The Poetic Birth: Milton's Poems of 1645

This book offers a reading of most of the poems collected by Milton in his youth and early maturity for Humphrey Moseley's publication of "The Poems of Mr John Milton" in 1645. The edition is examined as a poetic and political manifesto, anticipating many of the ideas more fully discussed in "Paradise Lost". Dr Moseley examines the development of Milton's poetic calling, its origins, authority and national importance, and sets these ideas in their European context. Also explored is Milton's inheritance not only from Classical authors but also from the Italians and Spenser. Dr Moseley then draws attention to the significant structure of the 1645 volume and discusses the manner in which Milton presents material, which was originally written for one audience and context, to another set of readers who knew him as a highly active political figure and who were intended to read this book in the months after the battle of Naseby. A prose translation of all the Latin poems is included.