About the Author:
John Milton was poet of Caroline Age. Milton was a well known Puritan Poet of the 17th Century.He was born on 9 December 1608 at Bread Street, London and Died on 8 November 1674 at Bun Hill Row, London. His father, Sir John Milton, was a composer and mother was Sarah Jeffery. ‘On His Blindness’ is the most famous poem or one of the masterpieces of John Milton. He wrote this poem when he got blind at the age of 44.
He was a historian, poet, journalist, intellectual and civil servant. He lived through the Caroline, Commonwealth and Restoration Ages. He knew many languages; English, Latin, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Aramaic and Syriac.
Milton lived during the period of four kings as –
- James I
- Charles I
- Oliver Cromwell
- Charles II
Milton studied at St. Paul’s School in 1625 at the age of sixteen. He started his study at Christ College Cambridge. He got the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1629 and Master of Arts in 1632 from the University of Cambridge. Cambridge school suspended him for quarreling with his tutor Bishop William Cheppell. His father hired him a private tutor Thomas Young. In Cambridge he wrote the following poems – On The Morning of Christ’s Nativity Epitaph On the Admirable Dramatic poet William Shakespeare.
Milton served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of States and later under Oliver Cromwell from 1649 to 1660. Oliver Cromwell appointed Milton to the post of Latin Secretary due to his work on The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates.
Milton had three wives:
- Mary Powell in 1642 (She had four children.)
- Katherine Woodcock in 1656 (She had only one child. On the death of Katherine Woodcock, Milton wrote a sonnet ‘On His Deceased Wife’)
- Elizabeth Minshull in1663
He had five children from two different wives Mary Powell and Katherine Woodcock and his wife Elizabeth Minshull had no child.
Milton and His Career
During Milton’s life period from 1632 – 1637 we call it Horton Period. John Aubrey in his book “Brief Lives” called Milton the Lady of Christ’s College. While his poetry has sublimity, loftiness and grandeur of style, he was the most sublime poet.
William Blake claims, “Milton, in his Paradise Lost was on the Devil’s Party without knowing it.”
Milton’s first datable compositions are two psalms written at the age of 15 at long Bennington.
Milton’s first elegy – Elegia Prima
He was the modern writer to employ unrhymed verse outside of the theater or translation.
William Hayley described him as the greatest English Author and one of the prominent writers in the English Language. The following poets revered Milton – William Blake, William Wordsworth and Thomas Hardy.
Jeremy Taylor the author of the worthy Communication (1660) and the astronomer Galileo were the contemporary of Milton.
The age of Milton can be divided into two phases –
- Caroline period (1625 – 1649)
- Commonwealth period (1649 – 1660)
During the Civil War in England the supporters of the king were known as the cavaliers and the supporters of the parliament were known as the roundheads. Milton was a roundhead. He supported the democracy.
Milton selects his muse Urania (the muse of Astronomy in classical texts) – Book VII of Paradise Lost
Cavaliers in the Civil War – Richard Lovelace, John Denham, George Herbert, Sir John Suckling, Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, Edmund Walle – These are included in Tribe of Ben.
Sons of Ben: Sons of Ben were the followers of Ben Jonson in English Poetry and Drama in the earliest 17th century. They were all dramatists and they were influenced by Jonson’s drama and other achievements. They were a group of eleven dramatists.
Twin Poems of Milton:
L’Allegro : It means ‘a happy man’.
II Penseroso : It means a melancholy man/a thoughtful man/a meditative man
Both the poems were published in 1645/46 in the collection ‘The Poems of John Milton’ The title of these poems have been taken from musicology.
Defensio Scunda: Defensio was a political tract by John Milton. A political tract is religious in nature. It was a defence of the parliamentary regime.
Puritanism: Puritanism was a religious reform movement in England. It started in the late 16th century. The Puritans sought to purify the Church of England of remnants of the Roman Catholics. It was during the Queen Elizabeth – I.
