Author Archives: Emma Pitts

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In August 1619, Francis Lodowyck was born in London to Waldrave Lodowyck and Judith Roussel, prominent members of the London Dutch church. Self-educated, Francis became a wealthy merchant like his father, trading in books and cloth on the Continent, but … Continued

Paradise Lost is the most influential work of poet and polemicist John Milton (1608-1674). In it, Milton’s speaker claims to seek the means to “justify the ways of God to men.” The epic poem, written in blank verse, recounts a … Continued

In 1671, four years after Paradise Lost, Milton published Paradise Regained, a Poem in IV Books, to which is Added Samson Agonistes. In 1665 the Quaker Thomas Ellwood reportedly read Paradise Lost in manuscript form and suggested Milton also give … Continued

The notable Digger Gerrard Winstanley was born in October 1609 in Lancashire, a predominantly Royalist region in the mid seventeenth century. There are no concrete details on his early childhood, but it is assumed he attended a state-sponsored grammar school … Continued

“The Description of Cookham” was first published in 1611 in Aemilia Lanyer’s volume of poetry Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum.  Lanyer lived from 1569-1645.  The poem is a farewell to the beloved estate Cookham and its lady, the Countess of Cumberland; … Continued

“Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum” was first published in 1611 in Aemilia Lanyer’s volume of poetry by the same title, though the year it was written is unknown. Lanyer lived from 1569-1645. The poem addresses the Passion of Christ, contrasting the … Continued