Highlight the literary achievements of both Donne and Milton

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

John Donne, whose poetry and prose were unconventional, was one of the most eloquent voices of religious devotionalism. Using extended metaphors, Donne portrays human beings as "chapters" in the larger "book" of God's design, a typically baroque theme. His writing abounds in "conceits," that is, elaborate metaphors that compare two apparently dissimilar objects or emotions, often with the intention of shocking or surprising. In that the conceits of Donne borrowed words and images from the new science, critics called these devices and the poetry they embellished "metaphysical." Showing off the subtleties of the English language, Donne creates paradoxes that highlight religious questions: in his Sonnet 10, he concludes that Death itself shall die—in the eternal life afforded by Christianity.
John Milton, a political activist and a persistent defender of religious, political, and intellectual freedom, challenged English society with expository prose essays on a number of controversial subjects. In his magnum opus, Paradise Lost, Milton created a cosmic (and earth-centered) vision of Heaven, Hell, and Paradise comparable to that drawn by Dante but more philosophic in its concern with the human experience of knowledge, sin, and free will. Considered the greatest of modern epics, Paradise Lost is impressive in its vast intellectual sweep, its wide-ranging allusions to history and literature, and its effort to embrace matters of time, space, and causality. Inspired by the Bible's eloquence, the language of Paradise Lost is intentionally lofty; it is designed to convey epic breadth and to narrate (as Milton promised) "things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme."