UNIT 1 INTRODUCTION TO POETRY

Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Study Guide
1.2 Elements of Poetry
1.2.1 Distinction between Poetry and Prose
1.2.2 Poetry is a Metrical Composition
1.2.3 Poetry. an Organ~sedForm
1.2.4 Metre
1.2.5 Rhyme
1.2.6 Alliteration, Assonance
' 1.2.7 .Eta-z.a
1.2.8 Figures of Speech
1.3 Forms of Poetry '
1.3.1 The Ballad
1.3.2 The Sonnet
1.3.3 The Epic
1.3.4 The Dramatic Monologue
1.3.5 The Lyric, the Elegy, and the Ode
1.4 Glossary
1.5 Comprehension Exercises
1.6 Summing Up

1.0 OBJECTIVES
This unit deals with the question,'"What is Poetry?" and discusses the various elements of
Poetry. The Unit also gives a brief description of the different verse forms. At the end of
your study of this unit, you will be able to :
0 recognise how a poem "works"
o describe the techniques of Poetry '
read a poem with an understanding of the principles of versification;
m descjbe vocabulary of literary terms such as p r 0 ~ 0 ddiction,
~ imagery etc.

1.1 STUDY GUIDE

The comprehension exercises given at the end of the unit will help you to discern the
patterns of words in any poem that will add to your in-depth understanding of the poems in
your course. We have marked the difficult words. Please turn to Section 1.4 (Glossary) to
understand them.

1.2 ELEMENTS OF POETRY

We all recognise the difference between the way we speak and the way poetry is written or
read. Where does this difference lie? It is more in the organisation of words than in the
language that is used, that we discern the difference. The organisation of words in poetry does
not always correspond to that in the spoken language or to that in the language of the regular
reading matter with which we are familiar.

his brings us to the question of distinction between prose and poetry.

1.2.1; Distinction between Poetry and Prose

Tnct~ndnf asking ourselbes what Doetrv is. let us think about what poetry is not.
Shakespeare and Milton Poetry is not prose. Have you ever thought about the significance of this simple truth?
You,are aware that all writings can be broadly classified under these two categories -prose
and poetry. The essential difference between the two is that prose is the vehicle of reason
while poetry is the vehicle of emotion. This in no way suggests that prose excludes emotion
and poetry excludes reason. We all know that scientific discoveries, philosophical discourses,
legal exposition and literary theories employ the medium of prose and not of poetry. It is so
because all such writings demand reasoned argument and unambiguity in expression, which
can be best achieved only in prose.

But poets do not believe exclusively in the primacy of reason. A poet is a person of strong
feelings and keenly developed sensibility. He is imaginative and has an intuitive response
to all that he sees and hears He sees objects not merely as sense impressions (as the eye
perceives them) but;with the power of his imagination, he looks beyond the perceived object
to discern its existence in a world beyond the reach of his senses. For example, a roy is a .
rose to all of us, but to the poet contemplating it, it becomes something more than a rose.
Like anyone of us, he also sees the rose with his eyes, smells its fragrance, discerns its
colour and shape and gets pleasurable excitement. But the appeal of the rose does not stop
here. It goes beyond his sense and intellect to evoke in him an emotional response to its
beauty.

Wordsworth, one of the greatest English poets, wrote these lines about a person who is
insensitive to nature's beauty.

"A primrose by a river's brim,

A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more"

But to Wordsworth, the same is more than a little flower; it evokes in him feelings
of great joy and exultation. This capacity for emotional response -what is knowbas
sensibility - is related to his imaginative perception to look into the inner life or spirit of
the object perceived (e.g. the rose). In other words, the poet creates a new world out of the
object perceived - a world that exists within his idea, his imagination ang his vision.
Poetry enables him to give expression to this newly created world of his imagination that
lies beyond the senses. But you must remember that the poet's world is not dream world; it
is as much rooted in the perceivable world except that most of us do not have the poetic
capability to express our feelings and emotions on seeing something as beautiful as a rose.
All poetry is a succession of experiences - sights and sounds, thoughts, images and
emotions. This, in essence, is the fundamental difference between prose and poetry: while
prose limits itself largely to the intellectual and the rational, poetry goes deeper to dwell
upon the imaginary and the visionary perceptibns. The empirical and the tangible reality
is the domain'of prose, while the suprasensible and the intahgible fall within the sphere of
poetry.

1.2.2 Poetry is a Metrical Composition

Poetry pleases us. How?
Poetry gives us pleasure because of its relationship to music. st
as we respond to the
rhythm in music, we are swayed by the rhythmic effect of the sound patterns in poetry.
PCRtry expresses a rich imaginative awareness of experience through meaning, sound and
rhythm. These three components (meaning, sound and rhythm) essentially give poetry its ,
musical quality. Poetry uses words which are expressions of both musical sound and
meaningful speech. The language of *try is the most expressive rhythmic language.
Rhythm in English is based on recurrence of strong and weak syllables in a pattern. In
poetry, it signifies the tempo and fluctuation of movement. It is here that poetry comes
close to r '

Music has the qnality to appeal to the soul or spirit in us. It does not stop ~ i ~ p r o d u c i n g
p1easur:-rfleexcitement at the sensory level, but creates certain vibrations within us,
wherefore we experience a sense of harmony in tune with the musical harmony. Poetry is
'
analogous to music stimng the vital being in us and producing elevated excitement.
1.2.3 Poetry, an Organised Form Introduction to Poetrv

Poetry has a highly organised form, which is determined by the exigencies of metre and
rhyme. We use language in our ordinary speech for purposes of communication. The
language that we use expresses ideas and feelings necessary to our daily'routine and whenever
we wish to infuse vital power into these words, we do so by a change in intonation of the
voice or by an emphasis on certain key words. When you look at verse written on a page,
you recognise at once that verse with its kine-endings has a regular form. Poetry uses words
in an organised arrangement or pattern to express feelings, sensations, broad mental
impressions and visions which are often intellectually difficult to express.

1.2.4 Metre
Metre is important to poetry and therefore, we have to know something about metre in
poetry. What is metre? It is the arrangement of.words into patterns based on strong and weak
beats in a line of poetry. A knowledge of metre cannot make you a poet, but it will enable
you to appreciate some aspects of poetry better.
When you listen to a sentence in English, you hear the prominent syllables (words or parts
of words uttered with greater effort or breath force) recumng at'regular intervals. A syllable is
a word or a part of a word which contains a vowel sound (or a consonant acting as a vowel).
Similarly in English verse. we have stressed (accented) and unstressed syllables occuning
according to a pattern. This is called metre. In most English poetry, we have a fixed number
of stressed syllables in a line and also a fixed number of unstressed syllables coming before
or after each stressed syllable. (We shall indicate a spessed syllable by the mark'and an
unstressed syllable by v).For example, take a word 'defence'. We have to pronounce the
word with a weak accent on de and a strong accent on fence and thus the word can be
marked dgfence. In poetry, the basic rhythm is established by a regular pattern of accents-
either by alternating weak and strong syllables or by using two weak syllables with each
strdng syllable-
i) Iu / v / b or ii)
For example

d
i) U t Ker live to e h her dinners.
ii) T&e hgr u"P/tknd~rl;.
A group consisting of a strong and one or more weak syllables is usually called a foot. We
cap say that the foot in (i) has the pattem 'strong-weak' and in (ii) 'stro~g-weak-weak'.A
foot can thus be defined as a unit consisting of one strong syllable and one or more weak
syllables.
~ e t ink poetry consists of one or more feet in a line and the pattern can be described on the
basis of the number of feet in a line. Thus,
One-foot line -
- mon~meter I

two-feet line ,
- dimeter
Uuee-feet lime t trimeter
four-feet line - tetrameter
five-feet line -- , pentameter .
(6) hexa- (7) hepta- and (8) octameter
The name given for the foot 'weak-strong'
,
is the 'iamb'. This is the most common pattem
,
in English poetry.

