John Carey 
Milton: The Complete Shorter Poems [PDF ebook] 

This masterly edition contains all of Milton’s English poems, with the exception of Paradise Lost, together with translations and texts of all his Latin, Italian and Greek poems. First published in 1968 – and substantially updated in 1996 – John Carey’s edition has, with Alastair Fowler’s Paradise Lost, established itself as the pre-eminent edition of Milton’s poetry, both for the student and the general reader. Hailed as ‘a very Bible of a Milton’, the extensive notes and headnotes serve to illuminate the wealth of Milton’s allusions and to synthesize the judgements and disagreements of a bewildering array of modern critics. Each headnote sets out details of composition and context which will deepen any reader’s appreciation of the poetry, while also providing a concise overview of the critical and scholarly debates that continue to flame around the work of one of the greatest poets in the English language. Steeped in learning though it undoubtedly is, it is also an unfailing light to those who wish to plot their own path through the dazzling riches of Milton’s imagination.