English Poetry

Poem Analysis of John Milton “On His Blindness”

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 John Milton is an English poet, pamphleteer, and historian, he’s best known for writing

"Paradise Lost," widely regarded as the greatest epic poem in English. Milton is best known

for Paradise Lost, widely regarded as the greatest epic poem in English. Together with Paradise

Regained, it formed his reputation as one of the greatest English writers. His poetry and prose

reflect deep personal convictions, passion for freedom, self-determination, urgent issues, and

political turbulence. Milton began to lose his sight in 1644 and went completely blind around

1650.

When Milton suffered blindness. He made a poem On His Blindness that tells the events

he suffered. On His Blindness speaks to the frustrations Milton had regarding his lost sight. The

poem reflects upon the idea that he (the speaker of the poem) will not be able to serve God now

that his sight is gone.

A. Analysis of the John Milton’s Poem “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
Lodg'd 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-labour, 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 and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait."
 “On His Blindness” is an autobiographical sonnet in which John Milton meditates on his
own loss of sight. It is said to be written on 1964, the time in which the poet suffered complete
blindness. The poem is considered to be a sonnet. This sonnet is written in the “Petrarchan”
rhyme scheme associated with the fourteenth-century Italian poet Francesco Petrarca. Its
rhyming scheme is ABBA, ABBA, CDE and CDE. In structure, the sonnet is a typical
Petrarchan sonnet. Nevertheless, its subject matter departs from that of Petrarchan poems. While
Petrarca was famous for writing poems about love, Milton deals with very practical and physical
problem but still contain many spiritual implications.

B. Line-by-line Analysis
1. Line 1-2:
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,

 The speaker thinks about how all of his light has been used up ("spent") before

even half his life is over. As a man without light, he now lives in a world that is

both "dark and wide.“

 When he thinks about how he spent or use his eyesight, the speaker was

lamenting his bad luck that was brought by his late-night reading and writing.

 Finally, calling the world "dark and wide“. Interestingly, Milton makes it seem

as if the world has run out of light, rather than growing dark because of any

blindness on his part.

 The first word of the poem “When” gives us a feeling of suspense. It is a

subordinate clause that opens a box of ideas on what could follow. However, the

follow-up of the first line came only until the seventh and eight line.

 The word "ere" means "before." He became blind before his life was

halfway over. Milton went completely blind at the age of 42.

2. Line 3-4:

And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodg'd with me useless,

 When Milton says that talent is "death to hide," he is referring to the money in the

Biblical story and also to his own "talent," in the sense of a skill or trade.

 The talent that he talks about could be his intelligence and his writing and reading

skills, which he had used in service of Oliver Cromwell's government. This "talent"

is "lodged" or buried within the speaker just like the money in the story, "The

Parable of Talents."

3. Line 4-6:

though my soul more bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest he returning chide,

 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.

 The word "account" here means both" story" and "a record of activities with

money."

 The speaker 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.

4. Line 7-8:

"Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"

I fondly ask. …

 He wonders if God demands that people undertake hard, physical work, or "day-

labour," when they don't have any light.

 The speaker doesn't have any light because he's blind

 The word "exact" means something like "charge," "claim," or "demand." So the

speaker wants to know if God demands work as a kind of payment that is due to Him.

 The first section of the poem is completed by the words "I fondly ask." The word

"fondly" means "foolishly," not "lovingly." The speaker accuses himself of being an

idiot for even thinking this question.

5. Line 8-10:

But Patience, to prevent

That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need

Either man's work or his own gifts: who best

 Patience is often personified in Christian art because of its

role in helping one to achieve important virtues like
courage and wisdom.
 The speaker is about to "murmur" his foolish question, but then his patience steps in
to stop him.
 Patience points out that God does not need anything. God is complete and perfect.
He doesn't need work or talents ("gifts") of any kind.

6. Line 11:

Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. …

  Essentially, this means accepting things as they come,
especially suffering and misfortune.
 A "yoke" is a wood frame that is placed around thenecks of farm animals, like oxen,
so that they can be directed.
 Patience doesn't want to make God sound like a slave driver, so God's yoke is called
"mild," or not-that-bad. It's not how much you have to show for your time on earth
that counts, it's how you handle your submission to God.

7. Line 11-14:

His state

Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed

And post o'er land and ocean without rest:

They also serve who only stand and wait."

