Azim Hossain Imo

Masters in English Literature

Master in English Language Teaching (JU)

On His Blindness— John Milton

Analysis

Line 1-2
“When I consider how my light has spent”
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,”

The speaker thinks that all of his light is used up ("spent") before even half
his age is over. Now he lives in a world that is both "dark and wide." because
he is a man without light,
The first word of the poem, "When," gives us an idea of the structure of a
conditional sentence. Such as "When I broke the glass, I had to find
something to sweep it up."
But the second part of this conditional sentence doesn't come until lines 7
and 8.
Most readers believe that the poem is clearly about Milton's blindness, but
the poem never directly refers to blin dness or even vision. Instead, we think
that "light" is a metaphor for vision.
The metaphor is complicated. The speaker says that his light can be "spent,"
and this word suggests that he is thinking of something like an oil lamp. The
light is "spent" when the oil in the lamp runs out. To make a contemporary
comparison, it would be like someone comparing his vision to a flashlight
that runs out of batteries before it is supposed to.
The word "spent" also makes us think of money. Milton is reflecting on how
he has used or "spent" his vision, now that it is gone.
The word "ere" means "before." Milton went completely blind at the age of
42.How does Milton know that he became blind befo re his life was halfway
over? Actually, Milton guesses roughly how long he will live.
Finally, calling the world "dark and wide" makes it sound like a fearful place,
Interestingly, Milton makes it seem as if the world has run out of light, rather
than growing dark because of his blindness.
Lines 3-4
“And that one talent which is death to hide
Lodge with me…. [..]

Here, the key word is "talent." You probably read "talent" and think o f skills
like swimming or singing etc. But there's a double meaning. It is an allusion
taken from the history of Bible . In the ancient world, a "talent" was also a
 Azim Hossain Imo
Masters in English Literature
Master in English Language Teaching (JU)

unit or weight by which money was measured, just as a "pound" is a unit of

both weight and currency.
You can read “Matthew 25”, in The Gospel of Mathews. There is story of
"The Parable of Talents."
Here is brief summary of "The Parable of Talents." A lord gives three of his
servants some money ("talents") to hold on to when he leaves for a trip. Two
of the servants use the money to gain more money fo r their master. (In
present language, we know this usage of money as 'investment.') But the third
servant just buries the money, When the lord returns, he i s happy with the
first two servants and gives them more responsibilities (award), but furious
with the third servant. He exiles the third servant into the "darknes s," which
is now similar to the "death."
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," and his talent is a skill.
There is no way to tell what specific talent he means, bu t our guess would be
his intelligence and his writing and reading skills. This "talent" is "lodged" or
buried within the speaker just like the money in the story. It cannot be used to
make greater profit.
Lines 4-6
“[…] though my soul more bent
To serve therewith, my Maker and present
My true account, leat he returning chide”

The speaker tells us that his talent is as useless as money buried in the desert,
but now he says that his unwillingness or lack of desire is not responsible for
this uselessness of his skill (talent). Rather, his soul desires (is "bent") to use
his skills in the service of his "Maker," God.
He thinks that when he is faced with God, he wants to have a record of
accomplishment to show to God.
God is being compared with the lord from the "Parable of the Talents" in
Matthew 25. When God "returns" to him like the master in the parable, the
speaker wants to show to his muster that he has used his talents profitably.
The word "account" here means both" story" and "a record of act ivities with
money."
If the speaker turns out to have wasted his profits, he 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 darkness even more fearful than the suffering
of his blindness.
Lines 7-8
 Azim Hossain Imo
Masters in English Literature
Master in English Language Teaching (JU)

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

I foundly ask --- […]

It has taken the speaker six lines to get through the part of the sentence that
begins "When." Now he goes on to say what happens "when" he thinks about
all things he has described above. He asks whether God demands (exact) that
people do hard, physical work, or "day-labour," when they don't have any
light.
The speaker doesn't have any light because he's blind, but in Milton's
metaphor he compares this condition to having to do work at night that you
would normally do during the day – like, say, building a house or plowing a
field.
The word "exact" means something like "charge," "claim," or "demand." For
example ,You can "exact" 500 taka as your fees. 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 a idiot for even thinking this question.
Fortunately, "patience" steps in to prevent his foolishness. More on that in
the next section.
Lines 8-10
[…] but patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God does not need
Either man’s work or his own gift; who best

Patience is personified as someone who can talk to the speaker. 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 ab out whether God
would be so cruel as to make impossible demands of work, but then his
patience stops him by the answers. The rest of the poem is the reply made by
patience.
First, a patience point out that God does not need anything. God is complete
and perfect. He doesn't need work or talents ("gifts") of any kind.
Line 11
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. […]
Now patience points out its second point. Patience argues that those people
are the best servants of God who allow their fates to be linked with and
controlled by God, as if they were wearing a yoke.
 Azim Hossain Imo
Masters in English Literature
Master in English Language Teaching (JU)

Essentially, this means accepting things as they come, especially suffering

and misfortune.
A "yoke" is a wood frame that is placed around the necks of farm animals,
like ox, cow, so that they can be directed.
Patience doesn't want to make God sound like an unkind slave driver, so
God's yoke is called "mild," or not-that is bad. Actually It's not a matter how
much you get the time on earth to be loyal to God, it's how you handle your
submission to God.
Lines 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 like a king, not a lord, so the
"Parable of the Talents" does not strictly apply.
Lord needs everyone of his servants on his estates to work for them. A Lord
is rich but not so rich that they would keep useless servant. So A Lord usually
doesn’t keep servants who are only for stand around and wait for. On the
other hand, Kings have unlimited resources, especially if they control a
"state" as large as the entire earth.
With His kingly status, God has plenty of worshiper to do His "bidding" by
rushing from place to place, they do things that require light and vision. It
doesn't make a difference whether one more person fulfills the role or not.
But kings also have people who "wait" on them, who stand in a state of
readiness until their action is needed.
So, we believe that the sentence, "His state is kingly," is meant to contrast
with the "lordly" state of the master of the Biblical parable in Matthew 25.
Of course, "wait" can also have the meaning of waiting for something to
happen, as in, "I waited for the bus."
What would the speaker be waiting for? The Second Coming of Jesus? The
end of history? We don't know because the poem only suggests this meaning
so confusingly.
The word "post" here just means "to travel quickly."
The poem ends with a sign of the speaker's disability and this disability is
forced on him by his blindness.