"To be blind is not miserable; not to be able to bear blindness, that is miserable." -John Milton
One of the major setbacks the celebrated English poet, John Milton (1608-1674) had to struggle with is his blindness. His sorrow and anxiety over this terrible loss, which had set in permanently by the year 1652, is prominently reflected on some of his major works, including his sonnets. Out of the twenty-three sonnets composed by him in English and Italian, some were addressed to men and women of importance whom he had met professionally, while others speak of his own personal journey. However, the theme of blindness most distinctly pervades through three of his English sonnets, all written in the Petrarchan style, which Milton had produced during these dark years.
Owing to the compressed expression of the form, the poems hold multiple layers of meaning. This essay provides an overview of Milton's response to his blindness, the effect it has on his works and how his disability compelled him to gain a deeper and more spiritual understanding of life. The three sonnets in discussion are some of his deeply personal works out of which one of the most significant English sonnets that Milton devised is Sonnet 23 (numbered as 'XIX' in his Poems, 1673). It is dedicated to his second wife Katherine Woodcock to whom he got married on 12th November, 1656, and who having borne him a daughter on 19th October, 1657, passed away in February,1658. This poem offers several questions for debate, including, who is the "espoused saint"? Mary Powell, Milton's first wife or Katherine Woodcock? A closer analysis of Milton’s life is therefore made necessary by this.
Having been brought up in an environment of strong religious piety, mythological and Biblical references are often found in Milton's works, and such is the case in this particular poem 'Methought I saw my late espoused saint'. His dead wife, Katherine is being referred to as 'saint' who appears to him in his dream, brought to him like 'Alcestis from the grave,' and 'Her face was veiled'. Considering Milton never actually saw his second wife since he married after he was blind, it can be safely deduced that Katherine Woodcock is the lady in question. The poet's desire of reuniting with her and having "Full sight of her in heaven without restraint" further supports this claim.
Dream and blindness combine together and act as a single theme in the poem, surmounting the poet's despair. Generally, most of Milton's poems conclude with a sense of positivity and an affirmation of certain values. However, his sense of hopelessness in the ultimate line reflects upon his own life and the hardships he had to encounter and overcome on being a physically disabled poet of exceptional abilities. The interesting paradox is how when the poet wakes up from a dream, the day brings back his night. 'my night' alludes to his blindness where the day causes him sorrow due to his lack of vision, whereas during night time, in the realm of dreams, he lives through his visions of his beloved whom he has lost and never seen. Daytime brings into his consciousness his disability, thereby establishing how his 'day brought back his night'. The day which brings light, therefore is synonymous to his everlasting night, or blindness. His visions occur on a metaphysical realm, and on coming back to reality he is doubly disappointed. At the precise moment when he is about to reunite with his dead wife, he wakes up from the dream only to be reunited with the darkness of his own physical world-his 'night'.
"But O as to embrace me she enclined,
I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night."
Another one of Milton's sonnets which talks of his experiences as a blind poet is one of his lesser known works. This is a sonnet addressed to Cyriack Skinner, his student and amanuensis. The history goes thus, that Milton was commissioned to write a few defences on the execution of Charles I, notably to a well-known French writer and controversialist named Claude Saumaise (better known as Salmasius). This, however, turned out to be the opportunity that he had been waiting for. For once in his life, Milton believed that he was speaking for his country and the liberty of his people. His defences on the attacks of the English regicides proved to be a huge success. But he became completely blind by the time it appeared and his enemies believed that his blindness was a punishment from God and a result of his defence of regicide. In the sonnet, 'To Mr. Cyriack Skinner upon his Blindness', Milton completely turns this around and accepts his blindness as an advantageous affliction which was caused due to his fight for liberty and further elevates his loss to a stature which is at par with the supreme satisfaction of having served his country.
In the poem, Milton laments how his lack of sight inhibits his view "Of Sun or Moon or Starre throughout the year,/ Or man or woman." Nonetheless he believes he must "argue not/ Against heavns hand or will," but continue to fight on like a true patriot. He clarifies his point by considering his blindness as a result of "my noble task" that he was vested with of defending his motherland, and that it is this very "conscience" that drives him forward inspite of his physical setbacks.
