When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
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To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest He returning chide,
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
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That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts. Who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
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Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

Iz Šolskih zvezkov, Gimnazija Vič, 1961

John Milton (1608 – 1674), angleški pesnik --- V zgodnjih letih je pisal elegije in pesnitve o naravi (Lycidas, L'Allegro, Il Penseroso), za časa puritanske revolucije predvsem politične, ideološke in verske spise. V zadnjem obdobju je objavil ep Izgubljeni raj, Znova pridobljeni raj (Paradise regained) in dramo Samson Agonistes. Pisal pa je tudi poezijo (mdr. angleške sonete). Veliko čas je namenil pisanju razprav, traktatov in pamfletov, teme pa so bile zelo raznolike: cerkvena vladavina (zagovarjal je odpravo škofovskega sistema), vzgoja, svoboda tiska in govora, pravica do ločitve, politika, ... Njegova dela so zaznamovala razvoj evropske in angleške književnosti, še posebej pa angleško romantiko.