oliver Cromwell.
He writes at a time of religious flux and political upheaval in England, and his poetry and prose reflect deep convictions and deal with contemporary issues, such as his treatise condemning censorship, Areopagitica.
As well as English, he writes in Latin and Italian, and has an international reputation during his lifetime.
After his death, Milton's critical reception oscillates, a state of affairs that is to continue through the centuries.
At an early stage he becomes the subject of partisan biographies, such as that of John Toland from the nonconformist perspective, and a hostile account by Anthony à Wood.
Samuel Johnson writes unfavorably of his politics as those of "an acrimonious and surly republican"; but praises Paradise Lost: "a poem which, considered with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the human mind".
William Hayley's 1796 biography calls him the "greatest English author".
