Miltonic prose by is

Milton’s Prose works
"Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden." (from Paradise Lost, John Milton)
John Milton(9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) ,the worthy son of England was a poet, polemicist, diplomat, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England.
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John Milton (1608-1674)
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Milton’s prose
Milton was a man of letters, a polemical writer, and an official serving under
Oliver Cromwell.
He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval in England.
Both his poetry and prose reflect deep convictions and deal with contemporary issues. His treatise condemning licensing, political pamphlets and Areopagitica are stamped with his distinctive prose style and ornamentation.
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Statue of Milton in Temple of British Worthies, stowe
Milton was well conversant in Latin and Italian.
He wrote in all the three languages.
Even his English was Latinized to a great extent.
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The prose works of the great poet belong to his second period of literary activity.
This period begins from 1639 and extends to 1660.
It was the period of Civil War in England and Milton plunged headlong into the vortex of the conflict between King Charles and his people.
He penned a number of prose pamphlets on Church,Government,Divorce and the justice and also on King’s execution.
His greatest prose tract is Areopagitica---a speech for the liberty of unlicensed printing.
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Milton Dictates the Lost Paradise to His Three Daughters, c. 1826. Artist: Eugène Delacroix
The sole exceptions to the prose were a dozen ‘occasional’ sonnets.
Restoration of Monarchy in 1660 restored his poetical zeal and his prose writing career of nearly 20 years came to an end .
Milton’s prose is ,intricate, involved and Latinized. English prose develops in the direction of order ,simplicity, clarity and of course, lucidity in his hand.
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The case of Milton’s prose writings is peculiar.
He was a poet in essence.
But he was plunged into the thick of the political and religious feud of the time from 1639 to 1660.
He wrote reformative pamphlets on Church,Government,Divorce ,Liberty etc.
Their subjects belong to his time and have little interest for modern readers.
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Milton’s prose

Altogether he wrote 21 pamphlets in English ,besides some in Latin.
Some of the most beautiful sentences of Areopagitica are still quoted.
They are also interesting as pieces of self-revelation.
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Milton’s Prose

Milton’s prose style
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Like his poetry ,Milton showed distinction in his prose also.
The pamphlets are imprecisions cast off at the white heat of controversy and hurried through the press.
Milton himself considered them as inferior.
They make formidable reading.
The author is careless of the shape and limits of sentences.
Sometimes sentences run through whole pages, meandering in endless bypaths and the reader is apt to lose himself in a labyrinth.

A passionate vehemence marks his prose.
Rich, fancy and ripe scholarship through it is beyond the range of the understanding of the ordinary.
In short, it is in the prose of the great poet who is thrown into the thick of a flight.
Milton’s prose possesses Latin syntax and is magniloquent.
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Milton’s Prose

CREDITS & BORROWINGS:-
www.en.wikipedea.org
www.online-literature.comwww.luminarium.org
History of English Literature by W.J.Long
Life of Milton by Dr.Samuel Johnson
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Milton’s prose

A Presentation for academic usage by
IndranilSarkar
Assam/India
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Milton’s prose

Miltonic prose by is

by Indranil Sarkar

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