* English poet, polemicist, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell.
* Best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.
* Also wrote Paradise Regained (1671), Samson Agonistes (1671), and many sonnets, including "On His Blindness".
* Became totally blind by 1652, but continued to write with the help of assistants.