John Milton (1608-1674)
English poet, among whose most famous works are Lycidas, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes. He became closely involved with the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War, and acted as official propagandist for Cromwell's regime. During this time he largely gave up writing poetry, instead publishing political pamphlets in support of the Commonwealth. After the Restoration he returned to writing poetry, including his masterpiece Paradise Lost. He has been described as "a poet second only to Shakespeare". Milton was admitted to Christ's College in 1624, gaining his BA in 1628 and his MA in 1632.
Due to the generous support of Miles Millar (m.1987) and his wife Charlotte, the College has obtained Rupert Brooke’s copy of the privately printed facsimile of theTrinity manuscript of Milton’s poems (pictured below), which was given to Brooke in 1909 by Frances Darwin and Francis Cornford.