On the Lord General Fairfax at the Siege of Colchester

By John Milton 1608–1674 John Milton

Fairfax, whose name in arms through Europe rings

Filling each mouth with envy, or with praise,

And all her jealous monarchs with amaze

And rumours loud, that daunt remotest kings;

Thy firm unshak'n virtue ever brings

Victory home, though new rebellions raise

Their hydra heads, and the false north displays

Her brok'n league, to imp their serpent wings:

O yet a nobler task awaits thy hand;

For what can war but endless war still breed?

Till Truth and Right from Violence be freed,

And Public Faith clear'd from the shameful brand

Of Public Fraud. In vain doth Valour bleed

While Avarice and Rapine share the land.

Biography

John Milton’s career as a writer of prose and poetry spans three distinct eras: Stuart England; the Civil War (1642-1648) and Interregnum, including the Commonwealth (1649-1653) and Protectorate (1654-1660); and the Restoration. When Elizabeth I, the so-called Virgin Queen and the last of the Tudors, died, James VI, King of Scots, was enthroned as Britain’s king. Titled James I, he inaugurated the House of Stuart. His son and . . .

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