On this date in 1608 -- John Milton born in London, England

from Writer's Almanac (Minn. Public Radio daily e-program on NPR) --

It's the birthday of poet John Milton, born in London (1608). He spent most of his life writing political tracts. He sided with Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War, and he advocated for freedom of the press, freedom to divorce, and the moral right of the people to overthrow a monarch. He got a job as Secretary of Foreign Tongues, composing official materials for the Commonwealth in Latin. Just three years after his appointment, he went totally blind from glaucoma at the age of 43. So from then on, he had to dictate. His main assistant was the poet Andrew Marvell. After the Commonwealth was overthrown in 1660 and Charles was restored to the throne, Milton feared for his life. But partly through the interventions of Marvell, he was spared, and retired to the country.

And it was there that he dictated his great epic poem Paradise Lost to a collection of nephews, friends, and hired scribes -- and maybe his daughters, although there is plenty of debate about whether the girls had even been taught to write. He often composed in the early morning, in bed or sitting in a rocking chair, reciting lines to himself until someone came to write them down. After scribes had written down Milton's words, he would have them read the passage back to him so he could correct it. When it was finally completed to his satisfaction, Milton sold Paradise Lost in 1667. He agreed on a price of four £5 payments -- the first upfront, the second after it sold 1,300 copies, the third after a second edition was brought out and sold as many copies, and a fourth payment after a third edition of the same volume. Milton made £10 on Paradise Lost before his death in 1674.
Milton coined more than 600 words, including the adjectives dreary, flowery, jubilant, satanic, saintly, terrific, ethereal, sublime, impassive, unprincipled, dismissive, and feverish; as well as the nouns fragrance, adventurer, anarchy, and many more.