A Sense of Hope in Milton's Sonnet XIX
John Milton's contemplative "Sonnet XIX" reveals the idea of man in adversity coming to terms with fate. Milton reflects upon the condition of his own soul in physical blindness through his ideas of service, duty, and talent in order to explore his relationship with God and his art: writing. Milton's use of diction and structure provide clues to the sonnet's interpretation and help resolve the thematic dilemma presented. The sonnet's imagery connotes multiple meanings. An examination of Milton's allusions to biblical verse and historical parallels help give important insight towards understanding the sonnet.
Milton divides this sonnet into two structural parts of iambic pentameter in the Petrarchan style. The octave is concerned with Milton's contemplative state which flows from, "When I consider how my light is spent" (line 1). Milton links the words spent, light, death, and soul through the heavy stress of their syllables. According to Steven Wigler, the egocentric tone of the octave is revealed in the use of the pronouns I, me, and my, which appear eight times in the first eight lines (Wigler 156). Milton's obsessive concern with whether he will be expected to fulfill the demands of his service builds until the first part ends with his question, "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied," (line 7) followed by, "I fondly ask but Patience to prevent"(line 8). Milton has capitalized the word patience. He is deifying the word to help transform the tone in the sestet. Milton foreshadows a resolution by associating the qualities of patience with God. Milton seems consumed with emphasizing his serious intention and concern for himself as a writer in the octave, but later balances ...
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...necessarily imply extinguished light. It can simultaneously represent the burning of light in the present. Milton has left his reader with a sense of hope.
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Steadman, John M., 'The Idea of Satan as the Hero of “Paradise Lost”', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 120, No. 4 (1976), 253-294
...e speaker admits she is worried and confused when she says, “The sonnet is the story of a woman’s struggle to make choices regarding love.” (14) Her mind is disturbed from the trials of love.
Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost is a complex character meant to be the evil figure in the epic poem. Whenever possible Satan attempts to undermine God and the Son of God who is the true hero of the story. Throughout the story Milton tells the readers that Satan is an evil character, he is meant not to have any redeeming qualities, and to be shown completely as an unsympathetic figure. Satan’s greatest sins are pride and vanity in thinking he can overthrow God, and in the early part of the poem he is portrayed as selfish while in Heaven where all of God’s angels are loved and happy. Satan’s journey starts out as a fallen angel with great stature, has the ability to reason and argue, but by Book X the anguish and pain he goes through is more reason for him to follow an evil path instead. Even so, Milton uses literal and figurative imagery in the description of Satan’s character to manipulate the reader’s response to the possibility that Satan may actually be a heroic figure. As the plot of the story unfolds there are moments where the reader can identify with Satan’s desires and relate to his disappointments.
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Bellette, Antony F. ""Little Worlds Made Cunningly": Significant Form in Donne's "Holy Sonnets" and "Goodfriday, 1613"" Studies in Philology 72.3 (1975): 322-47. JSTOR. Web. Oct. 2011. .
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Milton’s poetic license entitles him to write as he pleases and therefore justifies his adaptation of an allegory into his epic. It is clearly apparent that Milton recognizes this privilege when...
Canfield Reisman, Rosemary M. “Sonnet 43.” Masterplots II. Philip K. Jason. Vol. 7. Pasadena: Salem Press, 2002. 3526-3528. Print.
This week’s lecture is on John Milton and his epic poem, Paradise Lost. This essay will focus on Milton’s life, a few examples of Milton’s tracts, Miltonic themes, epic poems, and Paradise Lost.
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