Restoration of 1660: The Restoration of the Stuart Monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when the king Charles – II returned from exile in the continental Europe the preceding period of the Protectorate and the Civil War came to be known as the Interregnum (1649 -1660)
“Thy soul was like a star, and dwell apart: Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:” – by William Wordsworth in sonnet ‘On Milton.’
“Yet thy heart the loveliest duties on herself did lay”. – By William Wordsworth in sonnet ‘On Milton.’
“If Milton was a Puritan, he was also more than a Puritan.” – Hunchinson
“Milton was a passionate man lived in passionate time.” – John Bailey
“In International Congress of Poets Milton and Shakespeare would represent the English nation.” – Mark Pattison.
Major Works of Milton
- Comus (1634): Comus is a masque, written in 1634. A masque is a form of music and dance and elaborates stage design. He borrowed the theme for Comus from Homer’s Odyssey. It was written for a performance at Ludlow Castle Shropshire, England. It is a story of a lady who becomes separated from her brothers in a dense forest. She encounters the sorcerer Comus, who attempts to seduce her with sensual pleasure. Her brothers find her and save her with the help of Sabrina, the goddess of the river. Cicre was the mother of Comus.
- Lycidas (1637): It is a pastoral elegy, published in 1637. This poem is dedicate to Edward King a fellow student of John Milton at the University of Cambridge, who drowned in the Irish Sea in 1637.
- Aeropagitica (1644): It is a famous political pamphlet written in the form of prose. Milton derived the title for Aeropagiticda from the Greek word ‘Aeropagus’. It is a Greek hill where a tribunal for liberty of speech was held. Milton was against the censorship of books and the requirement of pre publication licence for printing. It was about freedom of speech and freedom of press. Full Title – Aeropagitica: A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England.
- Paradise Lost (1667): It was written during 1658 -1663. It was first published in 1667 in ten books. And second time it was published in 1674 in twelve books. Paradise Lost is divided into the same number of books as Divine Comedy. It is an epic poem written in blank verse. It is the magnum opus of John Milton. It is the biblical story of fall of man (Adam and Eve) The temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Gabril guards the gates of Eden in Milton’s Paradise Lost.
- Paradise Regained (1671): Paradise Regained is a brief epic in four books published in 1671. It is a religious epic poem. It is written in blank verse. Original Title – Paradise Regained , A Poem in IV Books to Which is Added Samson Agonistes The poem’s central focus is on the forty days of fasting and temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, as described in the gospel of Matthew. Satan, who appears in “Paradise Lost” returns to tempt Jesus and prevent him from accomplishing his divine mission. However, unlike Adam and Eve in “Paradise Lost” Jesus remains steadfast in his commitment to God.
- Samson Agonistes (1671): Samson Agonistes is a tragic closet drama in the form of classic tragedy. (A poetic play) This poem tells the story of Samson who is betrayed by his wife Delia and gets blind. He is captured in the Philistine Temple. There visits his friend, his father, his wife and Harapa a wrestler respectively. Later he is taken to the governor to show his power and amuse the people gathered there. In rage he destructs the temple and kills himself.
Proses by Milton:
- Of Reformation
- The Tenure of the Kings and The Magistrates
- A Treatise of Civil Powers
- Of True Religion
- Prolusiones
Sonnets of Milton:
Milton wrote total 24 sonnets (19 English sonnets and 5 Petrarchan sonnets). Petrarchan sonnet is written in Italian Language.
- On His Blindness
- On His Being Arrived to the Twenty Three
- On The Late Massacre in Piedmont
- On His Deceased Wife
- To Cyriac Skinner
- When the Assault was Intended
On His Blindness
About the Poem:
On His Blindness is a Petrarchan sonnet, written in Iambic Pentameter.
Sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen lines poem. The first lines are octave and the another six lines are sestet. There is a ‘Volta’ after eighth line that means ‘change of thought’. It is a shift from problem to solution.