"The conscience, Friend, to have lost them overply`d
In libertyes defence, my noble task,
Of which all Europe talks from side to side."
He finally concludes by juxtaposing blindness against that conscience which will guide him through all his crises and adversities.
Chronologically, this final sonnet in discussion, Sonnet 19 (numbered as 'XIV' in his Poems, 1673), 'On his Blindness' was written by Milton several years before the previous two, in around 1652 about the same time he lost his eyesight permanently. But being universally considered as one of his most important sonnets where Milton provides his own testimony of the helplessness and powerlessness of a blind poet, 'When I consider how my light is spent' deserves a careful reading.
The structure of the sonnet is in a question and answer format. In the octave Milton poses an enormously significant question of his life, which is consequently answered in the following sestet by the personified character of Patience. In the opening line, 'When I consider how my light is spent', the spent light could refer to the poet's creative talents and energies since now he is uncertain about the future implications of the blindness on his writing career. But more importantly, he is speaking of his eyesight which he now considers as 'spent', invoking the image of a candle or an oil lamp whose light has been used up . Here, 'light' stands as a metaphor for vision. Milton further grieves and laments that the calamity took place before "half (his) days", subjecting him to a vast world of overwhelming darkness as reflected by "this dark world and wide". The following line contains Biblical allusions where he fears he is going to be like the worthless servant in the Parable of Talents-unable to utilise the gifts that God has bestowed on him. He ardently wants to serve the Almighty but is at an utter loss of how to do so on being visually challenged. This desperation and the alleged unfairness of God in demanding benevolence from someone who is denied eyesight ultimately leads to the completion of his question in the final line of the octet "I fondly ask;".
It is here where Patience offers her answer. It is noteworthy that Milton while structuring the octet-sestet symmetry begins the sestet slightly early in the eighth line itself, creating a paradox as if personified Patience can hardly wait-
"I fondly ask; But Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, ..."
This asymmetry in composition in a way divides the poem into seven line halves where each half culminates in one significant articulation, "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?" and "They also serve who only stand and wait". His advice to "stand and wait" is in complete contrast to Milton's symmetry of the sonnet where personified Patience offers the answer to Milton's question not in the beginning of the sestet but in the concluding line of the octet. Patience answers by saying that the poet has failed to understand the exact nature of the Labour that God demands from mankind. Patience confidently assures that God is perfect and independent of man's service. Thousands of angels are serving him every day, at all times. He is free from any needs because "his state is kingly." The speaker is asked not to lose hope because the merciful Lord rewards only those men of contemplation who are eager to make use of their talents for the service of the Lord, but are ready to "stand and wait" for the fulfilment of God's purpose. Therefore, that which was initially described by the poet as the "dark world and wide" of the physically blind can be interpreted from Patience`s reply as the estranged and looming world of those who are spiritually blind. They fail to see beyond themselves and their own misery. Hence, for the spiritually enlightened, Christ's "mild yoke" in the gospel is a result of patiently bearing the burden of one's personal adversity. Consequently, waiting becomes duty and service to the Lord when done without impatience and ambitious yearning. Finally, Milton through this powerful sonnet succeeds in portraying the personified Patience in essence, as an integral part of his own personality and a product of his understanding of life as a spiritual endeavour devoted to God and to the service of his men.
In conclusion, these three poems encapsulate the various ways through which Milton has tried to come to terms with his blindness. He deals with the personal loss of his dead wife in the first, speaks of patriotism in the second and his relationship with God in the final sonnet. They encompass the three different spheres of life-the private, public and spiritual respectively, and blindness as the central theme pervades through all of them, holding them together.
References:
"Literary background" in A Preface to Milton (New York: Longman Group Limited, 1986) p.72.
Poems of Mr. John Milton (London: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., 1951) pp. 291-296.
John Milton Complete Shorter Poems (New York: Longman Group Limited, 1984) pp. 327-412.
