*Milton*(the real and final one)

[ PandP PENS Index ][ Chloe Conger's Notes ] 4/10/96 - 6:35 PM

When reading John Milton's "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent," it is

helpful to know that eighteen years earlier Milton had become completely

blind. The knowledge of his condition only deepened my connection to the

poem rather than limit it to a specific historical context. I recognize that

the issues he tackled were very personal to him and probably painful.

He wrestles with a multitude of feelings: that his light, his time of seeing

is over, a part of him is dead, that he has been denied and abandoned by God

(which the phrase "lest he(God) returning" implies) has left him, and that

he impotently cannot serve God. He wishes to truly explain himself to his

Maker, to present his "true account," hoping that God will empathize with

his plight and not demand such rigorous service as he could otherwise

provide.

" "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?"

I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent (line 8)

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."

He asks foolishly because he assumes that God needs his work, yet Patience

reminds him that God does not depend on human action. Merely bear the

conditions he hands you, Patience suggests. Milton's condition, or yoke,

however, is not so mild, but has, indeed, cut him off from the world of

light.

The line in bold type is where the poem prepares to head in a new direction,

introducing Patience. Patience is personified, in a soothing feminine voice

that contrasts with his masculine grappling, full of hard d's and t's.

Although her speech is not consonant-bare, her affect is reassuring. She

waylays his fears of a scolding, father-like Maker by making it clear that

he too can serve God as those "who only stand and wait."

(not counting words quoted from the original text, there are 250 words)

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