'Bottom line' idiom = the most important or fundamental point.

'Plurality' in ecclesiastical/political context = holding more than one office simultaneously.

'Pediatrics' = medical care of infants children and adolescents.

'Bootleg' = to make or distribute something (especially alcohol or recordings) illegally.

British English: 'at the weekend'. American English: 'on the weekend'. 'At' is preferred.

'Too + adjective + to + verb' has negative implication. So clever he would NOT miss the point.

Poet Laureate = official court poet appointed by the British monarch.

Comedy of Humours based on ancient Greek medical theory of four humours (blood phlegm bile).

William Blake was a great Romantic poet AND visual artist/painter.

'Incredible' = impossible to believe. Synonym: 'Unbelievable'.

'Famous' = widely known. Antonym: 'Obscure' = not known to many.

A plebiscite = direct vote by the electorate on a political question.

From Keats's 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'.

'Archipelago' = a chain or cluster of islands.

'Turn over a new leaf' = start something new = 'opened a new chapter'.

'In the teeth of' = in direct opposition to / despite.

'In cold blood' = deliberately and without emotion = calculated.

'Beggars description' = too extreme to be described in words.

'Verbose' = using more words than needed.

Milton's stated purpose: 'justify the ways of God to men'.