On His Blindness John Milton Vocabulary Ere before

On His Blindness John Milton

Vocabulary Ere: before Doth: to do, does Chide: to scold Yoke: a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or cart that they are to pull. Exact: demand Light denied: blind Murmur: breathy voice O’er: over Talent: a) a natural or acquired ability and b) a unit of money Lodged: to make or become firmly fixed or embedded in a particular place. Spent : used up; gone out (blindness) Post: to travel quickly Fondly: Archaic, naively, foolishly Prevent: both to forestall and to predispose

On His Blindness When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest he returning chide, "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied? " I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is kingly: thousands at his bidding speed And post o'er land ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand wait.

Structure • Biblical Story. • Italian Sonnet. • Divided: starting with octet & a sestet. • Rhyme Scheme is ABBAC CDECDE (traditional rhyme) • Meter is a classical iambic pentameter, has five iambs with unaccented syllables. • Tone of the speaker is frustration and anger. • This Italian Sonnet is your typical Italian Sonnet in form, but in subject matter, the poem departs from the topics usually associated with Italian poems. • Italian poems were most famous for writing about love. Milton departs from that conventional topic to deal with a very practical, physical problem but a problem with many broader spiritual implications. • Uses irony. “Going blind to see more clearly. ”

Analysis Lines 1 -2 • By beginning line one with the word “When” Milton immediately signals that he is opening with a subordinate clause (cannot stand alone as a sentence) • Beginning the poem this way creates a certain suspense. • The main idea is postponed so that we have to continue reading in anticipation of its eventual arrival. • In the second line “light” is used as a metaphor for vision. • Milton is reflecting on how he has used or “spent” his vision. • In the line “in this dark world and wide” Milton makes it seem as if the world has run out of light, rather than growing dark because of any blindness on his part.

Lines 3 -4 • In the ancient world, a “talent” was also a standard of weight used to measure money, just as a “pound” is a measure of both weight and currency. • Milton uses the reference of “The Parable of Talents” in his poems. • Summary of “The Parable of Talents” A lord gives three of his servants some money (talents) to hold on to when he leaves for a trip. Two of the servants use the money to gain more money for their master. (In contemporary language, we’d call this an investment. ) But the third servant just buries the money, the ancient equivalent of hiding it under your mattress. When the lord returns, he’s happy with the first two servants and gives them more responsibilities, but furious with the third servant. He exiles the third servant into the “darkness” which is the equivalent of “death”. • Milton’s talent could be his intelligence and his writing and reading skills, which he had used in service of Oliver Cromwell’s government. • This talent is lodges or buried within the speaker just like the money in the story. It cannot be used to make greater profit.

Lines 4 -6 • The speaker has just told us that his talent is as useless as money buried in the desert, but now he says that his uselessness has nothing to do with a lack of will. To the contrary, his soul desires (is “bent”) to use his skills in the service of his “Maker”, God. • When he is faced with God, he wants to have a record of accomplishment to show Him. • God is being compared with the Lord from the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. When God “returns to him like the master in the parable, the speakers wants to show that he has used his talents profitably. • The word “account” here means both story and a record of activities with money. • If the speaker turns out to have wasted his profits, he worries that God will scold or “chide” him. And if God is anything like the lord from the parable, the speaker could get cast into a darkness even more fearful than the one created by his blindness.

Lines 7 -8 • It has taken the speaker 6 lines to get through the part of the sentence “when” • In an impatient mood Milton doubts if God would be just in demanding work from a blind man like him. • The speaker doesn’t have any light because he’s blind, but in Milton’s metaphor he compares this condition to having to do work at night that you would normally do during the day. Lines 8 -10 • “Patience” to the rescue! Patience is personified as someone who can talk sense into the speaker. Patience is often personified in Christian art because of its role in helping one to achieve important virtues like courage and wisdom. • Milton’s attitude of doubt passes off in a moment. His inner conscience rises up with its faith in God’s justice. • He realizes that God does not need man’s work by way of service to him; nor does he care whether man uses His gifts.

Line 11 • This line means accepting things as they come, especially all the suffering and misfortune. Lines 11 -14 • Lords need everyone on their estates to work for them; they usually don’t have the resources to spend on keeping servants just to stand around and wait on them. Kings, on the other had, have unlimited resources, especially if they control a “state” as large as the entire earth. • With his Kingly status, God has plenty of minions to do His “bidding” by rushing from place to place – that is, doing things that require light and vision. It doesn’t make a difference whether one person fulfills the role or not. • The sentence, “His state is kingly, ” is meant to contrast with the “lordly” state of the master of the Biblical parable in Matthew 25. • This being Milton, of course, “wait” can also have the meaning of waiting for something to happens, as in, ‘I waited for the bus. ” • The word “post” here just means “to travel quicly. ” That’s why the mail is just often referred to as the “post” because you’re supposed to travel quickly to deliver it.

About John Milton • Born in December 9, 1608 in Bread Street, London, England • Parents: John Milton and Sarah Jeffrey, Milton was a musical composer and his mother was a successful scrivener. • Attended St. Paul’s School in London, where he studied Latin and Greek and he also wrote Italian and Greek. • Went to Christ’s college, Cambridge in 1625 he graduated in 1629 with a B. A. • In July 3, 1632 he obtained his Master of Arts Degree. • Most of his poetry was a deep reflection on his personal Convictions, passion for freedom and self determinations • After he had graduated from the university he changed his mind and didn’t joined priesthood and spent 6 years in his father’s country house in Buckinghamshire. • In May 1638, Milton had a 13 month tour in France and Italy, he even met many important and influential people, including Galileo. • In 1642 he married Mary Powell she was 16 years old, she gave him Anne, Mary, John, and Deborah 3 daughters and one son until she died.

• In 1649 Milton was appointed Cromwell's Latin secretary of foreign affairs and wrote many pamphlets in defense of the Commonwealth. The intense work of translating and writing created much strain on his eyes. By 1652 he was entirely blind and relied on the assistance of Andrew Marvell. • Milton married for the second time with Katherine Woodcock in November 12, 1656. But she died by giving birth to her daughter Katherine. • Milton married for the third time to Elizabeth Mynshull on February 24, 1662. Even though they had an age difference (31 years) many saw them very happy and had a successful marriage until Milton’s death. • Milton died due to a kidney failure on November 8, 1674 , he was placed in St. Giles Cripplegate.

Quiz 1. What type of poem is On His Blindness? 2. True or false. The poem is written in iambic pentameter? 3. The poem makes an allusion to which biblical story? 4. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? 5. 1649 what was Milton appointed? 6. What is the tone of the speaker? 7. What type of poet was John Milton? 8. In this poem, what does the poet mean when he says, “light denied”? 9. What are the two meaning of the word “talent”? 10. What caused Milton to loose his vision? When did Milton go entirely blind?