Now Milton was born in 1608 and he wrote the Nativity Ode along with the Sixth Elegy, the Elegia Sexta, that we read for today in December of 1629, a couple of weeks presumably after he turned twenty-one.
I hope you remember from the Sixth Elegy, the Sexta Elegia, that we read a few classes ago that Milton had told his friend Charles Diodati ; that an aspiring epic poet should only drink water; ; two, should refrain from eating meat; and three, should keep his body chaste.