The son could not, as we can well understand if we have read even only a
little of his verse or his prose, be otherwise than strenuous, insistent,
and masterful. To his father he was of course filial and respectful, we
may imagine him even gentle; but conciliatory, yielding, the point being
a vital one, it was not in his nature to be.

What the young Milton desired was to lead a life devoted to literature,
or, more specifically, to poetry. This meant that he wished still to
study a long time, to fathom all learning in all tongues. In college he
had, besides Latin, mastered Greek, French, Italian, and Hebrew. His
conception of a poet was of a most profoundly learned man. He had become
aware of the existence of vast areas of knowledge that he had not yet
explored. Other young men turned aside without misgiving from the
ambition to know everything, and eagerly entered into useful and
lucrative professions. But Milton scorns the thought of applying learning
to the service of material gain. This is his poetical conception of his
duty as a scholar. It will dominate the spirit of his life work. To
understand his feelings at this time both toward his father and toward
his ideals, we must read the Latin poem _Ad Patrem_, of which Professor
Masson gives an English translation.

At Horton, therefore, Milton remains, still subsisting on his father's
bounty. Having come back thither at the age of twenty-three, he continues
to live at home for nearly six years, not yet practising any art by which
to earn a livelihood. Occasionally he goes, on scholarly errands, to
London, which is not far distant. He devotes himself simply to study, and
having the poetic temperament, he cannot help devoting himself also to
observation of nature. His learning becomes immense; his appetite is
insatiable.

To the Horton time belong the "minor poems" not already produced during
the student years at Cambridge. Of the circumstances in which the several
poems were written, an account is given in the Notes in this volume. This
early, or minor, verse of Milton is elicited by passing events, and is
considered to concern only himself and a few friends. For immediate fame
he takes no thought. He feels his immaturity. His ambition contemplates a
distant future, and he meditates plans, as yet undefined and vague, of
some great work that the world shall not willingly let die.

Very important in Milton's intellectual development is his journey to
France and Ita