In 1632, John Milton published his first poem in English. Long before
Paradise Lost
had even been conceived, an unsigned sixteen-line poem appeared in the front matter of Shakespeare’s Second Folio. Penned in 1630, the poem is commonly called “
On Shakespeare
.” Milton’s original title runs: “Epitaph on the admirable Dramatick Poet, W. Shakespeare.” The title’s significance is made plain in the opening lines: