John Milton was born in London in 1608 (Merriman). His grandfather was a Roman Catholic who had disowned Milton's father when he became a Protestant (Merriman). The boy was sent to St. Paul's school, where he learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew and began to try to write poetry (Merriman). In 1625 he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, fell out with his tutor the following year and was suspended, returned and was given another tutor, and graduated on time (Merriman). In those days the University was still committed to teaching largely through repeated memorization, and Milton believed that his education there was of little value (Merriman). He committed himself to a liberal education through extensive reading (Merriman). His father had hoped to make him a lawyer, but took it very well when his son announced that he intended to make writing poetry his life's work (Merriman). In 1629, at the age of 21, he wrote a short poem, "The Morning of the Nativity of Christ", his first memorable work, still widely read at Christmas (Merriman). Between 1641 and 1660 Milton wrote almost no poetry (Merriman). This was the period when the English Puritans were planning to overthrow the English monarchy on the grounds that it imposed taxes illegally (and was, moreover, in cahoots with the evil English Church (Merriman). Milton wholeheartedly believed in the Puritan cause , and set aside his poetry to write pamphlets in defense of various aspects of freedom as he saw it (Merriman) 16. After a few months, he returned home to his family (Merriman). their differences and Mary returned to her husband (Merriman). (Johnson). Discredited, he is recognized as one of the greatest English poets of all time and compared to Shakespeare. Works Cited Albright, Matthew. "Paradise Lost Study Guide: Summary and Analysis of Books I-III." GradeSaver, May 11, 2000 Web. November 29, 2013.Merriman, CD Jalic Inc. Copyright Jalic Inc. 2008. http://www.online-literature.com/milton/. November 29, 2013. “John Milton.” 2013. The Biography Channel website. December 3, 2013, 02:43 http://www.biography.com/people/john-milton-9409395. Rabb, Kate Milner. “The story of Paradise regained”. Authoroma, September 1896. Web. 29 November 2013. Johnson, Samuel. Lives of the most eminent English poets. London: Dove, 1826.