WHEN I CONSIDER HOW
MY LIGHT IS SPENT
By: John Milton
Blake, Seth, Michael
30 September 2014
BIOGRAPHY
(1608-1674)
 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.
Portrait of
W HEN I C ONSIDER H OW M Y
L IGHT I S S PENT
“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 daylabor, 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.