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Complete Poems and Major Prose
First published by Odyssey Press in 1957, this classic edition provides Milton's poetry and major prose works, richly annotated, in a sturdy and affordable clothbound volume.
1088 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1957
35 people are currently reading
1069 people want to read
About the author
John Milton
3,612 books2,191 followersPeople best know John Milton, English scholar, for
Paradise Lost
, the epic poem of 1667 and an account of fall of humanity from grace.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
May 10, 2016
Milton is obviously a product of his time and can be annoyingly sexist. However, his writing is thought-provoking, nuanced and well worth a read.
Read
April 28, 2009A must read -- if you happen to enjoy 17th century prose and poetry.
June 11, 2011
you need this. great notes and other editorial materials. will want to supplement it with a separate copy of the eikon basilike, and probably the parker biography.
April 20, 2021
I didn’t read this entire volume of all of Milton’s work for my Milton class because that would just be extreme, but I did read:
Comus: an interesting play for a Puritan Earl. Lots of focus on the power of virginity and virtue. Interesting connection to Circe where Circe’s son uses his magic to seduce women
Areopagitica: political essay on free speech and censorship in response to post publication punishments. I really liked it 😏
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates: Milton’s defense of Charles I’s execution. Interesting discussion of what to do when someone in power is just not good for the people. Of course we talked about Trump in class 💁♂️
Paradise Lost: Whew... Milton does not like brevity and I’ve never felt this relieved to be done with a book. I loved it I hated it I wouldn’t read it again but I’m glad I read it once.
Comus: an interesting play for a Puritan Earl. Lots of focus on the power of virginity and virtue. Interesting connection to Circe where Circe’s son uses his magic to seduce women
Areopagitica: political essay on free speech and censorship in response to post publication punishments. I really liked it 😏
Tenure of Kings and Magistrates: Milton’s defense of Charles I’s execution. Interesting discussion of what to do when someone in power is just not good for the people. Of course we talked about Trump in class 💁♂️
Paradise Lost: Whew... Milton does not like brevity and I’ve never felt this relieved to be done with a book. I loved it I hated it I wouldn’t read it again but I’m glad I read it once.
November 15, 2022
I've only ever encountered Milton in bits and pieces SO for my first semester in grad school I decided to take a Milton seminar course which ended up being changed to an Epic Poetry Survey course (I was honestly kind of annoyed because I didn't sign up for that, but whatever). Anyways, we ended up being able to read only "Paradise Lost" and my god, while that's a small part of this edition, I have to recommend it!
It has some fantastic Milton criticism, helpful footnotes, and has the whole of "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained". I also really loved this edition because of how big the book itself is and the durability of the paper. It made for great ease with marginalia and it meant that the pages were able to withstand my tabs and sticky notes.
It has some fantastic Milton criticism, helpful footnotes, and has the whole of "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise Regained". I also really loved this edition because of how big the book itself is and the durability of the paper. It made for great ease with marginalia and it meant that the pages were able to withstand my tabs and sticky notes.
November 22, 2024
damn, did not think i was gonna like milton this much
May 22, 2018
Why give a finishing date for Milton when I will return to him for solace for the rest of my life. As life is a measure of low expectations, Milton rises to to heaven in his art. The audible aligned with this book is absolutely essential as it brings the text alive, but unfortunately it is abridged.
March 23, 2017
I won't write a long review for this work, as I've written individual reviews for most of the works contained in it (Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Comus, Samson Agonistes, Doctrine of Divorce, Christian Doctrine, etc.).
I picked up this collection about 8 or 9 years ago with the intent of getting to it eventually, never anticipating that it would take me almost a decade to crack it open -- other books beckoning me and always diverting me from visiting Milton. While I was familiar with Paradise Lost inasmuch as it is so entrenched in the cultural lexicon of the Western World, I thought of Milton as likely a bit stale. And it surely helped little that Donald Sutherland's character in Animal House had this to say about that other great English bard (Shakespeare being the first):
I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He's a little bit long-winded, he doesn't translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible.