'Tiger, tiger burning bright" is an example of a line of 'strong-weak' feet. When the pattern
is 'strong-weak' it is called trochaic metre. If the foot has the pattern 'weak-weak-strong'
(two unstressed followed by one stressed), it is called an anapaest.
~ k &ee leaves / of the for / est when summer is green
This is anapaestic tetrameter.
Shakespeare a n d ' Milton If the order is reversed, i.e. one stressed syllable is followed by two unstressed syllables, the
foot is called a dactyl).
v Y .,
Cinnon to nght gf tgem,

cinnn'on t'opeft OYf thgm (Tennyson)

A poet does not use just one kind of foot in a poem, but significant variations are used lest
the effect should be spoiled through repetitions of the same metre. But one kind of foot is
usually dominant and this pattern, usually established at the beginning of a stanza, will
reassert itself later. It is metre which determines the rhythm and distinguishes verse from
prose. In prose there is no regular pattern in the arrangement of stressed and unstressed
sy lldbles.
Rhythm
Rhythm, as we have said, is the term used to refer to soundior movements occurring at
regular intervals of time. English rhythm is based on the pattern of stressed syllables
occurring at roughly equal intervals. Sometimes there is a distinct pause at the end of a line.
Such a line is known as an end-stopped line. When the sense is carried on to the next line, it
is called a run-on-line.

1.2.5 Rhyme
Rhyme is the repetition of identical sounds at the end of lines. Though rhythm is basic to
poetry rhyme is not. Poets use rhyme for three major purposes :

1) The recurrence of the same sequence of sounds has a pleasing effect; it fulfils the
readers' expectancy;

2) It also marks the end of a line; and

3) It binds the lines together and thus achievesunity.

Perfect rhyme
Identical consonant sounds follow identical stressed vowel sounds. Perfect rhymes involve
identity of sounds not of spellings (e.g.) meet-fleet, fix-sticks).

Masculine rhyme
The final syllables are stressed and identical in sound, beginning with the last stressed vowel
(e.g.) stark-mark, support-report.

Feminine rhyme
Stressed rhyming syllables followed by unstressed rhyming ones (e.g.) flatter-batter.

End rhyme
Rhyming words are at the end of a line.
Internal rhyme
Rhyming words within the line (e.g.)
'to dance to flutes, to dance to lutes'.

1.2.6 Alliteration, Assonance

Repetition of identical consonant sounds at the beginning of the stressed syllables (e.g.)

"Whereat, with blade, with bloody, blarneful blade,

He bravely broached his boiling, bloody breast."

"Bring me my bow of biuning gold"

"After life's fitful fever" [Shakespeare]

Assonance
Identical vowels in stressed syllables preceded or followed by differing consonant sounds in
words in proximity. If 'tide' and 'hide' are rhymes, 'tide' and 'mine' have assonance.
1.2.7 Stanza latrodudtua te P-
A stanza is a group of lines in a repetitive pattern, forming a division of a poem. The
distinguishing characteristics.of an English stanza are (i) the number of lines, (ii) the number
of feet in each line (usually five i.e. pentameter), (iii) the metre md (iv) the rhyme scheme.
There are variations and we have a stanza of two lines called a couplet or a three-line stanza
known as the triplet or a four-line one, the quatrain. Similarly the line can be in iambic
pentameter or trochaic tetrameter. Thewtanzas can be rhymed or unrhymed.
H'eroic Couplet
Heroic couplet is a rhyming couplet of iambic pentameter, containing a complete
thought. There is a pause at the end of the second line. One also notices a parallel or an anti-
thesis within a line or in between the two lines. Much of 18th century poetry and that of
Pope (whom you will study in Unit 5) have been written in the heroic couplet. e.g.
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan,
The proper study of mankind is man.
Blank Verse
A good deal of English poetry is unrhymed. This is called blank verse i.e. "unrhymed
iambic pkntameter." e.g.
Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree whose mortal taste
Brought death unto our world, and all our woe
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man (ParadiseLost: Milton) ,

Free Verse
Free verse is another kind of unrhymed poetry, fairly common in the 20th century. It is
poehy that does not follow a prescribed form and is characterised by irregularity in the length
of lines and the absence of a metrical pattern.

1.2.8 Figures of Speech

There are times when we feel like whistling or humming or groaning. What do these
signify 7 They express a particular state of mind -of joy or tranquillity or pain. These
sounds convey our feelings and emotions better than words. They are both an expression of
emotion within us and an actuator of emotions in the hearers. Figure of speech or figurative
language in poetry functions in a very similar way, for it departs from logical usage of
language in order to gain special effects. Figurative language -sometimes referred to as
aon-logical l a n g u a g ~ o m p r i s e words
s used in a new and unlitera1 sense. The most
commbn figures of speech are the simile, the metaphor, metonymy,
synecdoche, onomatopoeia, personification, apostrophe, image, symhol and
myth. Let us take each one of them and define it and thence anive at certain conclusions
concerning figurative language.
Simile
It is a comparisofi made between items from different classes with the help of connectives
such as 'like' or 'as' or 'than' or by the use of a verb such as 'appears' or 'seems'. You can
understand from these connectives that the items compared are of distinctive classes. If the
objects compared are from the same class, there is no simile present -e.g. "Bombay is like
London."
Read the following line to recognise the presence of a simile :
"The holy time is quiet as a Nun"
Similes are easy to recognise and understand. The comparison is of two otherwise unlike
things such as 'The holy time' and 'The Nun'. Yet the meaning is apparent and the
comparison strengthens the meaning.

Metaphor
The use of a phrase which describes one thing by stating another thing with which it am be
compared. When the comparison is made between two unlike things without the c o ~ e c t i v e s
'like' and 'as', it is called a metaphor. The meaning is suggested by the image. Metapbor
is an implied comparison. It is a figure of speech in which we use a name or
Shakeapeare and Milton descriptive term or phrase for an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.
Whereas in a simile there is a direct comparison, a metaphor suggests the comparison
between two things not usually thought of as similar.
e.g. "The fog comes
on little cat feet"
Car feet move silently and softly. The reader can understand how the y t feels and sees the
fog setting slowly and gently. Take the phrase : "the Winter of our discontent" - Here, to
convey the abstract quality of discontentedness, the poet has employed the figurative term
'Winter', which not only illustTates the quality, but also adds to the idea of bitterness,
barrenness and waiting. So in a metaphor, the literal and the figurative meanings re-inforce
each other. (Remember that the above metaphorical phrase can be made into simile if it is
stated thus : "Our discontent is like winter".)
Metonymy
A figure of speech that substitutes a word that relates to or suggests an idea or a person or
place or thing; for example, the name of an attribute or adjunct is substituted for that of the
thing meant.
e.g. "Have you read any Hemingway?" where 'Hemingway' stands for 'a book by him'.
Synecdoche
The word referring to a part of something is used in place of the word for the whole or vice
versa e.g. "Give us this day our daily bread" where "bread stands for all kinds of food. "Has
Mike got wheels?'(car / motorcycle or bike).
Personification
It'gives the characteristics of a human being to abstract ideas or things or animals -in
short to non-human beings. In other words, the poet speaks of something non-human as if it
were a person.
e.g. April, April,
Laugh the girlish laughter
Then the minute after
Weep thy girlish tears.
Image, Symbol and Myth
The fundamental idea about 'images' in literature is that they evoke visual response in the
reader. This is why descriptive poetry uses images for effective picturisation of men and
women, scenes and seasons. This basic meaning for the'image' is thus provided by the
context. "The image is what they actually name" (Hugh Kenner). But there are other
meanings to this t e n . An image is more than visual perception. It is a sense perception
reproduced in the mind. It is a reflection of sense impressions conveying a m w o r emotion.
A rose, for example, not only provides us with sense images in terms of its colouf. texture.
fragrance, but it also conveys the sense of loveliness, tenderness, softness and sweetness. A
poet thus uses the image of a rose to express his attitude towards his mistress or his beloved
and addresses her as "my rose". The image goes beyond verbal analysis and connects it with
assumptions whSch give poetry a deeper meaning. Look at the following lines from
~ o r d s w o r h ' sLucy Poems:

A violet by a mossy stone

Half hidden from the eye
Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.

