on his blindness analysis line by line

“On his blindness”

Lets explore the on his blindness analysis line by line

Introduction:           

        On His Blindness is one of the most famous sonnets written by Jhon Milton. It was published in 1673. It is accepted that Milton composed this lyric in 1655, when he misplaced his vision nearly totally. The sonnet reflects the physical and otherworldly challenges the speaker faces as a daze individual.

Summary:

          The poet became blind when he barely crossed the span of his life. The whole world appeared to him dark and gloomy. His God-given poetic power seems to be used less by him. Because of his blind state, he cannot write poems and becomes helpless. In the state, he asks himself, “Does God require full work from a man who has lost eye sight?”. In such moments of doubt, patience comes to console him. It consoles the poet that God did not require the return of gifts; his heart is kind and merciful. Thousands of angles are at his command. They rendered their service to God. Those who bear patiently the suffering and sorrows of life could be good servants of him. Devotees are those who pray silently and await God's grace. These feelings brought relief to his hurting heart. He calmly resigns me to the will of God. Now, he wishes to make the best use of the poetic gift by composing poems in praise of God. Therefore, he reflects his faith in God and abdication.

Structure

               On His Blindness by Jhon Milton is a fourteen-line, traditional Petrarchan sonnet. The fourteen lines follow the rhyme scheme of ABBAABBACDECDE and conform to iambic pentameter. It is separated into one octave (the first eight lines) and a sestet (the remaining six lines). Moreover, it is written in the first person; therefore, it is easy to assume that the speaker is the poet himself. The poem is set entirely within the poet’s mind.

Literary Devices

                  In poem, the poet uses different writing techniques to express his feelings. It includes metaphor, extended metaphor, allusion, personification, oxymoron, hyperbole, pun, alliteration and imagery. In the first line of poem, “when I consider how my light is spent.” The poet uses metaphor by comparing light with his eyesight (vision). Again, there is a metaphor in the line “half my days, in this dark world and wide,” comparing his lack of vision to an imagined world that doesn’t have light. As well as, there is an extended metaphor in lines "And that one talent which is death to hide" and “Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul is more bent” by comparing God to the Lord, while the speaker is a third servant who has buried money (poetic talent) under the ground. Furthermore, my soul more bends—the poet is comparing his soul to his mind. The poet asks a rhetorical question: "Doth God exact day labor, light denied? to emphasize the point (about justice).

However, the poet makes an allusion in line 3~6, to the biblical parable of the talents. This allusion is a reference to a story from the Bible. Moreover, the poet personified ‘the patience’ with courage and wisdom in line 8. Bear's mild yoke is an oxymoron in composing ideas to convey that God’s control over his followers is kind. In line 12^th, ‘Thousand at his bidding speed’ is a hyperbole, an exaggeration to emphasize the vast number of angles carrying out God’s commands. The pun is also used in the poem. The word ‘wait’ is a pun. It means that the speaker will wait until the end of his life to meet his ultimate fate. Additionally, the poet also uses visual imagery in the poem, including images of servants rushing all over the world, by land and sea, to serve God. Apart from these, alliteration is widely used in the poem, with the repetition of the /n/ sound ‘dot not need’ and the repetition of the /w/ sound ‘world and wide’.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, the lyric explores the themes of acceptance, faith, and the hunt for meaning in the face of tragedy. The poem begins in a despairing mood but shifts to one of resignation and acceptance as the poet finds solace in faith and purpose.

 

 

Theme of the poem:

In this poem, the poet John Milton expresses his grief over his premature blindness. He thinks that he will not be able to use his poetic talent in the service of God. But soon he realizes that the best service to Got is to bear the sufferings of life. These are given to us by God to test our patience. So, we should have faith in God.

The Tone of On His Blindness:

The tone of On His Blindness varies throughout the poem. In the beginning, the tone seems to be demoralizing and depressing, as the poet seems to be remorseful because of his blindness. He is unable to use his talent for writing poetry, and that makes him sad. In the second stanza, the tone changes to doubtful as the poet begins to wonder if God is really angry with him. In the third stanza, the tone is hopeful, and finally, the poem becomes happy.

Reference to context of poem:

These lines have been taken from the poem ‘On His Blindness," written by Jhon Milton. In this poem, the poet expresses his grief at the loss of his eyesight because he will not be able to serve God with his talent for writing poetry due to his blindness. But soon he realizes that he should not complain against God because God neither needs man’s work nor his own gifts.