约翰·弥尔顿(1608——1674)是17世纪英国资产阶级革命的坚强斗士和杰出的政论家,也是地位仅次于莎士比亚的伟大诗人。1651年,年方42岁的弥尔顿,因积劳过度导致双目失明。弥尔顿生于伦敦一个富裕的公证人家庭。良好的家庭教育不仅对诗人的思想产生了深刻的影响,而且使他从小喜爱读书,尤爱文学。1625年,16岁的弥尔顿入剑桥大学读书,1632年毕业。就读剑桥大学期间,他便开始用拉丁文、英文写诗和哲学论文。对实现使自己成为“一首真正的诗”的伟大理想,他孜孜不倦地勤学苦读。1631年他写的姊妹诗篇《快乐的人》和《幽思的人》,都是寓深意于典雅中的英语佳作。 John Milton (1608-1674) was a strong fighter and distinguished political commentator in the 17th century British bourgeois revolution and the great poet just behind Shakespeare. In 1651, Milton, 42, was blinded by excessive labor. Milton was born in London to a wealthy notary family. Good family education not only had a profound impact on the poet’s thinking, but also made him love reading and love literature. In 1625, 16-year-old Milton studied at Cambridge University and graduated in 1632. During his time at Cambridge, he began to write poetry and philosophical essays in Latin and English. He diligently studied hard to realize the great ideal of making himself a “real poem.” His sister poems, “Happy Man” and “Meditating Man,” written in 1631, are all English masterpieces with deep meaning in elegance.