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Jul 8, 2020 · Milton constructs the poems in three distinct sections, the first with a theme of loss of poetic fame, the second focusing on the corrupt clergy, and the third the deification of Lycidas, with the result that the sections do not hang well together.
Poem Analyzed by Devony Hof. John Milton’s masterful ‘Lycidas’ is a pastoral elegy for his recently deceased friend, a thesis on the purpose of epic verse, and a piercing examination of religious truth. Milton draws upon a wealth of Greek mythological and Christian references to transform a traditional pastoral elegy into a deeper ...
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Milton’s speaker is faced with the impossibility of continuing his works. Works that are often considered to be the same as Milton’s, types of writing, or not serving God due to his blindness. He cannot continue as he had been, and he asks and receives an answer to his inner query.
Milton’s themes in ‘When I Consider How My Light Is Spent’ are quite evident from the beginning. They include the future and fear about the future, God/religion, and writing/one’s career. Milton speaks passionately throughout this piece about his newfound disability. He knows he’s going blind and worries endlessly about what that means for his futu...
‘When I Consider How My Light Is Spent’ by John Milton is a fourteen-line, traditional Miltonic sonnet. This means that the fourteen lines follow a rhyme scheme of ABBAABBACDECDE and conform to iambic pentameter. Readers familiar with sonnet forms will likely notice similarities between this format and the Petrarchan and Shakespearean Sonnet. It is...
Milton makes use of several literary devices in ‘When I Consider How My Light Is Spent.’ These include but are not limited to, examples of alliteration, caesurae, and enjambment. The first of these, alliteration, is a kind of repetitionconcerned with the use and reuse of the same consonant sounds at the beginning of multiple words. For example, “wo...
Lines 1-2
The poem begins with the speaker’s consideration of how he has spent the years of his life, represented as his “light.” This light and being a metaphorfor life are also a literal representation of Milton’s life days in which he could see. The second line expands on that, explaining that before even half of the speaker’s life had passed, he is forced to live in a world that is “dark… and wide.” Since Milton went blind at 42, he’d had the opportunity to use his writing skills, his “talents” in...
Lines 3-6
Milton speaks of his “talent,” this talent, his skills with words and love for writing, was his entire life. His livelihood and self-worth depended on it. This word “talent” is the most important in understanding these lines. As a biblical scholar, Milton was familiar with the texts of the bible and chose to reference The Parable of Talents from Matthew 25 here. When Milton refers to the talent, he relates the loss of his ability to read and write to the servant in Matthew 25 who buries the m...
Lines 7-8
At this point, Milton is finishing the sentence that he began at the beginning of the poem with the word, “When.” In short, he asks, “does God require those without light to labor?” He wants to know whether when he cannot continue his work due to his blindness, will God still require work of him.
Readers who enjoyed this poem should also consider looking into some of Milton’s other best-known works. These include‘How Soon Hath Time’ and‘On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity.’ The latter, ‘On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity,’ is also known as Nativity Ode. It was written in 1629 when Milton was 29 years old. It explores themes that include co...
John Miltonwas born on December 9, 1608, in London, England. He came from a middle-class family and went to school at Christ’s College Cambridge, where he originally intended to enter the clergy. After leaving university, he changed his plan and spent the next years studying independently for a career as a poet. During the years of the English Civi...
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Dec 9, 2020 · Analysis of Some keep the Sabbath day going to Church. This poem is all about how an individual chooses a path to offer prayer to God. We can observe that the poem compares the two ways of offering prayer where people go to church to seek blessings of God whereas the poet opts to remain at her house which she considers to be her holy place.
Poet, painter, engraver, and visionary William Blake worked to bring about a change both in the social order and in the minds of men. Though in his lifetime his work was largely neglected or dismissed, he is now considered one of the leading lights of English poetry, and his work has only grown in popularity. In his Life of William Blake (1863 ...
Mar 5, 2023 · Love. Did you know? The night I spent with you, the stars were bright that night, and I saw you in a different light, just around my arms around you to hold you tight, did you know I never felt the same? When we made love and you called on my name. And at that moment I said that it's true, that I love you and only you, could you know?
2 days ago · Starting at 8 a.m. ET on EWTN: Holy Mass on Friday, May 24, 2024 Act of spiritual communion -...
