Few collections of John Milton’s poetry were published during his lifetime. His first printed poem was On Shakespear in 1630, which was anonymously included in the Second Folio edition of Shakespeare’s works:
ON SHAKESPEAR
WHAT needs my Shakespear for his honour’d Bones,
The labour of an age in piled Stones,
Or that his hallow’d reliques should be hid
Under a Star-ypointing Pyramid?
Dear son of memory, great heir of Fame,
What need’st thou such weak witnes of thy name?
Thou in our wonder and astonishment
Hast built thy self a live-long Monument.
For whilst to th’sharne of slow-endeavouring art,
Thy easie numbers flow, and that each heart 10
Hath from the Leaves of thy unvalu’d Book,
Those Delphick lines with deep impression took,
Then thou our fancy of it self bereaving,
Dost make us Marble with too much conceaving;
And so Sepulcher’d in such pomp dost lie,
That Kings for such a Tomb would wish to die.
In 1645 Milton published Poems, a collection of poetic works divided into English and Latin sections. It comprises Milton’s youthful poetry in a variety of genres, including notable works such as An Ode on the Morning of Christ’s Nativity, the famous masque Comus and the pastoral elegy Lycidas. The octavo volume was issued by the Royalist publisher Humphrey Moseley. At the time, Milton was a keen advocate of republican politics, but it is uncertain to what extent the collection adopted his views. Milton’s publisher was known to support Royalist poets at the time, but the collection also contains praises of aristocrats and traditionally Royalist forms, such as the masque.
A year before his death, Milton released a revised edition of the Poems, which also included 32 new works.