OnHisBlindness”byJohnMilton-gacudt.in

“On His Blindness” by John Milton
“On His Blindess” is an Italian sonnet by John Milton,one of the greatest poets of English literature.It was written after he had become totally blind at the age of forty three. It anticipates the theme of his masterpiece,Paradise Lost,“to justify the ways of God to men.”
Milton, a puritan,views his blindness as a deliberate design of God and considers it God’s way to prove Milton’s greatness.Yet,when isolated and embittered by his blindness,he is disturbed by some intriguing questions such as why God made him blind; why God did not make him feel the urge to write his masterpiece when he had vision and when he was in the prime of his youth;and why God exacted “day-labour, light denied.”He humbly murmurs these complaints, not against, but to God.
Patience, personified in the sonnet, answers all his questions. God never needs “man’s work or his own gifts” to please himself. “Who best / Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best.” Thousands are at his disposal in his kingly state to serve him and run errands “over land and ocean without rest.” But people, who accept the “mild yoke” of God without any murmur of complaints and wait for His favour, serve Him best.
Milton’s preference of the Italian sonnet to the English and Spenserian sonnet is remarkable. Its dual structure best serves to deal with the theme of the sonnet. He describes his life before and after losing his vision and raises his questions in the first eight lines of the sonnet, which form the octave of the sonnet. He personifies patience and lets it answer all his questions in the next and last six lines, which form the sestet of the sonnet.Moreover, his conviction in classicism is very vibrant in his preference of the Italian sonnet, the variant of which is best exemplified in the sonnet with the rhyme pattern: abbaabbacdecde.
The poem thus presents a cosmic theme of lofty religious idealism in the form of solution to deal with the inscrutable ways of God:“Acceptance is the best service to God.”
Yet, there is one more possible way of looking at this sonnet. During the two Civil Wars(1642-1646 and 1648-1651), Milton supported the parliamentarians led by Lord Cromwell.In 1649 he was appointed foreign secretary by the Puritan Government(1649-1660).Even after he had become blind, he continued his government service till 1660 with the help of Andrew Marvell, a metaphysical poet. He remained in the favour of Cromwell.If this political situation(Cromwell’s speech –“In the name of God, go”)is considered, it can be argued that Milton viewed Cromwell as God in the sonnet and he presents himself as a servant waiting on him.
Thus the sonnet’s flavour makes up the finest synthesis of the personal, the theological, the philosophical and the political.
Q-As:
1. John Milton is known as …………………………
Ans: a puritan poet
2. What is the masterpiece of Milton?
Ans: Paradise Lost ( 1667)
3. What kind of poem is Milton’s “On His Blindness?”
Ans: A sonnet
4. What kind of sonnet is Milton’s “On His Blindness?”
Ans: An Italian or Petrarchan sonnet
5. What is the rhyme pattern of Milton’s “On His Blindness?”
Ans: abbaabbacdecde
6.What is personified in the poem?
Ans: Patience
7. What is the complaint of the poet?
Ans: “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?
(or) The poet is embittered by his blindness and questions why God made him blind and kindle his creative spirit to write his masterpiece.
8. Who answers the questions of Milton in the sonnet?
Ans: Patience, which is personified.
9. What is Patience’s answer to the questions of Milton?
Ans:“Who best / Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best.”
10. What is the theme of the sonnet?
Ans: The cosmic religious idealism–acceptance is the best service to God.
11.Exemplify Milton’s classicism.
Ans:Milton’s adoption of the Italian sonnet to deal with the cosmic religious theme.
12.State the period of two civil wars fought during the17 century in England. Ans: Civil War I–1642-1646; Civil War II–1648-1651。