I Wordsworth compares Lucy first to a violet flowet-nmcfthena single star. The violet flower
brings to our mind a dainty flower, beautiful and fragir_e.After directing our attention to a
half-hidden violet, Wordsworth evokes the imageaf a shining star when the6lcy ii bare.
I
These lines illustrate the effectiveness of the image in a poem. I

Symbol
Unlike an image which gives us a directly appkhensible reference, a symbol derives its
sustenance through the suppressi~nof direct metaphor. The symbol evokeunseen
worlds. It reveals a hidden order that lurks behind our perceptive everyday red&, A poem
which speaks of the fading"of the rose has for its theme the transience of beauty, of all
 things bright and beautiful. There the poet uses the rose as a symbol. Symbolism thus Introduction to Poetry
attempts to penetrate into a world of ideas beyond reality and this it achieves through
suggestiveness, 'evoking an object little by little' (Mallarme).
e.g. The White moon is setting behind the white wave,
And time is setting with me, O!(Bums)
These lines are symbolical, evoking an emotion of nklancholy through the symbolic
association of these words -"moon, wave, whiteness and setting Time" along with the last
melancholy cry "O!".
Myth
Myths are stories about gods or heroes of superhuman dimension, intended to support
religious beliefs. They are valued for their universality and timelessness. Sometimes the
myths relate to natural and animal motifs which explain fertility rites and the cycle of
seasons with their alternation of growth, fruitfulness, decay and death. The myths thus derive
I sustenance from symbolism, whereby their meanings are dependent on the context in which
they are.used. Myth in modem literature is looked upon as a system of signs which helps the
poet to express complex thoughts that do not easily lend themselves to expression in direct
language. One of the most influential poems of the 20th century, The Wasteland by

! T.S. Eliot, uses the primitive myth about fertility rites to show the spiritual barrenness of
the modem world. Liteiature derives from myth, for myth expresses a satisfying and lasting
account of the experience of man. The mythological,stories and legends that have come down
to us over the ages help to establish and conceptualise difficult ideas through identifying the
corresponhencebetween the past and the present experience.
Onomatopoeia
A device in which the meaning of a word is suggested by its sound.
e.g. "Jingling bells", "Buzzing bees", "Like the whizz of my bow", "cat meows", "the sheep
baas" etc.
Look at the phrase 'The murmur of innumerable bees" (Tennyson)- .
the combination of the nasal 'm' sounds convey to the ear the buzzing of the bees.
Apostrophe
It is an address to a person or thing who is not listening. For example, Wordsworth, a 19th
century poet addresses a 17th century Poet, Milton:
"Milton, though shouldst be living at this hour.'?
Conclusions about figurative language
Figurative language, using terns which are not literally compatible, compels the reader's
attention to the inherent suggestions andassociations in them. Though figurative language
4
ismainly used poetry we do employ it in our dairy conversation when we say, "it rains
cats and dogs". But such figures in daily utterances have become cli'ches and have lost their
impact. In poetry, they function as decorative elements and richly suggestive dcomplex
attitudes and feelings.

Figurative language is (a) concrete, (b) condensed, and (c) interesting, (d) it provides fresh
collocations.

13 FORMS OF POETRY
Let us now dicuss the different forms of poetry. A literary fonn is often known as a literary
genre. Here we will give you some of the poetic forms you will read in the course of your
study. C

.1.3.1 The Ballad

A ballad is a simple, straightforward poem set to a tune. There are two distinct kinds of
ballads -the traditional ballad and the literary ballad. The traditional ballad, popular in
Englandand in Scotland in the 15th century was a specific form of narrative poem which has
become a part of the world of folk-song. By the end of the 17th century, the emphasis shifted
from narration to music as theplimeqjnstituent of the ballad. The traditional ballads deal
with +isodes from well-known stories rendered impersonally. The literary ballad which came
S U e s p r e nnb Milton into vogue at the end of the 18th century and continued to be popular in the 19th century
was not set to music. Since the 1950s. there has been a revival of interest in traditional
songs, sung by expert performers.

The main characteristics of a ballad are :

It is impersonal'. Even if there is an '1'. who sings the tale, the speaker addresses us from
a perspective outside the action and he comments for our benefit on the character and
situation presented.

The ballad is full of refrains. This is known as the incremental repetition (a device
which repeats what has been said before, sometimes lines, sometimes words). Stock epithets
are also often repeated.

The ballad is remarkable for its straightforward narration and it concentrates on striking
details. It is compressed and tends towards the dramatic with a good deal of action and
dialogue in the course of narration.

The ballad is a poem in short stanzas usually of four lines, having eight and six syllables
alternately. You will read an extract from Coleridge's ballad THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT
MARINER in Block 2.

1.3.2 The Sonnet

...
The sonnet is a verse form of fourteen lines, usually of iambic pentameter with an elaborate
rhyme scheme. There are two distinct kinds -the English or the Shakespearean sonnet and
the Italian or the Petrarchan sonnet. A third kind is the Spenserian sonnet, which is a
variation of the English sonnet. I,

The English or the Shakespearean Sonnet

The sonnet is organised either into twelve lines and a couplet to make it 12 + 2 (14) or into
three quatrains ( 3 x 4) and a couplet (12 + 2 = 14) with a correspondingly organised rhyme
scheme such as a-b-a-b-c-d-cd-e-f-e-f-g-g-. Usually, the quatrain, expresses the thought of
the poem and it is surhmed up in the concluding couplet.

The Italian 'or the Petrarchan Sonnet

Here the sonnet is in iambic pentameter, divided into two parts - the octave (8 lines) and
the sestet (6 lines). The octave has the rhyming pattern abba-abba while the sestet has cde-
cde. The octave expresses in figurative language what is restated in direct language in the
sestet.
The Spenserian Sonnet
It is a variation of the English sonnet with a different rhymescheme abab-bcbc-cdcd-ee.
Writing a poem in fourteen lines demands a high degree of discipline on the part of the poet.
With a codified rhyme scheme, the poet has to use a specialised vocabulary and at the same
time choose the appropriate word to express his emotional intensity. So the sonnet as a
verse form is characwrised by the tightness of rhyme in iambic pentameter and includes in its
themes love, time, friendship, honour, duty, art, nature.

1.33 he Epic
The epic is a long, narrative poem on an exalted theme or action involving heroic characters
and supernatural agencies and rendered in a grand style. Epics are also sometimes based on
myths and legends. Obviously, this implies that an epic surpasses the dimensions of realism
and it celebrates the exploits of exceptional men, thereby gaining for itself grandeur and
universality. There are the classical epics singing the praise of a hero or a civilization like
that of the Romans or of Christendom. The well-known epics are Homer's The IWAD and
the Odyssey. Virgil's Aeneid, Milton's Paradise Lost, besides the Ramayana and the
Mohobharata, the two Indian epics.

Besides the epic hero, grand action, elevated style, expansiveness and inclusion of history,
w e have onexmoreaspect to keep note of with reference to an epic-the epic simile. Epic
similes are in the form of an extended imag-ither moving off from a point of comparison
to return to it at h e close or moving on to a new point of comparison and thereby to a Introduction to Peetry
cluster of allusions. The main function of an epic simile is to focus the details of an action
or event or a person by linking it with something familiar or something in the present state
of affairs. These similes draw on ordinary life and the natural world we know and they relate .
to human interests.

1.3.4 The Dramatic Monologue

~ A m a t i cMonologue is a poem in which a single speaker -not the poet - speaks at a

critical moment or situation in which he finds himself and he is seen addressing one or more
persons who do not speak but whose presence we strongly feel. This form makes the reader
follow the story from the point of view of the speaker who is involved in the action and it
also throws light on his character. The dramatic element is to be seen in the speech that is
uttered aloud by the speaker who is a character in a situation and who is seen speaking to
other characters. Dramatic poems are short and compressed and the reader is called upon to
draw a good deal of inference about the character and situation. The dramatic monologues of
Tennyson and Browning are included in your course.

1.3.5 The Lyric, the Elegy, and the Ode

The Lyric is a short poem that expresses emotion and is meant to sung. But lyrics written
after the 15th century though not meant to be sung. nevertheless tend to retain their
mellifluous quality and rhythm. The lyric lends itself to the expression of intense personal .
joy or pain or offers a contemplative mood. The lyric expresses the poet's emotional
response to an event or scene or to the recollection of an emotion. Thus, the lyric is
essentially "an emotional or reflective soliloquy" (Barnet : Introduction to Literature).

From the above explanation, it is evident that the lyric is set in the present i.e., it expresses
an instant erhotion felt at that very moment and which flows out in the form of poetry. Even
if the lyric expresses an emotion felt in the past, it is as a result of a newly felt emotion
consequent upon a recollection of the past. Another feature that is discernible is the personal
element and therefore, the lyric poetry uses the first person. The images are vivid and the
poem is'in the emotional rather than in the intellectual vein.
C

Many of the long poems in the modetn period have also used the devices of lyricism to
express the 'peak moments' of the poet, but by chaining these fragmentary sequences
together, the lyric in the 20th century has allowed far more complex attitudes than those of
the earlier periods.

