hangman, June 16; escapes proscription, nevertheless; arrested by
the Serjeant-at-Arms, but released by order of the Commons,
December 15; removes to Holborn; his pecuniary losses and
misfortunes; the undutiful behaviour of his daughters; marries
Elizabeth Minshull, February, 1663; lives successively in Jewin
Street and in Artillery Walk, Bunhill Fields; particulars of his
private life; "Paradise Lost" completed in or about 1663;
agreement for its publication with Samuel Symmons; difficulties
with the licenser; poem published in August, 1667.

CHAPTER VII. 152

Place of "Paradise Lost" among the great epics of the world; not
rendered obsolete by changes in belief; the inevitable defects of
its plan compensated by the poet's vital relation to the religion
of his age; Milton's conception of the physical universe; his
theology; magnificence of his poetry; his similes; his
descriptions of Paradise; inevitable falling off of the later
books; minor critical objections mostly groundless; his diction;
his indebtedness to other poets for thoughts as well as phrases;
this is not plagiarism; his versification; his Satan compared with
Calderon's Lucifer; plan of his epic, whether in any way suggested
by Andreini, Vondel, or Ochino; his majestic and unique position
in English poetry.

CHAPTER VIII. 173

Milton's migration to Chalfont St. Giles to escape the plague in
London, July, 1665; subject of "Paradise Regained" suggested to
him by the Quaker Ellwood; his losses by the Great Fire, 1666;