WHEN I CONSIDER HOW MY LIGHT IS

SPENT

By: John Milton

Blake, Seth, Michael

30 September 2014

Born in London, England

Went completely blind in

1652

He made his best works

after he went blind.

His life plan was to serve

God.

BIOGRAPHY

(1608-1674) Portrait of

WHEN I CONSIDER HOW MY L IGHT IS SPENT

“When I consider how my light is spent, Ere half my

days in this dark world and wide, And that one talent

which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though

my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and

present My true account, lest He returning chide;

“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?” I fondly ask.

But Patience, to prevent 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. His state Is kingly: thousands at His bidding

speed, And post o’er land and ocean without rest; They

also serve who only stand and wait.”

PETRARCHAN SONNET

14 lines written in iambic pentameter

Two quatrains (one octave) with rhyme scheme abba abba

One sestet with varying rhyme scheme, commonly cde cde, like

in “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent”

Between the octave and the sestet (line 9) there is usually a

Volta, turn, in the tone.

Typically the octave describes a problem that is solved in the

sestet.

(The Classroom)

(Education)

PETRARCHAN SONNET

Theme: Taking time for God

Alludes to the fact that he is blind

“When I consider how my life is spent / Ere half my

days, in this dark world and wide,” (483)

OTHER FACTS

He was quite the ladies’ man; Milton married three

times.

Milton’s college nickname was “the Lady of

Christ’s”

He was thought to have met Galileo in his time in

Italy.

John Milton went completely blind in 1652.

He had long hair… like this

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Milton, John. “When I Consider How My Life Is

Spent." McDougal Littell Literature: British Literature.

New York: McDougal Littell, 2008. 483. Print.

"What Are the Main Features of the Petrarchan Sonnet? |

The Classroom | Synonym." The Classroom. N.p., n.d.

Web. 30 Sept. 2014.

"What Are the Main Features of the Petrarchan

Sonnet?" Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2014.