56 JOHN MILTON 
the Continent. He was now in his thirtieth year, and 
apparently had never earned a penny. By the few 
people of discernment he was already recognized as 
one of the foremost scholars in Europe and a poet of 
the rarest sort. His broad-minded father approved 
his plans, and cheerfully incurred the expense of this 
journey, which might last several years, at an average 
yearly cost of what in modern money might be called 
$1000. Milton’s fifteen months upon the Continent 
were chiefly spent in Italy, where he was everywhere 
received with distinguished respect and courtesy. The 
incident which made the deepest impression upon him 
was a visit to the aged and blind Galileo at his villa 
near Florence. In “ Paradise Lost” there are two 
allusions to the great astronomer, one in Book V. 
262 :-—— 
‘“‘ As when by night the glass 
Of Galileo . . . observes 
Imagined lands and regions in the moon ;” 
the other in Book I. 287: — 
“ Like the moon, whose orb 
Through optic glass the Tuscan artist views 
At evening from the top of Fesole, 
Or in Valdorno, to descry new lands, 
Rivers and mountains in her spotty globe.” 
While in Italy, Milton wrote several charming sonnets. 
in Italian, all addressed to a lady, perhaps one and the 
same lady, the object of some passing fancy. At 
Naples he was entertained by the Marquis Manso, who 
had formerly given shelter to the poet Tasso, and 
talked much to Milton about him. There he received 
news from England which led him to abandon his in- 
