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There was, long ago (1608-1674), a British writer and civil servant whose name was John Milton. He became blind in his later life but went on to write some celebrated  English poems, one of them a sonnet titled “On His Blindness” which ends with the famous lines: “They also serve who only stand and wait.”   Milton lived in a time of social and political upheaval in England, and while he did not fall into some of the social sins and disorders that entrapped many of his contemporaries, he did become a gambler, and that did make a difference.

On one occasion he was playing a dice game called Craps in a castle stable with some friends. Now Craps is one of the games played with two dice, and during one game Milton became so wound up that he threw the two dice too hard, they rolled of the table and were lost in the hay.  After a frantic search, the dice were found,  and the game continued.  Milton won a little and lost a little, and that night was  inspired to write two poems which regrettably have been long forgotten. The first was “Pair of Dice Lost” and the second was “Pair of Dice regained.” 

John Milton is known for his great poems, and rightly so. He is often ranked  next to Shakespeare, but he should also be recognized for his more humble achievements.