As the lyric is a composition spontaneously written at the white heat of passion, it is not
limited to expressions of joy or elation. Intense sorrow or pain or mournful contemplation
can also give rise to poems of the lyrical kind which are known as elegies. The Elegy is
classical in its origin and is a composition in verse. But in its treatment of the subject
matter, it is tied to a limited range of plaintive musing. In 16th century England, the elegy
referred to a poem mourning the death of a personal friend-as for example, Milton's
'Lycidas', which laments the passing away of his close friend. Edward King. Milton adapts
the pestoral form of elegy and this'mode has set the pattern for English elegiac tradition. In
this form heightened emotional tension is restrained by the use of pastoral convention and-
the employment of pastoral characters like the shepherds, nymphs, and satyrs gives
the poem an impersonal touch.

The Ode
The ode is the most elevated and complex variety of the lyric, written to celebrate a public
occasion or some high and serious theme. The ode originating from Greece and Rome
influenced the English poets of the 17th century. The ode has two kinds-the Pindaric
(Greek) and the Horatian (Latin). The Pindaric odes were composed to be chanted to music
for dance and this resulted in itsdeveloping an elaborate stanzaic structure. The Boratian ode
was often personal and reflective and had a greater degree of solemnity and dignity. From the .
17th century to the 19th century, the ode was considered a poetic ideal both for its high
seriousness and technical design. The greatest English poets who wrote odes were Gray,
Coleridge, Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats. e
Shakespeare and Milton
. 1.4 GLOSSARY
'Sensibility ' : capacity for emotional response
Empirical known or knowing only by experience; resting on trial or
experiment
Tangible capable of being touched; material or corporal
Exigency condition of great need
Homonyms a word having the same sound as another but with a different
meaning and origin
Collocations : coming together of words -e . 6 "Weak
'

collocates with "tea", "heavy" collocates with "drinker"

Hence "Weak &a" "Heavy Drinker"
Satyrs Roman or Greek gods of the woods

1'5 COMPREHENSION EXERCISES

I) What is the significance of rhythm in poetry ?

2) What id an iambic metre?
3) What is a trochee?
4) Distinguish between an end-stopped line and a run-on line.
5) How *any different rhymes are there?
6) How do you distinguish between blank verse and free verse ?

1.6 SUMMING UP
This introductory unit deals with the theme, techniques and forms of poetry. Among the
distinguishing features of poetry we notice that :
1) poetry is the vehicle of emotions and feelings as against prose which expresses all
matters based on reason and logic;

2) poetry is closely allied to music in its dependence on meaning, sound and rhythm;
3) poetry gains its richnqss from its employment of figures of speech, though they are
not a sine qua non ;and

4) poetry has many forms to accommodate a wide range of themes that include
narrative stories. expressions of intense emotions, meditations and reflections,
descriptions, satires and dramatic situations, Some of the popular forms of poetry are
the ballad, the epic, the sonnet, the lyric. and the dramatic monologue.
UNIT 2 THREE SONNETS OF
SHAKESPEARE

2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Introduction to Shakespearean Sonnets
2.3 Sonnet 18 "Shall I Compare thee to a summer's day?"
2.3.1 Interpretations
2.3.2 Analysis
2.4 Sonnet 55 "Not marble, nor the gilded monuments"
2.4.1 Interpretations
2.5 Sonnet 65 "Since Brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea"
2.5.1 Interpretations '

2.6 Poetic devices

2.7 Glossary .
2.8 Comprehension Exercises
2.9 Summing Up .

2.0 OBJECTIVES
Shakespeare's works are far from easy to understand chiefly because of-changesin the
meanings of particul'ar words. A Sonnet in the English form or Shakespearean form consists
of three quatrains and a couplet. Hence a full understanding of a Shakespearean sonnet will
involve :

i) an awareness of the relationship between the quatrain and the couplet;

ii) the pace of its movement; and P

iii) a sense of the devtlopment of its imagery.

Hence our aims in this unit are :

8
. to offer a commentary on the three sonnets of Shakespeare
*
to gloss all the words which might cause some difficulty to a reader who is unfamiliar
with Elizabethan diction

to give a sense of the development of the imagery in the poem

to establish the ljnks between its different parts.

2.1 INTRODUCTION

We begin this course on poetry with a study of three poems of Shakespeare. In our previous
unit (Unit l), you learnt about the various forms of poetry. This unit deals with the Sonnet
form.

Study the introduction to Shakespearean sonnets in the following section (2.3) before you
read the individual sonnets. This will help you to recognise the distinguishing feature of a
Shakespearean sonnet. All the three sonnets in your course deal with the theme of the power .
n
of art.

The Glossary at the end (2.8) gives you the meaning of words that have been marked in Qe
text with an asterisk.
camin &out the date$ of these compositions. But for the most part, they read like his early Three of Shakespeare
wmk He m t e 154 sonnets of which the first 126 sonnets were addressed to a friend and the ,.
other 28 following them were addressed to his mistress or the Dark Lady. Even though most
of the sonnets are addressed either to the friend or to the mistress, sdme of the very powerful
among them are impersonal pronouncements, which do not make any allusion to these two
maim characters.
The three sonnets in your course (Sonnets 18.55 and 65) have for their subject the power
of art.They do q t give us ;portrait of the young friend nor suggest his personal qualities.
All that Shakespeb claims is that his verse will confer immortality on his friend. The 'I' in
the poems (see Sonnet 18) ceases to be the centre of attention both for the speaker and for
us, the readers. It will be naive to identify, the 'I' of the poems with Shakespeare himself.
By doing so, we are in danger of losing contact with the poem and its meaning. ,

2.3 SONNET 18 "SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO A

SUMMER'S DAY?''
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more tempkrate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date :
Sometimes the hot eye of the sun shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd,
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines tetime thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. 14

2.3J Interpretations
Since these three sonnets (Sonnets 18.55 and 65) are addressed to a friend, we find the
speaker in the twin roles of a friend and a poet. The poet contemplates on their close
friendship against the inevitable mutability through the eMux of time. The poet's task
in these three sonnets is to halt the passage of time and to preserve in his art (poetry) the
fleeting life of his friend, who is very dear to him. The poem holds equally well if we
substitute mistress or beloved for friend.
Sannet 18 "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'is the first of the full scale
immor~lisationsof art (poetry) and through art, the immortalisation of his friend or
beloved. In this sonnet, the poet steps up the power of time and then introduces the power of
his verse as a defence against time. (Line numbers are given in brackets.) Read lines (1) and
(9).
The poem suggests a comparison of>theyouth's beauty with that of summer (1) and then
appears to reject it by claiming permanence for the youth as against the inevitable transience
of summer's glory (9). Now turn to the couplet (13-14). Yeu will notice that the poem's
focus is not on the apparent comparison and contrast between the order of youth and the order
of nature, but it shifts through these last two lines to affirm the eternrty of time and Art.
The subtle transition is effected by the phrase "eternal lines to time" (12).

Time is eternal. It never comes to a stop. It rolls on through days, months and years ,
bringing in its cyclical motion the different seasons in organised succession. The eternal
movement of Time through birthdeath and regeneration gives summer its immortality. In a n
similar manner, poetry (or Art) can encapsulate beauty, youth and love within its lines and
thereby confer immortality on them. So long as life continues, neither Time nor Art shall
cease to exist, whereby both the order of nature and the order of youth shall gain permanence. +
The essential comparison is not between his ysung friend and the beautiful summer, but 17
ShakeSpeare and Milton between the immortality of Time and the immortality of Art which togethe? will bestow
eternity on summer and his friend.

2.3.2 Analysis
Lines'
1. "a summer's day" (i) a day in summer
(ii) "day" in the Elizabethan usage m w t
"season". This givei the meaning "summer
time';. This meaning will make the progression
of imagery in the next few lines logical. For in
line 3, there is the description of rough winds. in
line 4, there is a specific reference to the
length of summer's tenure (4). in 5-6, to
hot and cloudy weather (5-6)-all characteristic of
. summer season. So summer's day also suggests
summer season.
2. "lovely" - : (i) kind, gentle
(ii) lovable
3. "temperate" : even-tempered, balanced, moderate in
temperature (climate). The English summer is
alternately hot and cold. The poet praises his
friend that he is of equable temper.
4. "May*' : early part of summer in England. Note the
skilful use of the word "buds" to characterise
the early summer.
5. "Qte" : terminable period.
Summer has a short yearly tenure in England.
The poet says that just like summer, youthful
beauty also has a short duration.