I began with Paradise Lost, as it was a selection that my reading group decided to tackle, and I actually found that work very fresh, but when I dove back into the earlier poetry of Milton, and then into some of his prose, I did find him a bit more of a bore, to be honest.
But in works like Samson Agonistes, Paradise Regained and his treatises against the monarchy, he showed himself to be an interesting companion -- very erudite, and at times excessively long-winded, but informative. My experiences with John Milton were like a dinner party with a host that one is at first glad to see, but whose presence becomes tiring after a while. I'm pleased to have read Milton, as he has left a major mark on Western literature; and he will not be soon forgotten, but I doubt very highly that I would pay him a visit again (at least not any time in the foreseeable future).
I picked up this collection about 8 or 9 years ago with the intent of getting to it eventually, never anticipating that it would take me almost a decade to crack it open -- other books beckoning me and always diverting me from visiting Milton. While I was familiar with Paradise Lost inasmuch as it is so entrenched in the cultural lexicon of the Western World, I thought of Milton as likely a bit stale. And it surely helped little that Donald Sutherland's character in Animal House had this to say about that other great English bard (Shakespeare being the first):
I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He's a little bit long-winded, he doesn't translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible.
I began with Paradise Lost, as it was a selection that my reading group decided to tackle, and I actually found that work very fresh, but when I dove back into the earlier poetry of Milton, and then into some of his prose, I did find him a bit more of a bore, to be honest.
But in works like Samson Agonistes, Paradise Regained and his treatises against the monarchy, he showed himself to be an interesting companion -- very erudite, and at times excessively long-winded, but informative. My experiences with John Milton were like a dinner party with a host that one is at first glad to see, but whose presence becomes tiring after a while. I'm pleased to have read Milton, as he has left a major mark on Western literature; and he will not be soon forgotten, but I doubt very highly that I would pay him a visit again (at least not any time in the foreseeable future).
March 5, 2008
You can get the Complete Poems in a dozen different editions, so the heart of a new collection like this is in the notes. I hoped the editors would gift us with a new Milton, find some way to shake up the stereotype, but alas, their poet’s the government-issue Great Man swaddled in lightning and footnotes.
Kerrigan, Rumrich, Braden and Fallon—all senior Miltonists, all men—don’t feel much need to justify the grand tone and theological absolutes of the ‘Miltonic’ to our secular, less Baroque age. We also don’t get a real peek into the controversies and battle lines of modern-day Milton studies. The result’s a handsome, helpful, kind of innocuous edition of an indisputably great poet; great in a way that makes you wonder how much work greatness, as Milton and his editors here conceive it, really does anymore.
Kerrigan, Rumrich, Braden and Fallon—all senior Miltonists, all men—don’t feel much need to justify the grand tone and theological absolutes of the ‘Miltonic’ to our secular, less Baroque age. We also don’t get a real peek into the controversies and battle lines of modern-day Milton studies. The result’s a handsome, helpful, kind of innocuous edition of an indisputably great poet; great in a way that makes you wonder how much work greatness, as Milton and his editors here conceive it, really does anymore.
January 31, 2008
Satan is heroic.
June 4, 2020
Note: I read Paradise Lost, not the entire collection!
What a great piece of literature! It was helpful for me to read much of it aloud. The notes by the editor were of great assistance, as was Leland Ryken's short volume in "Christian Guide to the Classics," which I read alongside of it. A greater knowledge of classical mythology would have opened up even more of this work to me, since Milton references it often. Critically important for a good understanding of Paradise Lost is a fair knowledge of the Bible and Christian doctrine.
Milton deals with the issues of sin, justice, and mercy in a powerful way by imagining the reasoning, thoughts, and feelings of Satan, the holy angels, Adam and Eve. All this is in the context of the rebellion of Satan, the creation of the world, the innocence and fall of Adam and Eve and their subsequent expulsion from the garden.
I love the prayer for God to enlighten us regarding these profound truths, which I have memorized to pray myself when studying God's Word:
"So much the rather thou Celestial Light,
Shine inward and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight."
