It is said that his neighbour
Elwood, one of the Quaker fraternity, suggested the idea of "Paradise
Regained," and that the draft of the latter poem was written upon a
great oak table which may be seen in one of the low-pitched rooms on
the ground floor. I fancy that Milton must have beautified and
repaired the cottage at the period of his tenancy. The mantelpiece
with its classic ogee moulding belongs certainly to his day, and some
other minor details may also be noticed which support this inference.
It is not difficult to imagine that one who was accustomed to
metropolitan comforts would be dissatisfied with the open hearth
common to country cottages of that poet's time, and have it enclosed
in the manner in which we now see it. Outside the garden is brilliant
with old-fashioned flowers, such as the poet loved. A stone scutcheon
may be seen peeping through the shrubbery which covers the front of
the cottage, but the arms which it displays are those of the
Fleetwoods, one time owners of these tenements. Between the years 1709
and 1807 the house was used as an inn. Milton's cottage is one of our
national treasures, which (though not actually belonging to the
nation) has successfully resisted purchase by our American cousins and
transportation across the Atlantic.
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