How Milton used the plague of 1665 as an opportunity, and how we could do the same in these uncertain times.
When the streets
and commerce of London came to a standstill during the London plague in 1665
and the disease began to spread rapidly through the population, those that had
the means and opportunity left the City for the countryside. King Charles II and
his Court first went to Hampton Court and then moved further afield to Oxford.
Other
notable thinkers removed themselves from their London bases and returned to
their original Counties. Isaac Newton returned to his family’s Cambridgeshire
farm. John Milton, who had grown up in Horton, in Buckinghamshire, moved his
household to a little cottage in another Buckinghamshire village at Chalfont St
Giles. Both men used this enforced down-time for creative thinking, and both
made discoveries and progress in their respective fields.
John Milton
moved to Chalfont St Giles in 1665 with his third wife, Elizabeth, 30 years his
junior, whom he had married 2 years earlier. He was 57 years old and by this time
blind and had to dictate his work to his wife and daughters. He had previously led
a busy life as Latin Secretary to the Council of State, a teacher and a scholar
during which time he had published several minor poems, but he had an idea for
an epic poem which had been going round in his mind for some time before he
started writing some opening verses in 1642. Since then he spasmodically added
more verses when his other occupations allowed. During the English Civil War he
made no progress, and he probably resumed writing around 1654. It was only
during his enforced isolation in the peace and quiet of his Buckinghamshire
cottage that he was able to finally complete his greatest work, Paradise Lost, which was published after
the Great Fire of London, in 1667. Without the plague the book might not have
been completed and published at this time.
It is not
often that we are forced to slow down our busy lives and take stock. This time
of self-distancing and isolation should be seen as an opportunity for thought
and reflection. Not only can we re-evaluate our goals and ambitions, but with minds
that are free from the bustle of life we have a chance to encourage the
creative side of our minds. Into our calmer brain will flow ideas and thoughts
that have lain dormant whilst we coped with everyday pressure. We should use
Milton and Newton as an example of how to turn this terrible situation into an
opportunity for personal growth.