Thus the first quatrain (1-4) introduces a comparison between youth and summer in terks of
shortness of duration. Both do not last forever. The second quatrain (5-8) institutes a
comparison in terns of mutability or change which is to be seen in the decline or in the
transience of beauty.
6. " "gold complexion" : relates to the bright, hot weather in summer. .

7. "fair,from fair ..... declines" : in contrast, refers to the change from bright
sunrise to cloudy weather.
: Stripped of its fairness.
There is the inevitability of decline in beauty
which is in keeping with the natural order of
existence. All things, bright and beautiful ,
do not last forever. Youth and summer have to ,
surrender their beauty with the efflux of time.
In the third quatrain, the comparison seems to end with the three lines (9-1 1). "But thy
eternal summer shall not fade ..,in his shade." The poet makes the claim that the summer of
his young friend will not fade nor will he lose his beauty nor decline and decay. How can he'
alone escape Death which overpowers all mortal beings? The answer is given by the p t in
the last line of this quatrain (12) : "When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st."

The keywords are "eternal lines", where "lines" refer to lines of poetry. It is evident that the
> *
word "lines"suggests the power of poetry to encapsulate and immortalise his young friend
within its lines. But when taken in conjunction with the preceding adjective "eternal", it also
suggests the permanence of youth's summer if he grows parallel to time's movement
through eternity. In ttie context of the linear movement of time, no mortal being can
escape decline, decay md death. But viewed in the background of timelessness of Time which
18 operates through cycles of birthdeath and regeneration, the beauty of summer (order of
 nature) will last forever. Summer will regain its lost glory as ~ i m moves
e in cyclieal Three Sonnets of Shakespeate
progression through Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. This is the rationale behind the
rise and decline and rise of natural order. Thus the apparent contrast between the summers of
youth and natuie in the third quatrain yields to ari underlying similarity. Both nature and
youth alike tend to lose their beauty aid brightness only to regain them when they &e
framed within the confines of Eternal Time and Art.
I
The word "lines" (12) helps to link the last quatrain with the concluding couplet. Here the
poet shifts his attention from the order of nature to the order of Art. The comparisons made
in the last quatrain had affirmed the eternity of sum,mer in the context of timelessness of
existence. As long as life lasts, summer will keep returning in full glory. While time can
thus confer immortality on the order of nature, it is Art which can confer immortality on the
youth. As long as men have eyes to see;as long as Time moves on its wheels, Art will
. continue to breathe life into the youth and preserve him for posterity.
You will notice that up to line 8, the poet makes a strong case for mortality (summer will
I fade and so will youth), but in the next four lines he makes a subtle turn to present the
consolation of immortality. The concluding lines of the couplet assert and affirm the same

' point. The couplet thus reverses the tendency of the first two quatrains and takes the lead
from the third quatrain to give Art the power to confer immortality on his young friend.
Thus you can discern the logical development of the sonnet with the turn coming in line 9.

2.4 SONNET 55 "NOT MARBLE, NOR THE GILDED

MONUMENTS"
Not Marblei nor the gilded monuments 1
Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme;
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than unswept stone besmear'd with sluttish time. 4
When wasteful war shall statues overturn;
And broils root out the work of masonry,
Nor Mars his sword nor war's quick fire shall burn
The living record of your memory. 8
Against death-and all oblivious enmity
Shall pace you forth : your praise shall still find roopl
Even in the eyes of al1,posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom. 12
So, till the judgement that yourself arise,
You live in this, and dwell in lover's eyes.
v
2.4.1 Interpretations
. f i i s is one of the four or five greatest of Shakespeare's sonnets. It is also considered as one
of the greatest immortalisation poems in English language. This sonnet reflects a supremely
self-confident poet who claims for his poetry the power to confer immortality on his friend.
As in the previous sonnet which you studied in 2.4 (Sonnet 18), we notice that the poet
gives no portrait of his friend. This sonnet also talks a good deal about the power of poetry
to triumph over decay, desdction and other ravages of war and time. The poet says that his
sonnet, "the living record of your (his friend's) memory (8) is built on a powerful rhyme
which can withstand the onslaught of war and fire, death and oblivion. ~ h i s n o n u m m int
verse shall outlive all other erected memorials and monuments in marble md gold and
thereby preserve his friend within its lines for posterity till the world draws to its 'ending
dobm'.

Analysis

Lines
1. "Marble.. .gilded monuments": the imagery used in this sonnet is concerned with
monument; and memorials (ref. : 'statues' (5) 'work
of masonry' (6) and 'living record' (8)). This poem
itself is a monument built on a 'powerful rhyme',
(2). So the poet claims that his monument in verse
Shakespeare and Milton which shall be ;lliving record of Itis fribM'p wrnq
is stronger than other monuments erected in marble
and gold to preserve and honour the memory of dear
departed souls. Further his monument is to the living
. . unlike the others which are dedicated to the &ad.
Shakespeare's reference to marble and monuments can
be traced to the classical Latin poets, Horace and
Ovid. But the earlier poets were celebrating their own
immortality by saying that "because of my poem, I
will never die." Shakespeare, on the other hand says,
"because of my poem, you will never die." (Refer
Line- 14)
2. "outlive" : his powerful rhyme will outlive the other
monuments. The usage of the word out-live
highlights the special quality of his monument (i.e.
his verse) for in it, his voice will remain ever alive as
a living record of his friend's memory.
3. "you shall ... contents" : develops the imagery of the first line and asserts that
the friend in his verse shall shine brighter than tho?
interned in the gilded monuments.
4. "unswept ... sluttish time" : The marble and gilded monuments have turned to
"unswept stone" in the sense thatthey are now
neglected monuments. We dso notice the reference to
the power of time that had turned these monuments I-

into uncared for ancient ruins.

The first quatrain compares the verse monument and the gilded monuments to establish
the time-proof quality of strength, superiority and richness of the former. There is the
poet's defiance of t i p ? and the assertive boast that his verse can confer immortality on
'
his friend. These four lines claim not only eternity for the verse, but through it they
seek to perpetuate the memory of his friend.

The second quatrain speaks about the ravages of war resulting in the destruction of all
monuments other than his verse. I

6. "masonry" : building in stones

7. "Mars his sword" : Mars' sword.

An Elizabethan genitive form to mean the sword of Mars, the God of War.
Neither war nor fire can obliterate the living record of your memory. So both the
quatrains have a similar refrain to affirm the penhanence of verse monuments set-off
against stone and gilded erections. 'Living Record' relates to the voice of the.poet in the
verse which shall remain a permanent record.

The wofd 'memory' in the last line of the second quatrain connects the idea of I
I
permanence in the next four lines by claiming his friend's triumphant resistance to I

death and oblivion. All the hostile forces of time, such as war and death cannot reduce
either the verse or the friend embodied therein to oblivion.

10. "pace you forth" Stride on without any need to escape the hostile
.forces. ,
. .
Glory

"still" always

12. "wear this world out" Will last as long as this world lasts. His friend will
live in the eyes of all posterity till this world comes
to its final end.

13: "judgement" the final day of Judgement on mankind. When

all souls shall rise in front of the Lord who will
 make a reckoning of their deeds and pronounce
his final judgement.
"that " when
14. '.'in this" in verse, in this powerful rhymk
t

"dWl". ' . contrast this with the word 'live'. The two are
not identical. 'dwell' means to abide, to remain
long. Hence it carries an extended meaning of
permanence, of in-dwelling. So the line
suggests that you will live on in verse and
'
make other lovers' eyes your permanent
habitation. Here Shakespeare speaks of the
artistic immortality of the verse and the
personal immortality of his friend who shall
remain forever in the eyes of all those lovers
who read this verse. The poet's friend thus
becomes the image of love. He shall remain
beyond time and verse in the lives of others
who are capable of discerning and experiencing
such love.
The day of judgement marks the end of the world. So long as life lasts, his verse will last
and so long as the verse lasts, his friend will last. But the emphasis shifts at this point in
the couplet when the poet asserts theSmrnortality of hiSfriend not just through the lines of
poetry but in his own right as a symbol of love. As in Sonnet 18, it can be said that so long
as men have the capability to feel and experience love they will remember and cherish his
memory. The friend is what all lovers see when they look into each others' eyes.
Can you recognise the logical development of the Sonnet? The three quitrains logically
4 develop the concept of permanence of art (or poetry) whereby art bestoys immortality on its
contents. This sonnet confers immortality on his beloved friend. The first quatrain describes
$e ravages of time on ancient monuments, the second speaks of the ravages of war while the
third states the o'nslaught of death and consequent oblivion. Against all these, stands the
verse monument. The couplet at the end makes a swift arid sudden departure by shifting the
emphasis from the world of art to the sphere of Love. His friend will gain immortality not
only by virtue of poeay. butin his own right because he personifies eternal Love which is
ineffaceable from earth, so long as men have eyes to seeand hearts to feel. Love has the
power to resist the passage of time and the poet's proper mode af love is poetry.
How does p a y confer immortality on his friend or beloved? This sonnet as it exists is a
living record of his friend's memory. It is in itself a strong monument which recognises not
only its own power, but also recognises the existence of the friend (or beloved) and other
lovers throughout the history of mankind. The sonnet which represents art (or poetry) seeks
its inspiration from the friend (or beloved) who in turn gains immortality through its lines.
The friend, ,whoembodies love is the inspirer of the immortal verse.
In sonnet 18, there is a reference to Time and Art as the repositories of eternity. Here in
Sonnet 55, it is Art.and Love that have the power to retain within and to bestow
immortality on their creations.

