Eden renewed

by Peter Levi

"Milton, said Dryden, was the author of 'the most noble poem of his age and nation'; perfecter of the English epic and greatest poet of the Sublime, he was also a profound classical scholar, highly placed revolutionary and outstanding Christian apologist." "His life can be separated into three overlapping parts: the poet of the early years who wrote the beautiful, lyrical poems, Lycidas, 'L'Allegro', Comus and 'Hymn on the Morning of Christ's Nativity'; the writer of political and theological pamphlets; and the blind, majestic old man who wrote Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. In Eden Renewed Peter Levi links together these three lives, tracing Milton's poetic career and placing it in the artistic and political context of his times." "Levi offers his own translations of Milton's little-read Latin verse and his interpretations of Milton's prose works, which are hard to reconcile with the lyricism of the early poetry. In doing so he gives a full picture of the great