‘When I Consider How My Light Is Spent’ is a sonnet written by the poet John Milton (1608-74). The poem is about the poet’s blindness: he began to go blind in the early 1650s, in his early forties, and this sonnet is his response to his loss of sight and the implications it has for his life.

When I consider how my light is spent, E’re half my days, in this dark world and wide, And that one Talent which is death to hide, Lodg’d with me useless, though my Soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present [ 5 ] My true account, least he returning chide, Doth God exact day labour, light deny’d, I fondly …

My true account, lest he returning chide; “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”

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 metaphor for life are also a literal representation of Milton’s life days in which he could see.

Introduction. The poem On His Blindness is an autobiographical sonnet in which he expresses his feelings as a blind person. The poet thinks, in the beginning, that he will not be able to serve God as his sight is gone.

The central theme of “Ulysses” is that there is a search for adventure, experience and meaning which makes life worth living. Tennyson used Ulysses as the old adventurer, unwilling to accept the settling of old age, longing for one more quest. Tennyson also wrote this in memory of his friend Arthur Hallam.

John Milton’s poem, “On His Blindness,” is an example of a Petrarchan sonnet and follows the rhyme scheme ABBAABBA CDECDE.

classic iambic pentameter

The speaker starts off in a sorrowful, almost self-pitying mood. He resents the fact that blindness has robbed him of the chance to use his talents to serve God. But then the allegorical figure of Patience emerges to provide some much-needed perspective.

The Shakespearean sonnet, or English sonnet, consists of three quatrains and a couplet. This structure creates a rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg.

How are the first two lines different from the last two lines of the poem? Answer: The first two lines appeal to the reader to count till twelve and keep silent. The speaker expresses his desire for silence and peace as an answer to end mindless activity.

Solution : The last two lines are put within brackets because they do not form the voice of the rain or thepoet. They only contain a general observation made by the poet about the course of a song.

Answer: The last two lines of the poem reflect the courage to accept the challenge and take the right decisions in life. The poet decided to take the path that was less travelled by the others because he wanted to do something different in his life.

Answer. Explanation: The poet is trying to teach us that we should do only one thing at a time if we do not do so then none of our work will be Done properly..

(d) A huge silence can do good to us because we are able to achieve peace in this silence. It helps us in analysing ourselves and our actions, interrupting the sadness of threatening ourselves with death.

Answer: We shouldn’t speak in any language because it will create language barriers and the author doesn’t want that, he wants everyone to find a common base in this stillness. The arms here signify two things, one are our hands, and the second is weapons.