2.5 SONNET 65 "SINCE BRASS, NOR STONE, NOR

EARTH, NOR BOUNDLESS SEA"
\ -
Since Brass, nor stone, nor earth. nor boundless sea, 1
But sad mortality o'ersways .their power, I
How this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower? 4
Oh how shall summer's honey breath hold out
Against the wrackful siege of battering days. . -
, . 1
When rocks impregnable are not so stout -,
 ,Shakespeare. and Milton Nor gates of steel so strong but time decays? 8
ia
Oh fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time'S best jewel from Time's chest lie hid? .
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid? 12
Oh none, unless this_mhcLe have might -
That in black ink my love may still shine bright.

2.5.1 Interpretations
In line with the two sonnets you have studied, attempt an analysisof this sonnet. .
Beauty is so frail that it can neither escape mortality nor arrest the ravages of time. There is
no strong force that can pqvent the dest~ctionof beauty that takes place with the inexorable
march of time. The first twelve lines (the three quatrains) thus present a strong case for the
inescapability of mortality that spares neither the animate nor the inanimate creations on
earth. Beauty pleads in vain against the awesome power of the twin forces of time and
mortality. But the couplet at the end reverses this gloomy trend of the quatrains and with
one deft stroke holds out the miraculous possibility of preserving beauty by confining it
within the lines of poetry. Line 13 speaks of "this miracle" which has a double-edged
meaning-in the sense of -

i) a possibility to effect a miracle; and

a

ii) a reference to this miracle of verse that has incarnated the beauty of his friend within .
its lines.
Lines
1. recalls the opening line of sonnet 55, "Not Marble nor the gilded monuments." The
glitter of brass, the hardne'ss of stone, the vastness of earth and the expansiveness of
sea are in themselves a marvel of beauty, force and power. But the order of nahire in-
all its awesome majesty is subject to mortality like any other created thing on earth.
2. "sad mortality": temble destruction of a fatal kind.
3-4 beauty is compared to a delicate flower. When measured against the rage of time and
mortality, beauty is in physical terns no stronger than a flower.
4. "action" : power of action i.e.. vitality.
5-8 The power of beauty is no match for the ravages of time. The second quatrain
continues the "fearful meditation" of the-first quatrain on the defencelessness of
beauty. From the visual imagery of the earIier lines which saw beauty in the
likeness of a flowe'r, the poet moves to the olfactory image6 when he describes '
beauty in terms of summer's sweet fragrance. The diffusive and pervasive nature of
beauty is seen all, the more fragile when it is placed in continuity with the solid
rocks and gates of steel which are shown equally vulnerable to the battering of
time. ,
9-12 The third quatrain reiterates the argument that nothing can stand against time. Here
the image is that of a jewel. Beauty is the most precious gift o M e which we are
anxious to hide from time who will take jt back and lock it in his treasure chest.

10 "Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?" notice the use of capital 'T'
in this line as against the employment of the small letter in link 8. This gives a
"
new dimension to the argument of the poem. The incipient personification of
time in line 8 as a fearsome opponent is enhanced here with the employment of the
capital letter 'T'. It points to the timelessness of the operation of time-an echo of
sonn.9 18 which had established the ceaseless motion of time as long as life exists
on earth. Beauty, which in the last line 14 is made synonymous with "my love" is
not just a physical attribute, but it includes all that is lovely and inspires loveliney
in orhers. Beauty thus acquires a timeless quality and thereby gains imrnorulity.
Time which does not take away from beauty its eternal distinction can still keep it
hidden from mortal be'n s. The poet wonders which mortal, has the power to
f g
unlock Time's treaslurc: chest and release it for mortal eyes to See. Who can prevent
 Time from enjoying the booty of its precious jewel? On this note of human Three Sonnets of Shakespeare
powedessness agdinst Time, the quatrain ends and prepares us for the magnificent
couplet on a different conceptual plane.
-13-14 :* The gloom of the previous twelve lines can be removed possibly by a miracle-the
miracle of his verse in black ink. Nothing is asserted here except a possibility. This
miracle-this verse may have the might to obliterate Time's concealed activity.
What cannot be achieved by "the boundless sea", "impregnable rocks", or "gates of
steel" is possible through the passionate lines of poetry. The witty remark that "his
black ink may still shine bright", so nonchalantly expressed after the gloom of the
douzain (12 lines) can alone prove miraculous.
The end of the sonnet is tentative, suggesting a possibility (reference 'may') and there is ,
nothing of unreal optimism in the statement. It is this that gives weightage to the couplet.
The "fearful meditation" on the widespread ruin that occurs with time and which will make
even "Time's best jewel" almost hidden from sight give way to its possible recovery through
the means of poetry. The couplet thus counters the overwhelming arguments of the three
quatrains and lends credibility to its faith in the aft of poetry by the judicious introduction of
the word "miracle".

In all the three sonnets, we notice the skilful use of the couplet to suggest the possibility of
Art to confer immortality both on itself and on the subject it is concerned with. The poet's
friend (or beloved) can be preserved in the verse which will last as long as Time lasts. We
also notice that a couplet in Shakespeare's sonnet recapitulates or extends the thought
implicitly present in the rest of the poem and invariably it begins with a logical assertion
"Therefore" or "so" or with an apo>trophe. In some of his not so powerful sonnets, the
couplets tend to be weak and begin h o s t with an apdogetic "but" or "and yet". The three
sonnets 18,55 and 65 are examples of a strong and unified structure built on "a powerful
rhyme" and therefore they speak with credible authenticity about the immortality of Art.

2.6 ~ O E T I CDEVICES

Another interesting observatibn relates to the use of personal pronouns. Sonnet 18 refers to
the friend (or the beloved) as "thou" and "thee" as against Sonnet 55 which uses the informal
"you" in its address. Sonnet 65 makes no use of pefsonal pronoun except for "my love" in
the last line of the poem. Why does Shakespeare exchange 'thou' of Sonnet 18 for 'you' in
Sonnet 55? While it is difficult to answer with certainty, it can be reasoned that Sonnet 18 is
the first of Shakespeare's Sonnets to immortalise poetry, and hence the employment of
formal address. There is a certain hesitation to claim such a status for poetry-(art) which in
turn will acquire the power to confer immortality on his friend. By the, time he writes his
fifty-fifth Sonnet, Shakespeare's self-confidence asserts itself to claim this distinction for
poetry. Hence the tone in 55 changes to'a personal, intimate tone with the use of "you" in -
place of "thou". Since sonnet 65 pitches 'beauty' against the ravages of time, the sonnet
keeps clear of personal address except to identify 'beauty' with "my love" in the last line.
(See note on line 10 in the analysis of Sonnet 65).

