On His Blindness

Sonnet 19: When I consider how my light is spent

        

          BY JOHN MILTON

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-labour, 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.”

SUMMARY

John Milton was a great poet who has written eminent poems such as "Paradise lost" and "Paradise Regained" . His poem "On his Blindness"   is a sonnet with 14 lines  . He had undergone inner conflict in his mind as soon as  he lost his eyesight. As he had lost his sight in the prime years of his life, the world seemed to him dark and wide. He started fighting with God for having taken his one and the only talent - writing poetry - which is dead and gone.

"On his Blindness" expresses his grief over the loss of eyesight. Milton has an inborn talent of poetic genius. He wants to serve and glorify God by writing a great and immortal poem. He becomes blind at the age of 45. He feels sorry that he has wasted the best part of his life. He is guilty like the servant  who buries the talent given by his master. He is afraid that God may punish him for not making proper use of his poetic talents.

                 In a bitter mood of frustration, Milton murmurs

                 Doth God exact day-labour, light -denied?

Soon Milton overcomes his bitter mood. He decides to be patient and accept God's will humbly. He realises that God does not need man's services. He has numberless servants at his disposal. They carryout his commands over land and sea.

God assigns different duties to different persons. Some have to be active. Some have to be passive. Some have to run about. Some have to stand and wait only. Bearing one's burden submissively and doing one's duty- great or small - is real service to God. Thus Milton reconciles himself to God's will and finds consolation. The poem begins in a mood of bitterness but ends in a mood of reconciliation:

                       ‘They also serve who only - stand and wait.’

Milton expresses his frustration over his loss of sight. Despite his grief, he re-establishes his faith in God. He points out a valuable moral lesson about real service to God. Though a short poem of 14 lines, there is also an allusion to the parable of the talent. The poem reveals Milton's moral earnestness and Biblical knowledge . Thus "On his Blindness" is one of the most famous sonnets of Milton.