Biomaterial Database

The blindness of John Milton. 1995

G B Bartley

Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.

John Milton (1608-1674) often has been regarded as the greatest poet of his time, yet he did not compose his most famous work, Paradise Lost, until after he had become blind in both eyes. On the basis of clues in Milton's writings, several possible diagnoses have been advanced to explain his loss of vision. The evidence for and against each theory is presented.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008093	Literature, Modern	Writings originating from the 15th century A.D. to the present	Modern Literature
D008131	London	The capital of the United Kingdom. It is located in England.
D011037	Poetry as Topic	Works about the literary and oral genre expressing meaning via symbolism and following formal or informal patterns.
D001766	Blindness	The inability to see or the loss or absence of perception of visual stimuli. This condition may be the result of EYE DISEASES; OPTIC NERVE DISEASES; OPTIC CHIASM diseases; or BRAIN DISEASES affecting the VISUAL PATHWAYS or OCCIPITAL LOBE.	Amaurosis,Bilateral Blindness,Blindness, Bilateral,Blindness, Legal,Blindness, Monocular,Blindness, Unilateral,Sudden Visual Loss,Unilateral Blindness,Blindness, Acquired,Blindness, Complete,Blindness, Hysterical,Blindness, Transient,Acquired Blindness,Amauroses,Bilateral Blindnesses,Complete Blindness,Hysterical Blindness,Legal Blindness,Monocular Blindness,Sudden Visual Losses,Transient Blindness,Visual Loss, Sudden
D005197	Famous Persons	Individuals widely known or recognized.	Famous Person,Persons, Famous
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D049670	History, 17th Century	Time period from 1601 through 1700 of the common era.	17th Century History,17th Cent. History (Medicine),17th Cent. History of Medicine,17th Cent. Medicine,Historical Events, 17th Century,History of Medicine, 17th Cent.,History, Seventeenth Century,Medical History, 17th Cent.,Medicine, 17th Cent.,17th Cent. Histories (Medicine),17th Century Histories,Cent. Histories, 17th (Medicine),Century Histories, Seventeenth,Century History, 17th,Century History, Seventeenth,Histories, 17th Cent. (Medicine),Histories, 17th Century,Histories, Seventeenth Century,History, 17th Cent. (Medicine),Seventeenth Century Histories,Seventeenth Century History