Book III, 51-55
I find the prayer for spiritual "eyes" particularly poignant, since Milton was blind when he wrote this.
What a great piece of literature! It was helpful for me to read much of it aloud. The notes by the editor were of great assistance, as was Leland Ryken's short volume in "Christian Guide to the Classics," which I read alongside of it. A greater knowledge of classical mythology would have opened up even more of this work to me, since Milton references it often. Critically important for a good understanding of Paradise Lost is a fair knowledge of the Bible and Christian doctrine.
Milton deals with the issues of sin, justice, and mercy in a powerful way by imagining the reasoning, thoughts, and feelings of Satan, the holy angels, Adam and Eve. All this is in the context of the rebellion of Satan, the creation of the world, the innocence and fall of Adam and Eve and their subsequent expulsion from the garden.
I love the prayer for God to enlighten us regarding these profound truths, which I have memorized to pray myself when studying God's Word:
"So much the rather thou Celestial Light,
Shine inward and the mind through all her powers
Irradiate, there plant eyes, all mist from thence
Purge and disperse, that I may see and tell
Of things invisible to mortal sight."
Book III, 51-55
I find the prayer for spiritual "eyes" particularly poignant, since Milton was blind when he wrote this.
April 30, 2020
The book, "Complete Poems and Major Prose from John Milton", is a book that many would enjoy reading. Most people will recognize Milton for his famous work, "Paradise Lost", but not only are his prose amazing, but his poems are also entertaining and expressive. One of his first poems was written when he was just fifteen. This is part of why I liked his poems because I was able to relate to some of his subject matter, such as school and young love or infatuation. It was also very enjoyable to read his poems in their Latin version alongside their English translations. I would recommend reading John Milton's book of poems to anyone who likes poetry, and especially anyone who can relate to the thoughts and feelings that go with adolescents.
Read
May 1, 2020 The book, "Complete Poems and Major Prose from John Milton", is a book that many would enjoy reading. Most people will recognize Milton for his famous work, "Paradise Lost", but not only is his prose amazing, but his poems are also entertaining and expressive. One of his first poems was written when he was just fifteen. This is part of why I liked his poems because I was able to relate to some of his subject matter, such as school and young love or infatuation. It was also very enjoyable to read his poems in their Latin version alongside their English translations. I would recommend reading John Milton's book of poems to anyone who likes poetry, and especially anyone who can relate to the thoughts and feelings that go with adolescents.
June 19, 2024
I totally forgot to add this hoe but if you think that I am not going to add this monster to my reading goal this year you gave another thing coming. The prose was sometimes a lot funnier than this pilgrim is given credit for. I can assure he was of medium height. Yeah his poetry isnt for me generally but he was really trying to find some answers to unanswerable questions which I can respect. I just dont love steep enjambment/inverse syntax or the “lower” devices of regained. Also what the fuck was samson? Absolutely bonkers, it should have been about dalia. I really liked lycidas and aeropagitica though. Now those were some bangers
January 4, 2024
Not the version I read, I found an old version from the 1800s in a used bookstore that I can’t find in here. The poems are of course magnificent. One that stands out to me is “on the death of a fair infant dying of a cough.”
July 31, 2017
Turns out that Milton was a pretty good writer.
April 28, 2019
I love Milton. As other reviewers have stated, it is indispensible. It was my text in graduate school and I frequently consult its notes.
November 23, 2019
"IN INVENTOREM BOMBARDAE
Iapetionidem laudavit caeca vetustas,
Qui tulit aetheream solis ab axe facem;
At mihi major erit, qui lurida creditur arma,
Et trifidum fulmen surripuisse Iovi.
(1626?)"
Iapetionidem laudavit caeca vetustas,
Qui tulit aetheream solis ab axe facem;
At mihi major erit, qui lurida creditur arma,
Et trifidum fulmen surripuisse Iovi.
(1626?)"
December 19, 2019
This was the textbook for the Milton course I took my first semester junior year. I wound up buying it. Lucky enough to have made a friend for life
April 23, 2023
Finished paradise lost and didn’t understand a word 🙁✊
September 10, 2023
You love him or you don't. I'm still rereading this tome. The research we did on this for class made everything we were reading make much more sense.
