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Difficulty: MediumClosed Poetic Forms and Structural Conventions

Read the following poem by John Milton (first published in 1673) carefully before choosing your answer.

On His Blindness

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."

How does the structural division between the octave (lines 1–8) and the sestet (lines 9–14) contribute to the development of the poem's theme?

  1. A
    It traces a chronological narrative progression, detailing the speaker’s life history from his early achievements to his eventual blindness.
  2. B
    It separates John Milton’s personal, biographical anxieties about his lost eyesight from his academic arguments about political philosophy.
  3. It shifts the poem from an anxious query about personal duty to a resigned acceptance of divine sovereignty.Answer
  4. D
    It serves primarily to isolate the personification of Patience in line 8, highlighting the device without linking it to the theological resolution in the final lines.
  5. E
    It maintains a continuous and unchanging tone of resentment, demonstrating that the structural shift does not alter the speaker's initial emotional outlook.

Answer

The correct answer shifts the poem from an anxious query about personal duty to a resigned acceptance of divine sovereignty.
The correct answer explains that the octave establishes the speaker's internal conflict and anxiety about being unable to serve God due to blindness, while the sestet, initiated by the speaker's patience, resolves this conflict by redefining service as humble submission. This mirrors the standard structure of an Italian sonnet where a problem is posed in the first eight lines and resolved in the final six.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the structural characteristics of the poem's closed form.
The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet, consisting of an octave (first eight lines) and a sestet (last six lines), with a volta (turn) occurring in the middle of line 8.
Understanding the standard structural divisions of a Petrarchan sonnet helps identify how the argument and tone shift across the text.
2
Analyze the thematic focus of the octave.
In the octave, the speaker expresses fear and anxiety that his blindness prevents him from using his God-given talents, questioning whether God expects active work from those without sight.
This establishes the central conflict of the poem, which is rooted in personal duty and spiritual anxiety.
3
Analyze the thematic focus of the sestet.
In the sestet, Patience answers the speaker by explaining that God does not require active human labor, but is instead served by those who accept their trials and remain faithful.
This reveals the resolution to the conflict, demonstrating that the structural transition from octave to sestet mirrors a shift from anxiety to acceptance.

Key Concept

Closed Poetic Forms and Structural Conventions
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Topics

Closed Poetic Forms and Structural Conventions

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