The following poem, Sonnet XVII, by John Milton, is to be studied in this unit. Read it carefully:
Sonnet XVII
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, lesthe returning, chide
'Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?
I fondly ask; but Patience, to prevent
The murmur, son 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 athis bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait'
1652? 1673
- John Milton
3.2 Background to the Poem
John Milton lived between 1608 and 1674. He remains one of the most outstanding and committed poets in the English poetic tradition. He was inclined towards religious poetry. His Christian outlook is given expression in much of his work. He is best known for Paradise Lost which he dictated while he was going blind. The poem was completed in 1665. His total blindness is dated between 1651 and 1652.
Incidentally you need to draw on this insight into Milton's blindness in order to understand the poem. In plain terms, the poem is about his blindness. It explores his blindness in the light of the Christian idea of stewardship in which man is seen as accountable to God. This comes out clearly in a parable told by Jesus during His earthly ministry about the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 25:14-30. The parable talks about a lord who gave his servants various amounts of money. The wise ones invested what they were given while the foolish one simply buried his. Their master was pleased with those that profited from using their talents and blamed the one that foolishly buried his. As far as Milton was concerned, his blindness would make him bury his talent. His worry was whether God would blame him for not utilising his talent which he saw as the ability to write poems. In a sense, the poem is a product of Milton's anxiety.
Apart from the fact that the poem draws on Milton's personal experience, it is also a sonnet. That means it is a fourteen-line poem. The sonnet originated from Italy and was originally concerned with the subject of love. A sonnet is traditionally divided into two main parts: the first eight lines (called the octet) and the last six (the sextet). It is normal for the development of the idea in a poem to be based on this division. For instance, the octet can raise a problem which the sextet will resolve. Milton put the sonnet to a special use.
3.3 A Summary of the Poem
You must have observed from the background information provided to appreciate this poem that deliberate effort has been made to tell you of what inspired John Milton to write this poem. Now read the poem again and try to answer the following question:
The poem, you will observe, starts with the poet-persona complaining. He was aware of the fact that he had some talent or gift from God which - like the servants in the parable told by Jesus - he had to put to good use and also profit with. At the same time he was conscious of his blindness. He felt that he was already going blind before half his days ("my light" line 1) was already gone. The loss of sight made him to idea of consider the world as dark. At the same time he would not want to bury his God-given ability to write poems, knowing the penalty that might come from doing otherwise ("which is death to hide:" line 3). His dilemma comes from the fact that while he would want to serve God, he was naturally handicapped. But he would not know what would be his fate due to this. As far as he was concerned, it was not unwillingness on his part that would make him not put his talent to use.
While the octet states the argument of the poet, the answer to his question comes in the sextet in which Patience, apparently a personification of the virtue, replies the agitated poet. He is told that God is not made richer by man's works or the gift He gives men and that there are different ways to serve God. Some may have to patiently endure their agony. God is already in matchless glory and has countless angels at His service. Many other people would have to just express their commitment and service by merely waiting on Him if they have no ability to run errands. In short, there are various ways of serving God.
What you will observe in this poem is that it is more of an externalisation of the thought of the poet. In other words, the poet seems to be thinking aloud in the poem. The first octet poses a question to which the sextet provides an answer.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
In what way does the poem relate the idea of the talent to his personal experience?
3.4 Thematic Concerns of the Poem
The poem is primarily concerned with exploring man's responsibility and accountability to God. The persona is burdened due to the awareness that he must put his God-given ability to use. But he sees his blindness as a barrier to realising his desire of being a poet. The question this raises has to do with whether what God expects from people is based on their ability. In his own case it would not be possible to render the kind of service he would have loved to God due to his disability; he would like to be assured that his failure to execute his desire would not betaken as a form of irresponsibility.
There is also the related theme of God's just treatment which emerges in the last six lines of the poem that is the sextet. The anxiety of the poet only gives way when he is told by Patience that God would not expect people to give what they do not have the ability to give to Him in the form of service. This presents God as just and considerate in His expectation. This would bring a lot of relief to Milton who already asked whether God would expect the blind to do as much as their counterparts with the benefit of sight.
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
i. Make a distinction between the octet and the sextet.
ii. Identify the two thematic interests of John Milton's "Sonnet
XVII".
3.5 Technique
Milton's "Sonnet XVII" succeeds largely because the poet has adopted appropriate devices. The most important of them are as follows:
(a) Biblical Allusion
The allusion to the parable of the Kingdom of Heaven told by Jesus in Matthew 25:14-30 is so central to the success of this poem that attention has to be drawn to it. The allusion is important in the sense that it provides a basis for the persona to compare his state with that of the unfaithful servants that buried their talents. The ideas that are explored in the poem are also rooted in this biblical allusion. This suggests that it is impossible to properly appreciate the poem without a reference to the parable that inspired it. There is also an allusion to Matthew 11:29-30 where there is an encouragement to followers of Jesus to patiently bear their yoke.
(b) Structure
You must have also observed that the poem is divided into two parts which coincide with the conventional division of a sonnet to the first eight lines (the octet) to explore the problem bothering the persona while the last six (the sextet) answer his question and thereby render his anxiety unnecessary. This structure is logical as questions normally come before answers. This makes the poem complete in the sense that it is self-contained.
(c) Diction
The fact that the inspiration for the writing of this poem is I, derived from the Bible is also reflected in the poet's choice of words. Much of the poem is built around the idea of the "talent" (line 3) which originally meant a weight of gold. In the context of this poem it means an ability or a potential. There is also a reference to "yoke" in line 11. This is derived from the admonition of Jesus in Matthew 11:29-30 in which reference is made to the cost of following Jesus. These words are consistent with the concern of the poem and are also appropriately used in such a way that their suggestions are not hidden.
(d) Pun
You need to also note that the poet does not just carefully select words. He also plays on them. There are two of such that you need to pay attention to. The first is "dark" which occurs in line 2. It at once suggests that everything turned dark for Milton after his blindness and that the world is full of evil and ungodliness. The latter suggestion is essentially a Christian idea. The second word on which the poet plays is "light" (lines 1, 7). Light here also suggests Milton's lost sight and, by extension, his life. His societal relevance was, no doubt, reduced after the loss of his sight. This probably accounts for his lament as to the danger his condition would pose to his self-fulfillment.
(e) Poetic Mode
The poem is presented as a dramatic monologue. This enables the persona to directly express his experience. The fact that the persona relates his experience in this manner makes it more believable..
4.0 CONCLUSION
John Milton's "Sonnet XVII" is an interesting exploration of the poet's personal experience. It demonstrates the viability of personal experience as raw material for poetic expression. The use to which the poet puts a religious conviction provides a basis for exploring his own aspiration in the light of the outlook on human aspiration that his .religious persuasion dictates. The poet in a way reveals that religion and reason can be reconciled.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit we have been able to study a poem which, in addition to being autobiographical, is also an example of the sonnet. It is also remarkable that the poem departs from the convention of exploring subjects of love in sonnets to treating a subject within the sphere of religion. This in a way demonstrates the capacity of poetic forms to lend themselves to uses other than those which convention assigns them when the need arises.
6.0 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
Examine the harmony between theme and technique in John Milton's Sonnet XVII.
7.0 REFERENCE/FURTHER READING
Hollander, J. & Frank, K. (1973). The Literature of Renaissance England. New York: Oxford University Pres
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