英國文學史

James Boswell was born in Edinburgh, the son of Alexander Boswell, Lord Auchinleck, who was a judge in the supreme courts of Scotland. As a Scottish lawyer, essayist, known for his two-volume biography THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D (1791), published seven years after the death of its subject. Boswell met Dr. Samuel Johnson in May 1763 in Davies's London bookshop and the two became fast friends. He recorded in detail Johnson's words and activities in a relatively short period. Later the historian Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859) called Boswell's worship of Dr. Johnson "Lues Boswelliana, or disease of admiration."

Joseph Addison, English essayist, poet, dramatist and man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison, later dean of Lichfield, was born May 1st, 1672, Milston, Wiltshire, Eng. — died June 17, 1719, London. His poem on the Battle of Blenheim, The Campaign, brought him to the attention of leading Whigs and paved the way to important government posts and literary fame. With Richard Steele, he was leading contributor to and guiding spirit. One of the most admired masters of English prose, he brought to perfection the periodical essay.

Jonathan Swift was born in Ireland in 1667,He spent many years in England and working closely with the British government. During this time, he witnessed waste,corruption,and fierce power struggles between rival political parties and religious factions. When he returned to Ireland during 1714, Swift saw firsthand the ill effects of Britain's social and economic policies on the Irish people and became a leading advocate for Irish independence. He also belonged to the Anglican Church. Gulliver's Travels, a story set and written in the same historical era, was published after Swift returned to Ireland and became dean of the Protestant St. Patrick's Cathedral. Drawing on his experience of the times, he created a series of outrageous adventures that exposed aspects of government, war, and human nature.

Milton is hard to read, it takes me a lot of time to understand it. The most part I like is the story contains many classical and Renaissance epic conceits: it concerns heavenly and earthly beings and the interactions between them; it uses conventions such as epic similes, catalogues of people and places, and invocations to a muse; and it contains themes common to epics, such as war, nationalism, empire, and stories of origin. Milton set out not just to tell the story of the Fall of Man but also to "justify the ways of God to men." It is frequently remarked that God is a secondary character and Satan is the most well-developed. (May. 17, 2010)

John Milton's response --- May. 4, 2010

The poet John Milton was born on December 9, 1608, into a rich bourgeois family. He used work as a scrivener a legal secretary and had been married three times in his whole life. During his last marriage he finishing his incredible work, the epic, Paradise Lost. (1667), Milton also wrote seminal political and religious essays and pamphlets that were not only highly influential in their time, but remain significant contributions to the canon of libertarian thought. Among the greatest works ever to be written in English, the feat is all the more remarkable for Milton's blindness.