Let us now discuss ~hakesp&'s imagery in Sonnet 18. The first quatrain is an attempt to
compare his friend with nature : here represented by the beautiful English Summer. "Darling
buds of May" refers to the spring of early flowers. The adjective "darling" carries with it the
association of tenderness, love and beauty that relates to his tender, ~ h a r r n i n ~ ' ~ omind.
un~
Bummer's lease" (4) is of a short duration. 'Summer' is personified as a tenant whose
m y is for a brief time. Time has given a very short lease for summer, at the end of
which,%has to yield its place to Autumn. Thus you can observe the figure of speech -
"persofification"4n this reference to "summer". You will see the same figure of speech in
7 operation.wkn he describes the 'sun' with its 'gold complexion' (6) and 'hot eye' (5) and
later when he refers to Death as boasting and bragging about its power (4). All the iniages in
this soilnet are derived from Summer season only to establish that his friend is "more
lovely" and '"moretemperate" than summer and shall remain eternal in the lines of his
+try. I

an you identify the figures of speech and imagery in the other two sonnets (sonnets
 Shakespeare and Milton (Hints : "Sluttish time" (Personification) (Sonnet 55)

"Work of Masonry (Synecdoche) (Sonnet 55)

Lines 9- 12 (Apostrophe). (Sonnet 65)

. In Sonnet 55, rrace the imagery ofmbiru.ments, marble, stone, masonry to recognise the
. s~ag,'powerful.memorials erected in honour of the dead. This imagery is built up steadily
only40 show their fragility.in cdntrast to his monumental verses to his living friend which
* I
will outlast the f o k t r . In Sonnet 65, using the imagery of flower with its associate
-. A

connotations of beauty and fragrance ("Summer's honey breath"), he presents the delicate
loveliness of his friend as against the steely gates and impregnable rocks, doomed to
destruction due to the siege of time.
#

-
Let us look at the syntax. The noticeable feature is inversion that is, the placement of
adjectives following the nouns - as for example :'rocks impregnable", "gates of steel so
strong" (Sonnet 65). These adjectives coming at the end of,the nouns give greater
weightage to the solidity and strength of rocks and gates of steel. We also notice the
placement of the verbs at the end of the lines as in "when wasteful war shall statues
overturn" (Sonnet 55). "so, till the judgement that yourself arise" (55) or "or who I l k
spoil of beauty can forbid" (65) "when in eternal lines to time thou grow'st" etc. The
verbs at the end lend force and strength to the action described. In turn, they reinforce the
comparison or the contrast between the brittleness of the power of war or time and strength
of poetry (an) that sustains itself against these forces. ,

2.7 GLOSSARY

Bipartite : division into two pans

Epigram~i; : short and witty in expression

a

Encapsulate , ' : to enclose in a capsule form: (herpi the couplet holds the
thought of the whole sonnet wi .lln its two lines.

Mutability : change

Efflux : flowing out; (here) the passage of time

. .
Immortalisation : give endless life or fame td
/
Linear : in'lines; (here) linear movement of time refers to the
successive stages of birth, growth, decay and death in a
Man's life

Incipient . : beginning; in an early stage. '

2.8 COMPREHENSION EXERCISES.

i) Distinguish between an Italian Sonnet and an English Sonnet.

ii) Identify the central theme of the three sonnets- Sonnet 18,55,65. ,

iii) Explain the word "lines" in "when in eternal lines' to dme thou grow'st" ( 1.12 of
sonnet 18).
iv) In Sonnet 55, how does the poet claim for his poetry the power to confer immortality
on his friend?
I

V) Explain the Poet's use of capital letter 'T' i" line 8 of ~bnnet65 which reads "shall
Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?"
1
2.9 SUMMING UP • Three Sonnets of Shakespeare

In this unit, you studied three Sonnets of Shakespeare. You learnt that:

1) the English sonnet differs from the Italian sonnet in its rhyme scheme and in the '
'-,

arrangement of the fourteen lines.

) Shakespeare's sonnets (18,55 and 65) deal with the power of art or poetry to bestow
immortality on mortal beings.

3) and the poetic devices that Shakespeare employs include figures of speech, inversion and
use of personal pronouns.
 UNIT 3 JOHN MILTON
Structure '~

3.0 Objectives
3.1 Note on the Poet, John Milton
3.2 LycidusbyJohnMilton
3.3 Introduction to Pustorul Elegy
3.4 Introduction to Lycidus
3.5 Interpretation
3.5.1 Analysis
3.6 Poetic Devices in Lycidas
3.7 Sonnet XIX On His Blindness
3.8 Introductiy to Milton's Sonnet
3.9 Interpretation
3.10 Date of Composition
3.1 1Biblical References
3.12 Comprehension Exercises on Lycidas and
On His Blindness
3.13 Summing Up

3.0 OBJECTIVES
This unit inkduces you to John Milton, the 17th century English poet. The two
included in your study are Lycihs, a pastoral elegy and On His Blindness, a Sonnet. At the ''v

end of your study of this unlt, you will be able :

to describe the characteristic features of a pastoral elegy
to understand Milton's use of the pastoral form and his skilful blending of the pastoral,
christian and personal elements in Lycidas
to give a detailed analysis of the two poems and
to define the Ifalian Sonnet form as practised by Milton.

, 3.1 NOTE ON THE POET, JOHN MILTON

John Milton I
 , .
John Milton
John Milton (1608-74) was a devout Christian and a Renaissance Humanist. (Renaissance
Humanism emphasised the dignity of Man and his perfectibility. The languages, literature
and thought of ancient Greece and Rome formed a central p~sitionin the thinking of the
Humanists). Milton began his career as a poet from the time he was a student at Cambridge.
Apart from Lycidas, probably the finest example of Pastoral Elegy in English, Milton's
great works include L'Allegro and IL Penseroso, Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained and
Samson Agonistes.
b

3.2 LYCZDAS
*,
An Elegy on a Friend drowned in the Irish Channel.
In this Monody. the Author bewails a learned friend, unfoflunately drowned in his passage
from Chester on the Irish seas, and by occasion foretells the ruin of our corrupted clergy,
then in their height.
I

Yet once more, 0 ye laurels, and once more 1

Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never sere,
I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude,
And with forced fingers rude
Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year. 5
Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear
Compels me to disturb your season due,
For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime,
I Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer:
Who would not sing for Lycidas? he knew 10
Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme.
He must not float upon his watery bier
*
Unwept, and welteito the parching wind,
II Without the meed of some melodious tear.

,
I
Begin then, Sisters of the sacred well
That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring,
Begin, apd somewhat loudly sweep the string.
Hence with denial vain and coy excuse:
I
So may some gentle Muse
With lucky words favour my destined utn:
And as he passes, turn
And bid fair peace be to my stable shroud.
For we were nursed upon the selfsame'hill, 3
Fed the same flock by fountain, shade, and rill 24
b
... (25 - 63 omitted)

' But, 0 the heavy change, now thou art gone,

Now thou art gone, andnever must return;
37

) Thee, Shepherd, thee the woods, and desert caves

I
With wild thyme and gadding vine o'ergrown,
I And all their echoes, mourn: 41
(42 - 49 omitted)
Where were ye, Nymphs, when the remorseless deep 50
it Closed o'er the head of your loved Lycidas? 51

i ... (52 - 63 omitted)

Alas: what boots it with, unceqsant, care \ 64
To tend the homely, slighted, shepherd's trade
hnd strictly mediate the thankless Muse ?
1 Were it not better done, as others use,

1
To sport with Amaryllis in the shade.
Or with the tangles of Neaera's hair?
Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise 70
I
~ h a k e s ~ e a rand
e Milton (That last infirmity of noble mind)
To scorn delights, and live laborious days:
But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
And think to burst out into sudden blaze,
Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears
And slits the thin-spun life. 'But not the praise'
Phbebus replied, and touch'd my trembling ears:
'Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil,
Nor in the glistering foil
Set off to the world, nor in broad rumour lies:
But lives and spreads aloft by those pure eyes
And perfect witness of all-judging Jove:
As he pronounces lastly on each deed,
Of so much fame in heaven expect they meed.
0 fountain Arethuse, and thou honour'dflood,.
Smooth-sliding Mincius, crown'd with vocal reeds,
That strain I heard was of a higher mood;
But now my oat proceeds,
And listens to the herald of the sea
That came in Neptune's plea: 90
He ask'd the waves, and ask'd the felon winds,
What hard mishap hath doom'd this gentle swain?
... (93 - 102 omitted) ,

Next Camus. reverend sire, went footing slow, 103 -

His mantle hairy, and his bonnet sedge
Inwrought with figures dim. and on the edge
Like to that sanguine flower inscribed with woe:
'Ah! who hath reft'. quoth he, 'my dehrest pledge:'
Last came, and last did go
'
The pilot of the Galilean lake;
~ w o ' m a s skeys
~ he bore of metals twain 110
(The golden opes, the iron shuts amain);
. He shook his mitred locks, and stem bespake:
'How well could I have spared for thee, young swain,
Enow of such, as for their bellies' sake
Creep and intrude and climb into the fold: 115
Of other care they little reckoning make.
Than how to scramble at the shearers feast,
And shove away the worthy bidden guest.
Blind mouths! that scarce themselves know how to hold
A sheep - hook, or have learn'd aught else the least 120
That to the faithful herdman's art belqngs!
What recks it them? What need they? They are sped;
And when they list, their lean and flashy songs
Grate on their scrannel pipes of wretched straw:
The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed. 125
But swoln with wind and the rank mist they draw
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread:
Besides what the grim wotf with privy paw -
Daily dev~ursapace, and nothing said:
-But that two-handed engine at the door ' 130
Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more.

