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However, the references to light and darkness in the poem make it virtually certain that Milton's blindness was at least a secondary theme. The sonnet is in the Petrarchan form, with the rhyme scheme a b b a a b b a c d e c d e but adheres to the Miltonic conception of the form, with a greater usage of enjambment .
- Summary
- Themes
- Structure and Form
- Literary Devices
- Analysis of When I Consider How My Light Is Spent
- Similar Poems
- About John Milton
‘On His Blindness/When I Consider How My Light Is Spent’ by John Milton is an exploration of a moral dilemma faced by John Milton, and conveyed through his speaker, as he was forced to come to terms with his blindness. Milton’s speaker is faced with the impossibility of continuing his works. Works that are often considered to be the same as Milton’...
Milton’s themes in ‘When I Consider How My Light Is Spent’ are quite evident from the beginning. They include the future and fear about the future, God/religion, and writing/one’s career. Milton speaks passionately throughout this piece about his newfound disability. He knows he’s going blind and worries endlessly about what that means for his futu...
‘When I Consider How My Light Is Spent’ by John Milton is a fourteen-line, traditional Miltonic sonnet. This means that the fourteen lines follow a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBACDECDE and conform to iambic pentameter, where the volta occurs at line 9 with “That murmur, soon replies,” marking the shift from questioning to acceptance. Readers familiar wit...
Milton makes use of several literary devices in ‘When I Consider How My Light Is Spent.’ These include but are not limited to, examples of alliteration, caesurae, and enjambment. The first of these, alliteration, is a kind of repetitionconcerned with the use and reuse of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “wo...
Lines 1-2
The poem begins with the speaker’s consideration of how he has spent the years of his life, represented as his “light.” This light and being a metaphorfor life are also a literal representation of Milton’s life days in which he could see. The second line expands on that, explaining that before even half of the speaker’s life had passed, he is forced to live in a world that is “dark… and wide.” Since Milton went blind at 42, he’d had the opportunity to use his writing skills, his “talents” in...
Lines 3-6
Milton speaks of his “talent,” this talent, his skills with words and love for writing, was his entire life. His livelihood and self-worth depended on it. This word “talent” is the most important in understanding these lines. As a biblical scholar, Milton was familiar with the texts of the bible and chose to reference The Parable of Talents from Matthew 25 here. When Milton refers to the talent, he relates the loss of his ability to read and write to the servant in Matthew 25 who buries the m...
Lines 7-8
At this point, Milton is finishing the sentence that he began at the beginning of the poem with the word, “When.” In short, he asks, “does God require those without light to labor?” He wants to know whether when he cannot continue his work due to his blindness, will God still require work of him.
Readers who enjoyed this poem should also consider looking into some of Milton’s other best-known works. These include‘How Soon Hath Time’ and‘On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity.’ The latter, ‘On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,’ is also known as Nativity Ode. It was written in 1629 when Milton was 29 years old. It explores themes that include co...
John Miltonwas born on December 9, 1608, in London, England. He came from a middle-class family and went to school at Christ’s College Cambridge, where he originally intended to enter the clergy. After leaving university, he changed his plan and spent the next years studying independently for a career as a poet. During the years of the English Civi...
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“Sonnet 19,” more commonly called "When I consider how my light is spent," is a poem by the English poet John Milton. Likely written in the mid-1650s, after Milton lost his eye-sight, the poem reflects on the physical and spiritual challenges the speaker faces as a blind person.
Sep 30, 2023 · The octet (first eight lines) is a thoughtful reflection on blindness and personal frustration, the speaker aware of his God-given skill, to write an epic, which blindness will undermine. The sestet (the last six lines) focuses on the patience needed and perspective gained with regards to God, the speaker's Maker. The speaker accepts his blindness.
The poem is about the poet’s blindness: he began to go blind in the early 1650s, in his early forties, and this sonnet is his response to his loss of sight and the implications it has for his life. (It is thought he began to go blind in 1651; he wrote this poem about a year later.) Below, we offer some words of analysis of the poem. Summary
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…
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Feb 19, 2022 · On His Blindness Summary. On His Blindness was composed in 1655. It was published without a title. It is one of the first references by Milton to his blindness. It refers to his in 1652. He had strained his eyes by reading late into. the night though blindness the doctors had asked him to avoid hard study. This made his life difficult and hard.
