Steve: I'm glad you said Shakespeare is arguably the greatest writer ever. Many critics and writers have felt that Milton is the greatest. Milton had a tremendous impact on the world even though he only wrote for "the fit though few." He aided Oliver Cromwell in deposing King Charles which brought about a domino effect in Europe's disempowerment of royalty. I mentioned on a different post I wrote about a professor I had saying;" Shakespeare knew everything. Milton was the last person to know everything. Because he'd read everything." Milton influenced every noted Romantic poet and William Blake, the great visionary, believed Milton was greater than Shakespeare. Blake believed that Milton was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ, as well. Certainly, Milton was the most educated man who ever lived and he had a total photographic memory. T.S. Eliot and other critics who disagreed with Milton's spiritual beliefs said he had a tremendous poetic ability. Milton brought poetic change with his introduction of the ode, elegy ( read
Lycidas, an elegy, and you'll become a Milton fan ) and the masque, for example from other languages.
Ooops! Forgot to mention Cromwell made Milton an Ambassador of foreign tongues in his new government because it is estimated that Milton could speak and write about 15 languages. Few people
realize that Milton was not only or arguably the greatest poet but he was the best and most influential prose writer. His polemics such as the towering "Aereopagitica" allowed him to usher in 17th century ideas like free will, freedom of speech, the option of divorce, the necessity for church and government to
ALWAYS be separate, the necessity for popular culture, the corruption of clergymen, objections to hatred
and pornography. He has influenced the U.S. Constitution and Jefferson and Adams admired Milton and
turned the evil in the supreme epic"Paradise Lost" at England. In the 18th century, almost all writers and readers saw Milton's Satan as a tragic, all-too-human character. In PL we see the plot and ideas of books
such as Moby Dick and 1984, for example, where the enemy is insurmountable. Byron said PL's "Satan
led a noble revolt against political tyranny." Milton's Satan is the most complex and widely discussed character amongst critics. He fights a foe who is much stronger showing courage, and when he meets his son and daughter at the gates of hell he does not sacrifice them but bonds with them. Furthermore,
in Pandemonium ( a Milton coinage ) there are four demons who express different views on how to wage war. In heaven, Milton's God does not tolerate free thinking but is dogmatic. Remember Blake's famous
line "Milton was a true poet and of the devil's party without knowing it." Milton knew that we have conflicting feelings of good and evil and he expressed every possible idea about them WHILE referring to every literary work that went before him in many languages. PL is 12 books and Milton had to remember quotes
from everywhere and make his references. He was old and totally blind when he dictated PL to his daughter. He had no books or library to look things up! PL is so strange such as Eve emerging as a much
stronger character than Adam at the end. But, there are references Milton makes about strange beings living on other worlds or planets ( I believe there were four ). Milton had travelled to Italy before and knew Gallileo and it is intriguing to know what they talked about. PL is still being sorted out by critics and many
perceptive readers skip Milton because they think he was religious. But, Milton has had a trendous impact
on the way Westerners think and feel. His influence can't be overestimated. So, he's my choice for the
greatest writer. -Greg Note: Every major English speaking university offers courses only about Milton and other courses only about Shakespeare - that speaks volumes.
Greg Bauder has a BA in English and has had five books published about schizophrenia, a disease he's had for 31 years.
) Who would you say are the pinnacles of other languages? Here are some of my suggestions, which, in this case, are extremely arguable!