December 14, 2023
john milton sen bir baskasin ve sana bayiliyorum
September 27, 2024
Paradise Lost (9.27.2024)
November 13, 2024
ok wait milton is kind of a genius
January 2, 2025
Needed this book for a class, caved and read it all. Definitely appreciate Milton more now. Had no idea Milton knew Latin.
February 6, 2025
Delightfully exhaustive annotation. Moments of brilliance.
April 24, 2025
Done with this man.
October 28, 2024
It's hard to give a rating for such a wide-ranging collection. Paradise Lost is 5 stars, and the other two epic poems, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes, are quite good as well. I didn't love most of his other poetry, even the more famous ones, though some of the psalm translations were good.
By the way: if you have two hollow legs, take a shot every time that Milton mentions Apollo and/or the Muses.
The prose is generally less fun, but interesting from a historical perspective, even when (or because of how) I wildly disagree with his opinions. Overall I find Milton to be a very intriguing figure, even more so because of how he interacted with the times that he lived in. So this is a long, dense work (possibly the longest book I've ever read, in fact), but I'm glad to have read it.
By the way: if you have two hollow legs, take a shot every time that Milton mentions Apollo and/or the Muses.
The prose is generally less fun, but interesting from a historical perspective, even when (or because of how) I wildly disagree with his opinions. Overall I find Milton to be a very intriguing figure, even more so because of how he interacted with the times that he lived in. So this is a long, dense work (possibly the longest book I've ever read, in fact), but I'm glad to have read it.
June 8, 2018
Milton is certainly one of the main pillars of English poetry. Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agoniste rightly belong to the canon of great Western Literaure. (I'm less enamored of his short poems. And I can't speak for his extensive Latin poetry.) His Satan is one of the most lively characters ever created in literature.
His prose? He is one of the most dense and convoluted writers of prose I ever read. (Only George Washington is more opaque.)
This is a very good, well footnoted edition of his works and one that I recommend. An understanding of Milton's political, historical, literary and religious environment are critical to a full appreciation of his works.
Paradise Lost **** -- Like Dante’s Divine Comedy, Milton’s world is a joyless place lacking compassion. God is a stern dictator, allowing no rebuke and meting out grotesquely disproportionate punishments. Lacking is any acknowledgment of the difficulties of day-to-day life, the sufferings or the heartaches (except as punishments). No relief is offered to the living who are in pain, no succor to those in grief. Obedience, subservience and obsequious behavior are demanded and required under dire threat.
Like The Divine Comedy, don’t look for moral lessons – feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless, clothes to the naked. Forgiveness, charity and spiritual solace have no place. The other world isn’t really interested in those things. That world is all about unquestioning faith, discipline, service and harsh justice. It’s about the punishment of pride and the bending of the spirit.
Like the Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost is built upon some highly speculative notions of Christianity that are hardly mentioned in the Bible (if mentioned at all). Heaven and Hell are barely discussed in the Bible, and purgatory and limbo never broached. If you stand on your head, squint and look at the Bible sideways, you might see something about the order of angels and the fall of Satan.
I say all of this to justify the general trend of people admiring Satan. We moderns tend to dislike authoritarians who rigidly demand obedience to a narrow set of beliefs (most of which are about worshipping the authoritarian). We tend to side with the plucky rebel who stands up to the authoritarian.
It is Satan, too, that makes Paradise Lost live in a way that The Divine Comedy does not. Although a work of great genius, The Divine Comedy is the work of 13th century Italy and the Catholic Church. The Inferno is the most interesting section not because of the horrendous tortures, but because the people are more real. Like Satan.
Without Satan, Paradise Lost is a clever portrayal of 17th century Christian Protestantism. While beautiful, it would have had offered no insight to 21st century mankind. Satan stirs our personal sense of compassion, justice, pity and horror unlike any other character.
