aid that he would willingly sacrifice his eyesight on the altar of
liberty. He accordingly wrote in reply his _Pro Populo Anglicano
Defensio_, a Latin work, which was published in 1651. This effort cost
him his eyesight. In 1652, at the age of forty-three, he was totally
blind. In his _Paradise Lost_, he thus alludes to his affliction:--

"Thus with the year
Seasons return; but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of even or morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom or summer's rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But clouds instead and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men
Cut off."

Life after the Restoration.--In 1660, when Charles II. was made
king, the leaders of the Commonwealth had to flee for their lives.
Some went to America for safety while others were caught and executed.
The body of Cromwell was taken from its grave in Westminster Abbey,
suspended from the gallows and left to dangle there. Milton was
concealed by a friend until the worst of the storm had blown over.
Then some influential friends interceded for him, and his blindness
probably won him sympathy.

[Illustration: COMUS TITLE PAGE.]

During his old age his literary work was largely dependent on the
kindness of friends, who read to him, and acted as his amanuenses. His
ideas of woman having been formed in the light of the old
dispensation, he had not given his three daughters such an education
as might have led them to take a sympathetic interest in his work.
They accordingly resented his calling on them for help.

During this period of his life, when he was totally blind, he wrote
_Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained_, and _Samson Agonistes_. He died in
1674, and was buried beside his father in the chancel of St. Giles,
Cripplegate, London.

Minor Poems.--In 1629, while Milton was a student at Cambridge, and
only twenty-one years old, he wrote a fine lyrical poem, entitled _On
the Morning of Christ's Nativity_. These 244 lines of verse show that
he did not need to be taught the melody of song any more than a young
nightingale.

Four remarkable poems were written during his years of studious
leisure at Horton,--_L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus,_ and _Lycidas.
L'Allegro_ describes the charms of a merry social life, and _Il
Penseroso_ voices the quiet but deep enjoyment of the scholar in
retirement. These two poems have been universal favourites.

_Comus_ is a species of dramatic compositio