Poem Analysis
Poem Title: When I Consider How My Light is Spent
Author: John Milton
Synopsis: The speaker’s life is spent in darkness. He is questioning whether he is worthy of god because he has no sight. He is willing to serve god when needed. Questions Patience, he says god doesn’t car if you serve, but how you carry yourself. He describes everyone else working restlessly waiting until they are needed.
Theme: Even once your light has been spent. The lord will still have great plans for you to be of use. So, in the end, you will not be useless once your light has been spent.
Why is it significant: John Milton, the author of this poem was also blind when writing this, so this is a story about his life and what had happened when he had spent his light. His big goal was to be of service to god and he felt his writing would help with that. Once he lost his vision, it would be incredibly hard for him to read and write. Thankfully, his disability was not too crippling and he was still able to produce amazing poems.
3 Poetic Devices:
I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent – Personification is used here because the narrator is describing patience as a person
Rhyme Scheme – This poem is an Italian sonnet that uses the ABBA ABBA CDDC GH
When I consider how my light is spent – This is a Metaphor because the narrator is comparing his light as his vision with out using like or as.