An additional note: From my current reading, it is clear that the fault for man’s fall belongs not to Eve, nor Adam, nor even Satan. The culprit is one who failed miserably at his job, whose job was protect the Garden of Eden, whose job was to keep out Lucifer: Gabriel. If he had been able to do his job as assigned, Satan never would have gotten into Eden, Satan never would have tempted Eve, she never would have bitten the forbidden fruit, and mankind would not have been tossed out. Our woes are clearly the fault of the archangel Gabriel. The bungling, inept, incompetent bastard. This is a clear example of criminal negligence enforceable in any court in the country. I judge for the defendant, Eve, mother of mankind, and thereby declare her innocent of eating the forbidden apple due to the negligence of the defendant, Gabriel. As a result, I hereby order god to restore Eden to humankind. Case closed. (Books I-IV 06/2018)
His prose? He is one of the most dense and convoluted writers of prose I ever read. (Only George Washington is more opaque.)
This is a very good, well footnoted edition of his works and one that I recommend. An understanding of Milton's political, historical, literary and religious environment are critical to a full appreciation of his works.
Paradise Lost **** -- Like Dante’s Divine Comedy, Milton’s world is a joyless place lacking compassion. God is a stern dictator, allowing no rebuke and meting out grotesquely disproportionate punishments. Lacking is any acknowledgment of the difficulties of day-to-day life, the sufferings or the heartaches (except as punishments). No relief is offered to the living who are in pain, no succor to those in grief. Obedience, subservience and obsequious behavior are demanded and required under dire threat.
Like The Divine Comedy, don’t look for moral lessons – feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless, clothes to the naked. Forgiveness, charity and spiritual solace have no place. The other world isn’t really interested in those things. That world is all about unquestioning faith, discipline, service and harsh justice. It’s about the punishment of pride and the bending of the spirit.
Like the Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost is built upon some highly speculative notions of Christianity that are hardly mentioned in the Bible (if mentioned at all). Heaven and Hell are barely discussed in the Bible, and purgatory and limbo never broached. If you stand on your head, squint and look at the Bible sideways, you might see something about the order of angels and the fall of Satan.
I say all of this to justify the general trend of people admiring Satan. We moderns tend to dislike authoritarians who rigidly demand obedience to a narrow set of beliefs (most of which are about worshipping the authoritarian). We tend to side with the plucky rebel who stands up to the authoritarian.
It is Satan, too, that makes Paradise Lost live in a way that The Divine Comedy does not. Although a work of great genius, The Divine Comedy is the work of 13th century Italy and the Catholic Church. The Inferno is the most interesting section not because of the horrendous tortures, but because the people are more real. Like Satan.
Without Satan, Paradise Lost is a clever portrayal of 17th century Christian Protestantism. While beautiful, it would have had offered no insight to 21st century mankind. Satan stirs our personal sense of compassion, justice, pity and horror unlike any other character.
An additional note: From my current reading, it is clear that the fault for man’s fall belongs not to Eve, nor Adam, nor even Satan. The culprit is one who failed miserably at his job, whose job was protect the Garden of Eden, whose job was to keep out Lucifer: Gabriel. If he had been able to do his job as assigned, Satan never would have gotten into Eden, Satan never would have tempted Eve, she never would have bitten the forbidden fruit, and mankind would not have been tossed out. Our woes are clearly the fault of the archangel Gabriel. The bungling, inept, incompetent bastard. This is a clear example of criminal negligence enforceable in any court in the country. I judge for the defendant, Eve, mother of mankind, and thereby declare her innocent of eating the forbidden apple due to the negligence of the defendant, Gabriel. As a result, I hereby order god to restore Eden to humankind. Case closed. (Books I-IV 06/2018)
November 23, 2009
Milton is one of those classic authors who are highly praised but seldom read, which is tragic because Paradise Lost is one of the greatest achievements of the English language. Just read this one sentence description of Lucifer's fall: "Him the Almighty Power hurled headlong flaming from th' ethereal sky, with hideous ruin and combustion, down to bottomless perdition, there to dwell in adamantine chains and penal fire, who durst defy th' Omnipotent to arms."
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews