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John Milton was a Puritan -- i.e. a strict English Calvinist -- who recognised that he had an
amazing ability to write poetry. When, however, he developed glaucoma and went blind while
his poetic ability had still not been fully explored, he worried that God himself would hold it
against him and punish him for not using his poetic talent.
This was reference to a New Testament story where Jesus told of how a wealthy man had given
three people certain amounts of money -- a talent was a coin used in Israel. One man buried
his talent instead of using it to earn yet more money, and he was later punished for doing so.
Milton equated his poetic ability with such a talent which was being buried because he was now
blind and could therefore no longer write. As a Puritan, he expected his God to punish him --
even though it was not his own fault that he was now blind.
ABOUT THE POET
John Milton was born in London in 1608. He was of a wealthy family, his father probably being
a merchant and shipping magnate. The son was therefore raised as a puritan, which was fairly
typical of the urban bourgeoisie of the time.
It seems that Milton believed himself predestined for greatness. He attended Cambridge
University, after which he continued his studies privately. In the end, he became the best
educated poet in the English language, being able to write not only in English but also in Italian
and Latin.
Milton spent most of his early life in the service of the puritan movement which, under the
leadership of Oliver Cromwell, overthrew the monarchy in 1649 and established an autocratic
republic in its place.
When, however, the English grew tired of puritan control and in 1660 re-established the
monarchy, Milton found himself in a precarious position because all the leaders of the revolution
were summarily executed. The poet was lucky that his standing in the community saved him
and he was allowed to retire quietly -- but he nevertheless lost everything including his personal
reputation.
By about 1650, shortly after the puritans had overthrown the monarchy, Milton developed
glaucoma which led to his blindness. This had a devastating impact upon him because he had
not yet achieved the greatness which he had predicted for himself.
His strongly puritan sentiment made him question whether God would punish him for his
inability to develop his poetic talent. It was in this context that he wrote his most famous
sonnet, "On his blindness" in about 1655.
His distress was exacerbated, however, by the fact that many influential people, including some
of his friends, were claiming that his blindness was actually caused by God himself as a
punishment for the poet's allying himself with Cromwell. It was believed that the monarchy was
of divine origin and that rebellion against the king was therefore rebellion against God himself.
The glaucoma, however, did not end Milton's poetic career. He dictated "On his
blindness" to his daughter and continued to dictate his further works, either to his daughter
or to hired secretaries. Indeed, his greatest works -- "Paradise Lost" and "Paradise
Regained" -- were dictated during these years of blindness.
Milton married a teenager, Mary Powell, and with her fathered four children. Their marriage,
however, lasted only ten years before his wife died while giving birth, an event which affected
the poet deeply. He later married Katherine Woodcock who too would die during childbirth and
within only two years of their marriage. His third wife, Elizabeth Munshull, would survive him.
John Milton himself died of gout in 1674. He was then 66 years of age.
Have you looked at the questions in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer the following questions:
What type of sonnet is this? How do you know? (4)
[Need help?]
It's very definitely a Petrarchan or Italian sonnet, isn't it? It has an Octave and a
Sestet, although the break between the two is not exactly at the end of line 8 but
half-way into line 9.
There is a clear message in the Octave: that God might punish the poet for not using his poetic
talent even though he is now blind. The Sestet carries a concluding argument: that God only
requires of people that they accept their fate.
And look at the rhyming scheme which is typically Petrarchan:
ABBA ABBA (Octave)
CDE CDE (Sestet)
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"WHEN I consider how my light is spent
E're half my days, in this dark world and wide."
- Explain the words "how my light is spent". (4)
[Need help?]
The word "light" could have three meanings. It means "vision", i.e. the poet is
now living in a dark world because he is blind. It could also mean "faith", i.e. the poet's
faith is shaken because he feels he cannot serve his God. And what about the poet's ability to
write poetry, a poetic light within him which appears now to have been extinguished because
Milton cannot see in order to write?
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- Do you know how old John Milton was when he wrote this poem? Was his life truly only
half-spent? (4)
[Need help?]
Milton was born in 1608 and wrote this poem in about 1655. That would therefore make him
about 47. He was 66 when he died, so this was very definitely not the mid-point of his life.
It is not even the mid-point of his possible life expectancy. Milton would never have believed
he would live till 94 -- which would have been a very long life indeed in those days.
No, Milton is not actually referring to his life as such but rather to his career in writing poetry.
In his mind, he had not yet accomplished even half of what he intended to write. In this, he was
actually correct because his greatest work ("Paradise Lost") was still to come.
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- What does Milton mean when he says, "in this dark world and
wide"? (4)
[Need help?]
Milton's world is dark because he is blind. He could, however, also be referring to the darkness
of not having faith, i.e. his faith in God was slender because of the hardship of his blindness.
It seems that he is also referring to the world around him which was "dark" and
"wild" -- meaning "evil". (The word "wide" meant "wild" in Milton's
day.)
Remember that Calvin was an early Calvinist or Puritan who would have seen the world as a
fundamentally evil place in which one has to live one's life in the faith of better things to come
in the next life.
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"And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg'd with me useless."
[Need help?]
The poet is referring to the New Testament story of the three servants to each of whom
"talents" or money was given. So "talent" means therefore either "money"
or "something of value".
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- What does Milton mean by "Talent" when he refers to his poetry? (4)
[Need help?]
Milton is using this word metaphorically to mean his "natural gift" for writing poetry. In
this sense, "talent" means a "natural ability", a meaning which is true for us today.
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- Why should the Talent be "death to hide"? (4)
[Need help?]
In the Gospel story, the third servant was given a single talent or coin which he hid away so as
not to lose it until his master returned. Then he took it out and returned the coin to his master
but the latter was outraged because he had expected the servant to use the money to earn
more money.
In the Gospel story, however, the servant was merely thrown out of the house and into the
darkness and cold of night -- the master would have returned from his journey at night. Milton,
however, interprets the word "darkness" to mean the "darkness of Hell". Hell in
turn means the "death of the soul".
The poet is therefore interpreting his position in a very Puritan light, that his failure to serve his
God will lead to his being cast out forever into the darkness of Hell.
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"Doth God exact day-labour, light deny'd,
I fondly ask."
- Supply a more modern word for "fondly". (2)
[Need help?]
It means, "I foolishly ask."
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- Explain in your own words why Milton was troubled about the fact that he had gone
blind. (4)
[Need help?]
Milton believed that his ability to write poetry was a God-given gift. His blindness, however,
meant that he could not use this gift. He was afraid, therefore, that God would be angry with
him for not using his talent even though he wanted to use it but couldn't because he was blind.
Remember, of course, that there were many influential people in Milton's circle of
acquaintances -- including some of his friends -- who believed that the poet was being punished
by God because he had sided with Oliver Cromwell's Republicans who had executed the king.
It was commonly believed at the time that a king was God's representative on Earth and to rebel
against the king was therefore tantamount to rebellion against God himself.
The poet therefore possibly believed that his onset of glaucoma and blindness was therefore
a punishment from God and therefore his own fault.
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