[Author’s Name]
[Institution’s Name]
Essay on Sonnet 16
In this sonnet, the speaker meditates on the fact that he has become blind (Milton himself was blind when he wrote this). He expresses his frustration at being prevented by his disability from serving God as well as he desires to. He is answered by "Patience," who tells him that God has many who hurry to do his bidding, and does not really need man's work. Rather, what is valued is the ability to bear God's "mild yoke," to tolerate whatever God asks faithfully and without complaint. As the famous last line sums it up, "They also serve who only stand and wait."
The poem starts with the speaker, Milton, reflecting upon his blindness and how God expects him to make full use of his ability as a writer, if he cannot even see the paper on which he writes. The talent of the poet is useless now that he is losing his sight, even though he wishes to serve God with his writing now more than ever. After stating this problem, he wonders if God wants him to do smaller tasks since he can no longer see light or use his talent. Milton’s own patience answers his question as foolish: that God does not need man to do work for Him and those obedient to Him “[bear] his mild yoke” . Patience continues to tell Milton that God is being continuously served by thousands of people and the natural world. Most importantly Milton understands that waiting can be its own kind of service. When expressing this, Milton expresses it in a tone of depression and frustration.
He uses the word “light” to refer to his blindness and also his inner light. Many references are made to monetary exchange within his thoughts on his blindness and duty to God. The words that have monetary connotations are “spent,” “talent,” “useless,” “account,” and “exact.”................
