A bawdy poem supposedly written by John Milton, a student at Cambridge from 1625 to 1632, has been uncovered by n English professor at the University of Oxford.

The handwritten poem, entitled "An Extempore Upon a Faggot" and apparently signed by Milton, was discovered by Dr Jennifer Batt, as she sorted through the Harding Collection, the world’s largest collection of poetic miscellanies, owned by the Bodleian Library.

Written in a style completely unlike that of Milton, this vulgar work describes the sexual arousal of women, remarking that the virgin "at both ends do’s weep and sweat", while the older woman "Cracks and rejoices in the Flame" like "dry wood".

According to Dr Batt, if the attribution is correct, it would spark "a major revision of our ideas about Milton".

However, the discovery has been met with scepticism among many scholars, who believe that the poem is too far removed from the realm of the author of Paradise Lost to be credible.

Asked whether she thought the poem was Milton’s, Dr Abigail Williams, who is leading the project to digitise the University’s poetry collection, said, "I am pretty certain it is not." She described the anthology as "a ragbag of serious classical imitations, love lyrics and bawdy poems".

Dr Batt herself has acknowledged, "It is likely that Milton’s name was used as an attribution to bring scandal upon the poet, perhaps by a jealous contemporary."

Milton matriculated at Christ’s College in 1625, and graduated in 1629 with a BA degree. He stayed on to get his MA degree in 1632. It was at Cambridge that he wrote his famous poem, "On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity".