Milton-When I Consider How My

Milton-"When I Consider How my Light Is Spent"

John Milton, "When I consider how my light is spent."

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

Lodged 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-labor, 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.

The lyric poem, "When I Consider How My Light is Spent," also known as John Milton's Sonnet XIX, is reflective verse that seems to be about his blindness, but, like many great works of art that have endured for centuries, has numerous and complex meanings, depending on the point-of-view from the reader. John Milton (1608-1674) was, of course, a English poet of the Elizabethan Era most famous for his work Paradise Lost and his treatise condemning censorship, the Areopagitica. During his lifetime, England was in a religious and political flux, and Milton's poetry and prose often reflect the dual nature of his political and social views, certainly they try to make some sense out of the conundrum of English and European culture of the era ("John Milton," 2008; Lace, 2005).

The poem opens with a narrator reflecting on the sad notion that he has lost his sight before even half his life is over. He is distressed, and wonders if the Creator is somehow displeased with him and actually punishing him for not properly using his "talents." In the Biblical parable quoted, God punished the servant who had not used the money (wealth) entrusted to him, perhaps God expected the same of him?

Questions continue to be personified by Milton -- and the resultant answers remind the reader that it is not necessarily a reciprocal relationship in which God or Humans depend on the gifts to survive. Instead, those who serve the creator best are those who "Bear his mild yoke." Indeed, the overriding them seems to be that the individual must look inside themselves and find what it is they do best that will allow them to be good citizens of the temporal as well as on the proper path towards the spiritual. "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."

Symbols are part of Milton's method, and it is likely that the term "light" in the poem refers to the concept of time and chronological movement. Since Milton was not born blind, it is likely that in his youth, he used his sense of sight to observe the world, interact within the confines of society, and as his sight faded, use his hands and pen to right the wrongs he previously observed. "Talent," then, is likely to mean his active poetry and what the word can do, over time, to en-lighten the ignorant (in the true sense of "not knowing.") Thus -- "And that one talent which is death to hid//Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent//to serve there with my Maker, and present//My true account."

Similarly, Milton was famous for imbibing his work with punny wordplay, not as obvious to the modern reader as it was during his time, but nevertheless apparent. In the opening of the poem, for instance, Milton used the word "spent" -- a word evolving from "to spin," "to weigh," "pensive," "ponder," or even "spend." All these derivations are appropriate when reading the rest of the context of the poem. While it is obvious that "darkness" means blindness, when taken in the context of Milton's life, knowing how deeply religious he was, "darkness" at the time meaning sinfulness and ignorance (Labriola 2006, p. 167).