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John Milton
失明詩人彌爾頓
One of the greatest poets of the English language, John Milton, is best-known for his epic poem Paradise Lost. Mihon’s powerful prose and poetry had an immense influence especially on the 18th-century verse. Besides poems, Milton published pamphlets defending civil and religious rights,
彌爾頓是用英語寫作的最著名的詩人之一，他創(chuàng)作的史詩《失樂園》享譽(yù)世界。彌爾頓氣勢鎊礴的散文和詩歌對18世紀(jì)的韻文寫作影響深遠(yuǎn)。除了詩歌，彌爾頓還發(fā)表了維護(hù)民權(quán)和宗教權(quán)利的小冊子。
John Milton was born into a rich family In London. Milton’s first teachers were his father, from whom he inherited love for art and music, and the writer Thomas Young, a graduate of St Andrews University.
約翰彌爾頓出生于倫敦的一個富裕家庭。彌爾頓的啟蒙老師是他的父親和畢業(yè)于圣安德魯大學(xué)的作家托馬斯楊。彌爾頓繼承了父親對藝術(shù)和音樂的熱愛。
Milton traveled in France and Italy in the late 1630s, meeting in Paris the jurist and theologian Hugo Grotius and the astronomer Galileo Gaiilei in Florence. Milton returned to London in 1639, and set up a school with his nephews. He had planned to write an epic based on the Arthurian legends, but then gave up his literary pursuits, partly due to the Civil War, which divided the country as Oliver Cromwell fought against the king, Charles I.
17世紀(jì)30年代晚期，彌爾頓到法國和意大利旅游，并在巴黎和佛羅倫薩分別遇到法理學(xué)家、神學(xué)家胡果格勞秀斯和天文學(xué)家伽利略伽利雷。1639年，彌爾頓回到英國，和他的侄子們共同創(chuàng)辦了一個學(xué)校。他原本打算根據(jù)亞瑟王的傳奇寫一部史詩，但后來由于英國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)和其他一些原因，他放棄了這個計劃。在英國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)中，奧利弗克倫威爾起兵反對國王查理一世，國家被分裂了。
England was in a great state of flux during his lifetime. Milton sided with the Puritans and Oliver Cromwell, rejected popular political and religious beliefs, adopted an anti-royalist stance against King Charles I，and joined the pamphlet wars, writing many pamphlets on the Church of England. Milton also wrote pamphlets on various political issues like free speech and the censorship exerted by Parliament as in Areopagitica.
在彌爾頓的有生之年，英格蘭一直局勢動蕩。彌爾頓站在清教徒和克倫威爾一邊，反對主流政治和宗教信仰，采取反保皇主義者立場，反對國王査理一世，還奮筆疾書，寫了很多關(guān)于英國國教的小冊子。彌爾頓還寫了其他小冊子，討論眾多政治議題，如他在《論出版自由》中談到了言論自由和議會實施的審査制度。
Milton was appointed Cromweirs Latin secretary of foreign affairs and wrote many articles in defense of the republicanism. Milton’s poor eyesight, which was born with, was increasingly worsened over time and the intensive work led to his blindness.
彌爾頓被任命為克倫威爾的外交事務(wù)拉丁語秘書，并寫了很多維護(hù)共和制的文章。彌爾頓天生就視力不佳，隨著時間的推移，他的視力日益下降，高強(qiáng)度的工作最終導(dǎo)致了他的失明。
After the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, Milton was arrested as a noted defender of the republicanism, but was soon released, Milton escaped from more punishment, but he became a poor man because he was forced to pay a massive fine. The manuscript of Paradise Lost he sold for 5 pounds to Samuel Simmons, and was promised another 5 pounds if the first edition of 1,300 copies sold out.
作為知名的共和制擁護(hù)者，彌爾頓在査理二世1660年復(fù)辟后被捕，但很快就被釋放。雖然彌爾頓逃脫了更多的懲罰，但他卻因被迫付一大筆罰金而變得窮困潦倒。彌爾頓以5英鎊的價格把《失樂園》的手 稿賣給了塞繆爾西蒙斯。西蒙斯承諾，如果第一版的 1300本書售完，他還可以再拿到5英鎊。
Milton created a powerful and sympathetic portrait of Satan in Paradise Lost. His character bears similarities with Shakespeare’s hero-villains Iago and Macbeth. Milton’s view ’ influenced deeply such Romantic poets as William Blake and Percy Bysshe Shelley, who regarded Satan as the real hero-a rebel against the tyranny of Heaven.
彌爾頓在《失樂園》中創(chuàng)造了一個強(qiáng)有力而又令人同情的撒旦形象。他創(chuàng)造的角色和莎士比亞創(chuàng)造的亦正亦邪的埃古和麥克白有相似之處。浪漫主義詩人如威廉布萊克和珀西比希雪萊深受彌爾頓的影響。 他們把撒旦視作真正的英雄——一個與天國暴政抗?fàn)幍姆纯拐摺?/p>