Curtail Sonnet: A curtail sonnet is a poem that has ten and a half line or it may be considered as eleven lines poem. In curtail sonnet octave becomes sestet and sestet becomes quatrain. The rhyme scheme is ABC ABC DCB DC. This sonnet was given by the English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins (G.M. Hopkins).
Example of curtail sonnet: Pied Beauty by GM Hopkins
The poem was first published in Milton’s 1673 poems in autograph notebook known as the ‘Trinity Manuscript’. He gave it the name Sonnet 19 but in the published it was numbered Sixteen.
In the text ‘Parable of Talent’ refers to ‘Matthew, 25’ (14 – 30) lines. Master (Lord) gives the talent to his three servants. The first servant invests, the second also invests but the third servant does not invest but bury. Lord is angry and dismisses him from the job.
Three names of this poem:
- When I Consider How My Light is Spent
- On His Blindness
- Sonnet 16 or Sonnet 19
In the starting this poem was named ‘When I Consider How My Light is Spent.’ The title ‘On His Blindness’ was given by Thomas Newton in his 1761 edition of Milton’s poetry.
It is assumed that the poem has been written as early as 1652. But most of the scholars believe that it was written between June and October 1655 when Milton was completely blind. This is an autobiographical poem.
This poem has been written in the first person style. It is a religious poem and expresses faith in God. It expresses pathos. The sonnet is replete with full of abundant pathos. Poem ends with an expression of the poet’s faith in God’s way.
The poem is believed to serve God best one who bears his burden best. Acceptance is the theme of the sonnet that is submission to the will of a wise and loving God.
M.H. Nicolson’s remark, “On His Blindness is a complex compound sentence.”
In this poem ‘talent’ has two meanings. (i) Metaphor (A gift of poetry writing inborn) (ii) Allusion (A parable from Matthew 25).
Milton used two effective devices in this poem:
- Allegory: A story in which events and characters stand for some other situation and people.
- Personification: But Patience, to prevent that murmur soon replies.
Stand and wait – A biblical reference
This poem epitomises (gives the summary) the gist of Milton’s poetry.
Milton was a rebel by nature. He always interrogates the role of God.
Line by Line Explanation:
Lines 1 – 5
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.
Explanation: The poet regrets on his blindness. In the middle of his life he became blind. He begins the poem with the fantasy that he cannot serve God or fulfill God’s will because he has lost his eyesight. He finds himself in the dark world and wide and cannot properly use his poetic talent. The talent will cease because of lacking eyesight. He fears that God would be angry for not using the talent given by Him. Further he says that his soul is fully determined and wants to serve God.
Lines 5 – 8
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.
Explanation: He wants to serve God although he has lost his eyesight. And he wants to bestow his true account to God. The poet’s agitation in the earlier lines is ended by the patience. He becomes calm. ‘True account’ considers his poetry religious. He thinks that God still expects him write although he has lost his sight. God does not want him labour nor does He punishes him. The poet wants to know still God wants day labour or work from him, Milton’s eyesight has gone. His eyesight denies him from using his poetic talent. The poet foolishly asks question to himself that about suspecting God’s will. But the patience prevents his foolishness.
Lines 9 – 12
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
Explanation: He whispers to himself about the foolish question. God does not need anything from man either his service or anything else. He is all powerful in the world. The people who are the most obedient to God’s will. Here yoke is Biblical. A yoke was kind of harness put on oxen but in Matthew XI (20 – 30). It is an image for God’s will. God’s state is kingly. He is supreme and does not need anything from man. Thousands of angles fly at high speed over the land and the sea to do His bidding.
Lines 13 – 14
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Explanation: Milton also expresses that there are thousands of angles who work to fulfill God’s will and others wait to do his bidding. The service of both the angles is important to God. He is content that he is also serving God though he has lost his eyesight. His faith in God that He accepts all from his pupils. He remains loyal to God. At last he is hopeful.
Milton’s soul wishes to serve God by writing great poetry.