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Nov. 8: John Milton


John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell. Wikipedia
Born: December 9, 1608, Cheapside, City of London, United Kingdom
Died: November 8, 1674, Chalfont St Giles, United Kingdom
Poems: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, Lycidas, MORE
Plays: Samson Agonistes, Comus, Arcades
Quotes
A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heav'n of hell, a hell of heav'n.
Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.
They also serve who only stand and wait.

"Before the starry threshold of Jove’s court 
My mansion is, where those immortal shapes 
Of bright aerial Spirits live insphered 
In regions mild of calm and serene air, 
Above the smoke and stir of this dim spot 
Which men call Earth, and, with low-thoughted care,
Confined and pestered in this pinfold here,
Strive to keep up a frail and feverish being,
Unmindful of the crown that Virtue gives,
After this mortal change, to her true servants
Amongst the enthronèd gods on sainted seats.
Yet some there be that by due steps aspire
To lay their just hands on that golden key
That opes the Palace of Eternity."
—from "Comus, a Mask" (1634) by John Milton
350 years ago on this day, 27th April 1667, John Milton, blind, poor and out of favour with the Restoration authorities, sold the copyright to his epic, Paradise Lost for just £10. An early example of authors getting squeezed!鬥士參孫

激情全消融， all passion spent. 
The Hogarth Press
http://hcshakespeare.blogspot.tw/…/all-passion-spent-hogart…

BBC Radio 4
5月7日 18:46
"Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."


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