When I Consider How My Light Is Spent

The poem is about the poet s blindness.

When i consider how my light is spent. When i consider how my light is spent e re half my days in this dark world and wide and that one talent which is death to hide lodg d with me useless though my soul more bent to serve there. The last three lines are particularly well known. In his famous poem when i consider how my light is spent milton wrote about his increasing blindness and questions his god as to why this happened to him and how it is possible to serve him by being thus. Likely written in the mid 1650s after milton lost his eye sight the poem reflects on the physical and spiritual challenges the speaker faces as a blind person.

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. They conclude with they also serve who only stand and wait which is much quoted though rarely in context. Doth god exact day labour light denied. In this 17th century poem the main poetic devices are the following.

When i consider how my light is spent by john milton was published in 1654. Milton in his sonnet 19 when i consider how my light is spent also known as on his blindness himself questioned how best to use his talents to please god as he faced blindness in. To serve therewith my maker and present my true account lest he returning chide. The sonnet 19.

Analysed by dr oliver tearle when i consider how my light is spent is a sonnet written by the poet john milton 1608 74. When i consider how my light is spent by john milton 959 words 4 pages sonnet 19. Prosody situational irony and tone. The narrator closely connects with his inner religion to reassure himself that god doesn t fault him for his disability.

He began to go blind in the early 1650s in his early forties and this sonnet is his response to his loss of sight and the implications it has for his life. The poem is sometimes published with the subtitle on his blindness life has changed for the speaker. Sonnet 19 more commonly called when i consider how my light is spent is a poem by the english poet john milton.