"The Cambridge Companion to Milton", Google Books Result <http://books.google.co.in/books?id=RUV0AgAAQBAJ&pg>
Jayeeta Saha
PG I
Roll-26
Course- Milton
Jadavpur University Department Of English
One of the major setbacks the celebrated English poet, John Milton (1608-1674) had to struggle with is his blindness. His sorrow and anxiety over this terrible loss, which had set in permanently by the year 1652, is prominently reflected on some of his major works, including his sonnets. Out of the twenty-three sonnets composed by him in English and Italian, some were addressed to men and women of importance whom he had met professionally, while others speak of his own personal journey. However, the theme of blindness most distinctly pervades through three of his English sonnets, all written in the Petrarchan style, which Milton had produced during these dark years.
Owing to the compressed expression of the form, the poems hold multiple layers of meaning. This essay provides an overview of Milton's response to his blindness, the effect it has on his works and how his disability compelled him to gain a deeper and more spiritual understanding of life. The three sonnets in discussion are some of his deeply personal works out of which one of the most significant English sonnets that Milton devised is Sonnet 23 (numbered as 'XIX' in his Poems, 1673). It is dedicated to his second wife Katherine Woodcock to whom he got married on 12th November, 1656, and who having borne him a daughter on 19th October, 1657, passed away in February,1658. This poem offers several questions for debate, including, who is the "espoused saint"? Mary Powell, Milton's first wife or Katherine Woodcock? A closer analysis of Milton’s life is therefore made necessary by this.
Having been brought up in an environment of strong religious piety, mythological and Biblical references are often found in Milton's works, and such is the case in this particular poem 'Methought I saw my late espoused saint'. His dead wife, Katherine is being referred to as 'saint' who appears to him in his dream, brought to him like 'Alcestis from the grave,' and 'Her face was veiled'. Considering Milton never actually saw his second wife since he married after he was blind, it can be safely deduced that Katherine Woodcock is the lady in question. The poet's desire of reuniting with her and having "Full sight of her in heaven without restraint" further supports this claim.
Dream and blindness combine together and act as a single theme in the poem, surmounting the poet's despair. Generally, most of Milton's poems conclude with a sense of positivity and an affirmation of certain values. However, his sense of hopelessness in the ultimate line reflects upon his own life and the hardships he had to encounter and overcome on being a physically disabled poet of exceptional abilities. The interesting paradox is how when the poet wakes up from a dream, the day brings back his night. 'my night' alludes to his blindness where the day causes him sorrow due to his lack of vision, whereas during night time, in the realm of dreams, he lives through his visions of his beloved whom he has lost and never seen. Daytime brings into his consciousness his disability, thereby establishing how his 'day brought back his night'. The day which brings light, therefore is synonymous to his everlasting night, or blindness. His visions occur on a metaphysical realm, and on coming back to reality he is doubly disappointed. At the precise moment when he is about to reunite with his dead wife, he wakes up from the dream only to be reunited with the darkness of his own physical world-his 'night'.
"But O as to embrace me she enclined,
I waked, she fled, and day brought back my night."
Another one of Milton's sonnets which talks of his experiences as a blind poet is one of his lesser known works. This is a sonnet addressed to Cyriack Skinner, his student and amanuensis. The history goes thus, that Milton was commissioned to write a few defences on the execution of Charles I, notably to a well-known French writer and controversialist named Claude Saumaise (better known as Salmasius). This, however, turned out to be the opportunity that he had been waiting for. For once in his life, Milton believed that he was speaking for his country and the liberty of his people. His defences on the attacks of the English regicides proved to be a huge success. But he became completely blind by the time it appeared and his enemies believed that his blindness was a punishment from God and a result of his defence of regicide. In the sonnet, 'To Mr. Cyriack Skinner upon his Blindness', Milton completely turns this around and accepts his blindness as an advantageous affliction which was caused due to his fight for liberty and further elevates his loss to a stature which is at par with the supreme satisfaction of having served his country.
In the poem, Milton laments how his lack of sight inhibits his view "Of Sun or Moon or Starre throughout the year,/ Or man or woman." Nonetheless he believes he must "argue not/ Against heavns hand or will," but continue to fight on like a true patriot. He clarifies his point by considering his blindness as a result of "my noble task" that he was vested with of defending his motherland, and that it is this very "conscience" that drives him forward inspite of his physical setbacks.
