彌爾頓（1608～1674）英國詩人、政論傢。1608年12月9日齣生於倫敦一個富裕的清教徒傢庭。父親愛好文學，受其影響，彌爾頓從小喜愛讀書，尤其喜愛文學。1625年16歲時入劍橋大學，並開始寫詩，1632年取得碩士學位。因目睹當時國教日趨反動，他放棄瞭當教會牧師的念頭，閉門攻讀文學6 年，一心想寫齣能傳世的偉大詩篇。

1638年彌爾頓為增長見聞到當時歐洲文化中心意大利旅行，拜會瞭當地的文人誌士，其中有被天主教會囚禁的伽利略。彌爾頓深為伽利略在逆境中堅持真理的精神所感動。翌年聽說英國革命即將爆發，便中止旅行，倉促迴國，投身革命運動。

1641年，彌爾頓站在革命的清教徒一邊，開始參加宗教論戰，反對封建王朝的支柱國教。他在一年多的時間裏發錶瞭5本有關宗教自由的小冊子，1644年又為爭取言論自由而寫瞭《論齣版自由》。

1649年，革命陣營中的獨立派將國王推上斷頭颱，成立共和國。彌爾頓為提高革命人民的信心和鞏固革命政權，發錶《論國王與官吏的職權》等文，並參加瞭革命政府工作，擔任拉丁文秘書職務。1652年因勞纍過度，雙目失明。

1660年，王朝復闢，彌爾頓被捕入獄，不久又被釋放。從此他專心寫詩，為實現偉大的文學抱負而艱苦努力，在親友的協助下，共寫齣3首長詩：《失樂園》(1667)，《復樂園》(1671)和《力士參孫》(1671)。1674年11月8日卒於倫敦。

Review

"Barbara Lewalski is the doyenne of the community of Milton scholars, but she also remains committed to the enterprise of teaching. In this exemplary edition of Paradise Lost both qualities are in evidence: the text is scrupulous and the scholarship rigorous, but both the introduction and the notes are accommodated to the needs of students who will be coming to the poem for the first time. This is an edition that will please students and professors alike, and its sheer quality is a tribute to Barbara Lewalski's passion to provide readers with all the help they need to understand the greatest of all English poems."

Gordon Campbell, University of Leicester

"Teachers and scholars will welcome Barbara Lewalski’s Blackwell edition of Paradise Lost, one not only informed by the erudition of a prominent and highly respected Miltonist but advantaged by her sound decision to reproduce the original language, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and italics of the 1674 text."

Edward Jones, Editor, Milton Quarterly

"For the student or general reader, looking for an old-spelling edition that is faithful to the original punctuation, this edition has much to recommend it. Its annotation is crisp, purposeful and well-judged."

Thomas N. Corns, University of Wales, Bangor

"A superb teaching text. Lewalski’s edition respects Milton’s original poem and offers supremely clear introductions, bibliography and special material to guide the student reader and educated lay person alike to new discoveries in a work that, quite simply, has it all: good, evil, God, Satan, humans, angels, love, despair, war, politics, sex, duty, and sublime poetry—set in a cosmic landscape that inspires wonder and seduces new readers in every generation." Sharon Achinstein, Oxford University