ith mind
unimpaired and serene, he _d._ peacefully on November 8, 1674. In M. the
influences of the Renaissance and of Puritanism met. To the former he
owed his wide culture and his profound love of everything noble and
beautiful, to the latter his lofty and austere character, and both these
elements meet in his writings. Leaving Shakespeare out of account, he
holds an indisputable place at the head of English poets. For strength of
imagination, delicate accuracy and suggestiveness of language, and
harmony of versification, he is unrivalled, and almost unapproached; and
when the difficulties inherent in the subject of his great masterpiece
are considered, the power he shows in dealing with them appears almost
miraculous, and we feel that in those parts where he has failed, success
was impossible for a mortal. In his use of blank verse he has, for
majesty, variety, and music, never been approached by any of his
successors. He had no dramatic power and no humour. In everything he
wrote, a proud and commanding genius manifests itself, and he is one of
those writers who inspire reverence rather than affection. His personal
appearance in early life has been thus described, "He was a little under
middle height, slender, but erect, vigorous, and agile, with light brown
hair clustering about his fair and oval face, with dark grey eyes."

SUMMARY.--_B._ 1608, _ed._ at St. Paul's School and Camb., and while at
the latter wrote earlier poems including _The Nativity_ and Sonnets,
lived for 6 years at Horton and wrote _L'Allegro_, _Il Penseroso_,
_Arcades_, _Comus_, and _Lycidas_, travelled in France and Italy 1638,
settled in London, entered on his political and controversial labours,
and wrote _inter alia_ on _Reform of Discipline_ 1641, _Divorce_ 1643-45,
_Education_ 1644, _Areopagitica_ 1644, and the two _Defences_ 1650 and
1654, appointed Latin Sec. 1649, this period closed by Restoration 1660,
_Paradise Lost_ written 1658-64, _pub._ 1667, _Paradise Regained_ and
_Samson Agonistes_ 1671, _d._ 1674, _m._ first 1643 Mary Powell, second
1652 Katharine Woodcock, third 1663 Eliz. Minshull, who survived till
1727.

_Life_ by Prof. Masson (_6_ vols. 1859-80), also short Lives by M.
Patteson (1880), Garnett (1889). Ed. of _Works_ by Boydell, Sir E.
Brydges, and Prof. Masson.

MINOT, LAURENCE (1300?-1352?).--Poet. Nothing is certainly known of him.
He may have been a soldier. He celebrates in northern English and with a
somewhat fe