A study of the poetry and prose of John Milton (1608-74), with a look at some examples of his decisive influence on the literary, political, and religious writing of succeeding centuries. The course will examine the poet's three major works, Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes, attending as well to the central schools of Milton criticism of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Topics to be explored will include Milton's shocking innovations in poetic form, political philosophy, and religious belief, as well as his controversial treatment of such subjects as the relation of the sexes, the right to divorce, and the ongoing permissibility of polygamy. In addition to the major works of Milton, noted above, the course will feature an additional examination of Milton's indelible mark on the poet William Blake, whose Book of Urizen we will study as a critique of Milton's representation of the creation of the universe.