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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 is the theme of the Octave? What is the theme of the Sestet? (4)
[Need help?]
The theme of the Octave is that the poet might be punished by God for not using his poetic
ability, despite the fact that it is his blindness which has led to this inability.
In the Sestet, the poet resolves this doubt. God does not demand that one works one's way
into heaven but rather that one merely has faith and accepts whatever afflictions that God might
send.
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How does the sestet differ remarkably from the octave? (Hint: you could count how many
times the poet uses the personal pronoun "I" or "my" or "me" in
each.) (6)
[Need help?]
Consider that Milton uses the first person pronoun no less than eight times in the Octave, yet
not once in the Sestet. This is a very clear message that the poet is thinking purely of himself
in the Octave whereas he is thinking of God in the Sestet.
The Octave then is very self-centred. Indeed, it is exaggeratedly full of self-pity. The poet's
soul is bent over with the weight of his own struggles. He is plodding like an old man under the
burden of his woes, weighed down by the yoke of fate.
The poet also exaggerates the gospel story of the Talents. In the original story, the servant is
merely cast out into the darkness and cold of night for hiding the coin whereas the poet sees
himself as being cast into the pit of darkness, i.e. Hell.
The Sestet has a much lighter tone. There is a sense of relief. Faith has been restored. The
burden has slipped from the poet's shoulders and he can stand upright, confident once again.
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Milton must have known that his life was actually more than half-spent. What then does he
mean when he says that he has become blind "e're half my days"? (4)
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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 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
correct, of course, because his greatest work ("Paradise Lost") was still to come.
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It has been said that Milton over-exaggerates his blindness.
- Is this true? Substantiate your answer with clear references to the text. (6)
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The Octave especially is very self-centred. It is exaggeratedly full of self-pity. His soul is bent
over with the weight of his struggles, plodding like an old man under the burden of his woes,
weighed down by the yoke of fate.
The poet also exaggerates the Gospel story of the Talents. In the original story, the servant
is merely cast out into the darkness and cold of night for hiding the coin whereas the poet sees
himself as being cast into the pit of darkness, i.e. Hell.
If it is true that Milton's social acquaintances were accusing him of being punished by God
because he had supported Oliver Cromwell's republicans which had led to the death of the king,
then one can understand the weight of guilt on the poet's conscience. His blindness would
indeed then have been self-inflicted and the yoke of his burden heavy indeed.
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Milton -- a dyed-in-the-wool Puritan -- sees the world as being an essentially evil place.
- Explain how he portrays this notion in his choice of words, "in this dark world and
wide". (4)
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The Puritans believed the world to be an evil place where Satan rules. The purpose of the
Christian therefore is to sanctify this world through a life lived in faith.
Obviously Milton's blindness had caused his personal world to become dark, but he was also
referring to the greater world around him, a world in which sin ruled. Use of the word
"wide" reinforces this picture. "Wide" means not only the vastness of the world
but also the "wildness" of this world. In modern language, we would speak of the
"dark and wild world".
It is probable that Milton also felt an intense degree of guilt for siding with the republicans
against the king. It can be argued that his epic poem, "Paradise Lost", is precisely the
story of how he (personified by Satan) had rebelled against God and had been cast out into the
darkness of hell (symbolised by the darkness of his own blindness).
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Comment on the image which the poet portrays in the words, "though my Soul more bent
to serve . . . my maker." (6)
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The poet appears to be painting a picture of his soul, bent double with the weight of serving his
God. Although he cannot use his poetic talent any more, he is nevertheless still in God's
service but this service has become one of struggle. His yoke is therefore heavy, weighing him
down.
In contrast to this come the words of Patience, who reminds the poet that God's yoke is in fact
light. The heaviness of the burden is caused by the poet's own turning away from faith and
believing that he must work his own way into heaven, something that is impossible to do.
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Is Milton arguing with God in the Octave? (4)
[Need help?]
No, not really. This poem is not like Hopkins's "Thou art indeed just, Lord" where the
poet enters into academic dispute with God whom he believes is not treating him properly.
Milton is confronting his own lack of faith and merely presents the doubts that exist in his own
mind. He asks whether or not he will be cast into hell for not using his poetic ability, even
though in his mind he has struggled very hard to serve his God.
The conclusion is the realisation that his arguments are indeed false. He has no grounds for
making any of the statements which he has made. God is gentle and is not exacting to a
person who lives his life in faith.
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Why is it that "Patience" answers the poet in the Sestet, and not God himself? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet is not wrestling with God but with himself. This is not a portrait of Jacob wrestling with
the angel, or of Hopkins's struggling with God.
"Patience" is, therefore, the poet's own conscience answering his many questions. It is
the voice of reason which exists within the poet himself. The poet does not need God to
answer him because the answers to these questions are already inside him. He merely needs
to listen in silence and he will know the truth.
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"God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts."
- The answer that Patience gives is actually typical of a contemporary Puritan or Calvinist
attitude to religion. Can you explain why this is so? (4)
[Need help?]
When Martin Luther entered into conflict with the Catholic Church back in 1517, the major item
on his agenda was whether or not one can earn one's own salvation. The Catholic Church had
been stressing that one could earn Grace or Salvation through good works. Luther, on the
other hand, argued that Salvation comes through faith alone, it is a free gift from God.
John Calvin -- whose teachings gave rise to Puritanism -- took this argument a step further by
saying that each person is actually predestined for salvation or damnation, and there is
absolutely nothing that one can do about it.
Milton's claim that God does not need man's work is, therefore, very much Calvinistic or Puritan.
Man lives purely in faith and obedience to God's commands.
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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."
- It would appear that Milton is using a shipping image here, an image remembered from his
youth when he would have observed his father at work as a shipping magnate. Can you explain
how this is so? (4)
[Need help?]
Milton appears to compare God with his own earthly father. As a shipping magnate, his father
had thousands of workers in his employ and they would do all his work, seeming to labour
tirelessly in various countries. If one person was unable to work, he would not be noticed. In
like manner, God too had thousands of the faithful doing his work on earth and did not need
Milton's insignificant little contribution.
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Milton uses two stories from the New Testament to substantiate both his fears and his relief.
The first, found in the Octave, causes him anguish while the second, found in the Sestet, leads
to his profound sense of comfort.
- Can you find these two stories? (4)
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In the Octave, Milton refers to Matthew 25: 14-30. This is the story of the man going away and
entrusting sums of money to each of three servants. The first and second servant each use
the money to enrich their master while the third servant hides his money away and therefore
has nothing extra to give to the master when he returns.
In the Sestet, Milton refers to Matthew 11: 30 where Jesus calls on those who are weary and
burdened and he will give them rest. "Take my yoke upon you," Jesus says, "and
learn from me . . . and you will find rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light."
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- Is Milton's presentation of these stories accurate? (4)
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Milton's portrayal of the story of the Talents is somewhat exaggerated.
In the original, the third 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 into the darkness of Hell.
In the Sestet, Milton realises the truth of the story that God's burden is easy, his yoke is light --
and this gives him renewed faith.
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What words BEST describe the tone of this sonnet? (2)
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What about words like "self-pity" or "anxiety" or "guilt" or "anxiety and
reassurance"? Any other words that you can think of?
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