"The conscience, Friend, to have lost them overply`d
In libertyes defence, my noble task,
Of which all Europe talks from side to side."
He finally concludes by juxtaposing blindness against that conscience which will guide him through all his crises and adversities.
Chronologically, this final sonnet in discussion, Sonnet 19 (numbered as 'XIV' in his Poems, 1673), 'On his Blindness' was written by Milton several years before the previous two, in around 1652 about the same time he lost his eyesight permanently. But being universally considered as one of his most important sonnets where Milton provides his own testimony of the helplessness and powerlessness of a blind poet, 'When I consider how my light is spent' deserves a careful reading.
The structure of the sonnet is in a question and answer format. In the octave Milton poses an enormously significant question of his life, which is consequently answered in the following sestet by the personified character of Patience. In the opening line, 'When I consider how my light is spent', the spent light could refer to the poet's creative talents and energies since now he is uncertain about the future implications of the blindness on his writing career. But more importantly, he is speaking of his eyesight which he now considers as 'spent', invoking the image of a candle or an oil lamp whose light has been used up . Here, 'light' stands as a metaphor for vision. Milton further grieves and laments that the calamity took place before "half (his) days", subjecting him to a vast world of overwhelming darkness as reflected by "this dark world and wide". The following line contains Biblical allusions where he fears he is going to be like the worthless servant in the Parable of Talents-unable to utilise the gifts that God has bestowed on him. He ardently wants to serve the Almighty but is at an utter loss of how to do so on being visually challenged. This desperation and the alleged unfairness of God in demanding benevolence from someone who is denied eyesight ultimately leads to the completion of his question in the final line of the octet "I fondly ask;".
It is here where Patience offers her answer. It is noteworthy that Milton while structuring the octet-sestet symmetry begins the sestet slightly early in the eighth line itself, creating a paradox as if personified Patience can hardly wait-
"I fondly ask; But Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, ..."
This asymmetry in composition in a way divides the poem into seven line halves where each half culminates in one significant articulation, "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?" and "They also serve who only stand and wait". His advice to "stand and wait" is in complete contrast to Milton's symmetry of the sonnet where personified Patience offers the answer to Milton's question not in the beginning of the sestet but in the concluding line of the octet. Patience answers by saying that the poet has failed to understand the exact nature of the Labour that God demands from mankind. Patience confidently assures that God is perfect and independent of man's service. Thousands of angels are serving him every day, at all times. He is free from any needs because "his state is kingly." The speaker is asked not to lose hope because the merciful Lord rewards only those men of contemplation who are eager to make use of their talents for the service of the Lord, but are ready to "stand and wait" for the fulfilment of God's purpose. Therefore, that which was initially described by the poet as the "dark world and wide" of the physically blind can be interpreted from Patience`s reply as the estranged and looming world of those who are spiritually blind. They fail to see beyond themselves and their own misery. Hence, for the spiritually enlightened, Christ's "mild yoke" in the gospel is a result of patiently bearing the burden of one's personal adversity. Consequently, waiting becomes duty and service to the Lord when done without impatience and ambitious yearning. Finally, Milton through this powerful sonnet succeeds in portraying the personified Patience in essence, as an integral part of his own personality and a product of his understanding of life as a spiritual endeavour devoted to God and to the service of his men.
In conclusion, these three poems encapsulate the various ways through which Milton has tried to come to terms with his blindness. He deals with the personal loss of his dead wife in the first, speaks of patriotism in the second and his relationship with God in the final sonnet. They encompass the three different spheres of life-the private, public and spiritual respectively, and blindness as the central theme pervades through all of them, holding them together.
References:
"Literary background" in A Preface to Milton (New York: Longman Group Limited, 1986) p.72.
Poems of Mr. John Milton (London: Harcourt, Brace and Company, Inc., 1951) pp. 291-296.
John Milton Complete Shorter Poems (New York: Longman Group Limited, 1984) pp. 327-412.
"The Cambridge Companion to Milton", Google Books Result <http://books.google.co.in/books?id=RUV0AgAAQBAJ&pg>
Jayeeta Saha
PG I
Roll-26
Course- Milton
Jadavpur University Department Of English
it's very well written
ReplyDelete