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John Milton

On his blindness

The Sestet!

Keith Tankard
Knowledge4Africa.com
Updated: 18 January 2014
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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?
TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:



"But Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts, who best
Bear his milde yoak, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly."
  • Who is "Patience"? (4)

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  • Why does "Patience" use the uppercase "P"? (2)

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  • What is a "yoak" (or "yoke")? (2)

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  • What then does the poet mean when he says, "who best bear his milde yoak"? (4)

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"Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o're Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and waite."
  • Who is being referred to by "his"? (1)

[Need help?]

  • Milton's father was a shipping magnate. If so, then what image is being used in these lines? (4)

[Need help?]

  • Give another word for "post" (2)

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Explain in your own words why Milton is able to conclude that he need not be troubled about being blind. (4)

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