This article reveals that John Milton employed an allusion to the aurora borealis in book 6 (79–83) of Paradise Lost, unrecognized in more than three centuries of scholarly analysis. Two other likely allusions, and one certain, to the aurora have also been identified. This research casts doubt on the long-held belief, made popular by the astronomer Edmund Halley (1656–1742), that no notable aurora was visible in England in the seventeenth century. After examining an overlooked note by the English historian William Camden (1551–1623), this article explores the possibility that Milton actually saw an aurora. A solution is also presented here to the long-standing conundrum of the comet near the “Arctic” constellation Ophiuchus in book 2 (707–11) of Paradise Lost. Cet article révèle que John Milton fait allusion à une aurore boréale au sixième livre (79–83) de Paradise Lost, allusion qui est restée ignorée pendant plus de trois siècles de lectures savantes. Une autre allusion à une aurore boréale, ainsi que deux autres, probables, ont été identifiées. Cette recherche remet en question l’opinion tenue de longue date, et circulée par l’astronome Edmund Halley (1656–1742), qu’aucune véritable aurore boréale ne put être observée en Angleterre au dix-septième siècle. Grâce à l’analyse d’une note, longtemps négligée, de l’historien anglais William Camden (1551–1623), cet article explore la possibilité que Milton ait pu réellement observer une aurore boréale, ce qui pourrait alors résoudre l’énigme de la mention, au deuxième livre du Paradise Lost (707–711), d’une comète près de la constellation « arctique » Ophiuchus.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Cunningham, C. J., (2025), "Milton’s Paradise Lost: Previously Unrecognized Allusions to the Aurora Borealis, and a Solution to the Comet Conundrum in Book 2", HSSCommons: (DOI: )

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1. Renaissance and Reformation

Original publication: Cunningham, Clifford J. "Milton’s Paradise Lost: Previously Unrecognized Allusions to the Aurora Borealis, and a Solution to the Comet Conundrum in Book 2." Renaissance and Reformation 39 (1): 2016. 5-34. DOI: 10.33137/rr.v39i1.26541. This material has been re-published in an unmodified form on the Canadian HSS Commons with the permission of Iter Canada / Renaissance and Reformation. Copyright © the author(s). Their work is distributed by Renaissance and Reformation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. For details, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.