 The final point made by patience is that God is more like a king than a lord thus the
parable does not strictly apply .
 Kings 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.
 Unlike lords, kings also have people who "wait" on them, who stand in a state of
readiness until their action is needed.
 The word "post" here just means "to travel quickly."
 The poem ends with a vindication of the speaker's passivity, which has been forced
on him by his blindness.
C. Intrinsic Element of the Poem:
1. Form

“On His Blindness” is an example of Petrarchan (Italian) sonnet in structure

since it followed an octave (8 lines)-sestet (6 lines) style. Since it a sonnet, it would also

follow that the poem is an example of a lyric poetry.

2. Rhythm

All the lines in the poem are in Iambic Pentameter. In this metric pattern, a line

has five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables, for a total of ten syllables.

1...........2........... ……3............4................5 …..

When I | con SID | er HOW.| my LIFE | is SPENT

1.....................2.............. 3.....................4....................5

Ere HALF | my DAYS | in THIS | dark WORLD.| and WIDE

3. Voice

The voice of this poem is a man who is seething with frustration with his

incapability of serving God profitably.

4. Imagery

The poem focuses on the sense of sight or rather the loss of it. The voice of the

poem laments on his loss of sight and how this problem could affect his poetic talent. At

first the poet felt worried with what happened with his sight, but in the end he realizes

that it has the meaning that even without sight he can do something to serve God.
5. Sound

Since the poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, the poem could be divided into two parts:

the octave and the sestet. The octave follows a rhyming pattern of ABBA, ABBA while

the sestet follows the rhyming patter of CDE,CDE.

6. Figurative Language

Milton uses figurative language to express his complaints and dissatisfaction. He

reflects upon his life and “how my light is spent,” or the time he had his sight. Then he

expresses the feeling of the “dark world and wide” of the blind as his introduction to his

questions. He begins to question his writing that only death can take away (“...one talent

which is death to hide..”), “lodged... useless” within him because of his new blindness.

As a result, Milton began to question God, “Doth God exact day-labour, light

denied?” Milton wonders about the meaning of his blindness; if God wants him to

continue writing, even with his blindness. In addition, Milton uses allegory in comparing

his situation with the events in the Parable of the Talents with him being the third servant

to bury his money and God as the Lord.

Furthermore, Milton uses personification to express the importance of words and

values. He symbolizes "Patience" as if patience is the person who replies for him.

Patience is his reason for accepting the fact that he is blind. This is used to introduce the

answer to the question.

7. The Sounds of Words

 Alliteration: my days in this dark world and wide (line 2)

 Metaphor: though my soul more bent / To serve therewith my Maker (lines 3-4). The

author compares his soul to his mind.

  Personification/Metaphor: But Patience, to prevent / That murmur, soon replies . . .

(lines 8-9).

 Paradox: They also serve who only stand and wait

D. Extrinsic Element of the Poem:

This poem was made due to several factors:

1. Guilt and blame

The speaker was guilty because he thought he wasted the gift God gave him by

reading and writing late at night. He felt guilty because he thought that because of his

blindness, he could no longer fulfill his purpose. He thought that because of losing his

vision, his poetic talent would be buried deep and would no longer see the light.

2. Dreams, Hopes, and Plans

Before the speaker goes blind, he has high hopes. He planned to serve God and

used his talents for prosperity. However, because he became blind at a young age, all his

hopes were replaced by his doubts.

3. Spirituality

"Light" is one of the most focused subjects in the poem. It was not only his vision

that was important to him, but also his spiritual light. Spiritual light is the same as life

light. Even though he lost his light, he was still alive because his inner light was

preserving and giving him strength.

E. References

a. Editors, Biography.com.“John Milton Biography”.The Biography.com website.

https://www.biography.com/writer/john-milton/ ( accessed October 20, 2019).

b. Letrondo, Angel. (December 2, 2014). Poem Analysis on On His Blindness by John

Milton. On His Blindness John Milton, Retrieved October 21, 2019, from

https://www.slideshare.net/skdc8595/on-his-blindness-superfinal

c. Qadr, Nareman. (April 21, 2014). John Milton, On His Blindness. Sonnet 19 On His

Blindness, Retrieved October 21, 2019, from

https://www.slideshare.net/naremanqadr1/john-miltonon-his-blindness