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ELA 12: 3.8 The Talented Mr. Milton 10504 Views
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Description:
Remember John Milton? Like Paradise Lost Milton? Turns out he was known for more than just his epic poem.
Transcript
- 00:00
well john milton might be known primarily for writing Paradise Lost, but
- 00:06
he was no one-trick pony. although if he had been a pony who had [Milton and his work pictured]
- 00:10
managed to write an epic poem well it'd be an awfully impressive trick.
- 00:14
Milton spent a large chunk of time is a civil servant in the government of
- 00:17
Oliver Cromwell ,the Lord Protector of England .sounds like a better paying gig.
Full Transcript
- 00:23
although to be fair searching for change in between couch cushions
- 00:27
also tends to pay better than being a poet. okay so even though England has
- 00:31
long been a monarchy ,there was a brief period between 1649 and 1660 when it [man holds change found in couch]
- 00:36
wasn't. instead it was a Republican Commonwealth led by Cromwell. well as it
- 00:42
happened Milton and Cromwell had a few things in common. while history doesn't
- 00:45
tell us whether they went to the same barber, we do know that they were both
- 00:49
Puritans, and thought the Church of England needed to be reformed to get
- 00:53
away from all the elaborate ceremonies and power structures of Catholicism.
- 00:57
Milton used his powers of persuasion on behalf of Puritan rule by writing essays [Milton and Cromwell pictured together]
- 01:01
that were published in pamphlets. sure a treatise of civil power might not be the
- 01:07
most poetic thing ever written, Milton didn't write it to help people
- 01:10
Lou prospective lovers .for that you really need the second edition of the
- 01:15
ready and easy way to establishing a free Commonwealth.
- 01:19
works every time. Milton's biography has another quirk that you might not guess. [woman swoons over Milton's book]
- 01:23
he spent much of his life completely blind.
- 01:26
luckily for Milton and for us he was still able to write in spite of his
- 01:31
condition. he just needed other people to write down his work for him.
- 01:34
unfortunately these folks didn't get to transcribed by credits but hey they were
- 01:39
there to help the glory . Milton even got some poetic inspiration out of his [students hard at work]
- 01:44
situation. the poem when I consider how my light is spent, meditates on how he
- 01:49
might serve God given his blindness. though when all was said and done Milton
- 01:53
managed to overcome his disability becoming arguably the best poet who was
- 01:57
also a blind civil servant. well top five anyway. oh boy! [Milton awarded trophy]
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