- Return. Alpheus, the dread voice is past

That shrunk they streams; return. Sicilian Muse,
And call the vales, and bid them hither cast
Their bells and flowerts of a thousand hues. 135
... (136 - 164 omitted)

Weep no more, woful shepherd, weep no more,

For Lycidas, your sorrow, is not dead,
Sunk though he be bebeath the watery floor;
So sinks the day-star in the ocean-bed,
 And yet anon repairs his drooping head John Milton
And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky:
So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high
Through the dear might of Him that walk'd the waves;
Where, other groves and other streams along,
With nectar pure his oozy locks he laves,
And hears the unexpressive nuptial song
In the blest kingdoms meek of joy and love.
There entertain him all the saints aliove
In solemn troops, and sweet societies,
That sing, and singing, in their glory move,
And wipe the tears for ever from his eyes.
Now Lycidas, the shepherds weep no more;
Henceforth thou art the Genius of the shore
In they large recompense, and shalt be good
To all that wander in that perilous flood
Thus sang the uncouth swain to the oaks and rills,
While the still mom went out with sandals grey;
He touch'd the tender stops of various quills.
With eager thought warbling his Doric lay:
And now the sun had stretch'd out all the hills,
And now was dropt into the wester! bay:
Atlast he rose, and twitch'd his ~nantleblue:
Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.

J.Mi lton

33 INTRODUCTION TO PASTORAL ELEGY

Pastoral elegy, as the nameindicates, combines the two forms of poetry - the elegy and the
pastoral verse. An elegy is a poem or song which mourns the death of a person. It also
includes the poet's reflections on certain aspects of life. The mood of an elegy is thus serious
and pensive.
. .
Pastoral poetry deals with the life of sht5pherds who live in the' imaginary Golden Age.
Hence pastoral poetry depicts the life of idealised or conventionalised shepherds in
picturesque setting.

Pastoral elegy incorporates these two forms of poetry and the poet, in the garb of a shepherd
mourns the loss of his friend, a fellow-shepherd and the poem is set in the background of a
rustic countryside. Pastoral elegy has its origin in ancient Greece and three df the major
Greek influences in ~ i l t o n ' sLycidas are those of Bion, Theocritus and Moschus. Milton
calls his poem a Monody, which is a variant of the elegy, but rendered by a single voice or
a single mourner.

Milton follows the fixed conventions of Pastoral elegy where both the poet and the deceased
are in the guise of shepherds living in the midst of nature. Tke poem begins with an I
invocation to the Muses (goddesses of poetry). This is followed by a reproach of the guardian
Nymphs for their failure to protect the dead shkpherd. There is a list of a procession of a , .
mourners which includes nature with her flora and fauna. Yet another convention of the
pastoral elegy is to include a list of flowers that are strewn on the shepherd's grave. The
poem, which begins with a querulous tone of despair ends on a calm note of reconciliation
and the poem celebrates the immortality of the dead shepherd -his reunion with God or
Nature. In keeping with the character of an elegy, there are a few digressions in the course of
the poem which help the poet to present his reflections and views on society and life. The
three great pastoral elegies in English are Milton's Lycidas. Shelley's Adonais and
Matthew Arnold's Thirsis.
Shakespeare and Milton INTRODUCTION TO LYCIDAS
'
Lycidas is the name o'f a shepherd in the songs of Theocritus, the ancient Greek poet and
Virgil, the Latin poet.
Milton wrote this poem to be included in a volume of memorial poems that was brought out
in honour of Edward King, a young student of Christ9s.College,Cambridge, who was
drowned in the Irish seas. Milton and King were fellow students at Christ's and Milton was
profoundly shaken by this tragedy that ended a young life. Milton wrote this poem in 1637,
when he was twenty-nine years old. Since his student days, Milton had this ambition to
write and "leave something so written to after-times, as they should not willingly let it die."
The unexpected early death of Edward King made him anxious that such a premature death
may even overtake him and thereby baulk him of his cherished desire to write great poetry
and leave it for posterity. Lycidas echoes Milton's personal anxiety and fear and this makes
the poem an intensely personal one. The poem reflects more on Milton's feelings than on
King, his quality and the circumstances of his death.
In his headnote to the poem, Milton says that this Monody bewailing the Loss of a learned
friend, also "foretells the ruin of our corrupted clergy". Though the poem is written in
pastoral convention, it develops Christian themes and offers Christian consolation at its
close. The shepherd imagery helps Milton to include the christian concept of pastor as the
shepherd who looks after his flock of parishioners. Milton thus skilfully combines the
classical and the Christian elements in this personal poem. In the course of our detailed
analysis of the poem, you will discover the rich synthesis effected by the fusion of these two
elements.

Milton, who belongs to the 17th century is a Christian poet, who is deeply concerned with
man and his condition. Hence he finds it puzzling to accept the vulnerability of human
condition in the face of the immutable fact of death which had ended the life of his young
friend, Edward King. But to question the logic of it amounted to questioning God's will.
Lycidas thus begins on a note of despair consequent upon the premature death of Edward
King, but as the poem progresses, Milton is able to discover three kinds of consolation that
help him to accept the frailty and mortality of human condition. These consolations also
help the poem to achieve a state of calmness and end on a note of hope and strength. The
consolations offered are either classical or christian or both.

Why did Milton use the pastoral convention for this poem? This elegy which was written to
mourn the loss of King also expresses Milton's personal fears, queries and despair abo"t '
man's helplessness in the face of premature death. Milton and King were not intimate friends
for Milton to express sentimental grief over his death. He uses the occasion ro elaborate on
human condition in general. The pastoral form with the poet in the garb of a shepherd helps
him to objectify the specific occasion and extend the elegiac tone to include fundamental
questions about human condition.

Thus the poem Lycidas effectively blends the Christian, Classical and Humanist (concern
. with human condition) elements. Milton has enlarged the scope of classical pastoral elegy so
a that it fuses picturesque pastoral imagery, sentimental grief and christian consolation while
functioning within the pastoral convention.

INTERPRETATION

Your study of Lycidas will consist of excerpts from the poem. The lines deleted from the
. full text are (25-36), (42-49), (52-63), (73-102) and (136-164). For purposes of
understanding, we give below a brief outline of the whole poem. This analysis has been done
by J.B. Leishman in his Milton's Minor Poems (London, Hutchinson & Co.
(Publishers) Ltd., 1969). We have introduced minor rnbdifications to his basic analysis here.
Lines

1-14' Lycidas, the singer must himself be sung

15-22 May someone perform a similar office for me (who is also a poet)
 For we were brouNt up together John Milton

All nature mourns his loss

Apostrophe to the guardian nymphs followed by the reflection that it is idle
to blame them.
(first digression) why labour at verse? Why not write songs of dalliance? If *

one writes poetry to achieve fame, then it must be remembered that fame is
rewarded not on earth, but in Heaven.
~nvocationto the muses-beginning of the list of mourners.'
Continuation of the procession of mourners.

Continuation of the procession, followed by a second digression on false

(corrupt)clergy.

Invocation after the second digression. Let the Sicilian vales send all their
flowers to be strewn on Lycidas' hearse.

But the hearse is empty. Lycidas' spirit has been borne upwards. His bones
are buried. Where? Plea to Michael to restore him to Heaven.

Weep no more, for Lycidas has sunk only to rise.

186-193 Day and lamentation are over. Tomorrow, the fresh dawn will bring in new
labour and new shepherding.

3.5.1 Analysis
Lines

1-14 These lines explain the occasion that compelled Milton to write this poem.
1-2 Laurels, Myrtles and Ivy are evergreen plants and they are traditional symbols of
poetry.
"never-sere" means "never dry", "never withered." The poet seeks inspiraiion
from these evergreen plants associated with poetry. "Yet once more" -this line
introduces Milton as a young poet. He says, "I come once more to you seeking
your inspiration to sing a song on Lycidas." '
Do these opening lines strike you as something odd and not in keeping with the
spirit of an elegy? The first point to note is that there is no mention of Lycidas
in the opening lines, even though he ought to be the central figure in this poem.
This leads to the second observation that the poet is referring to himself instead.
Why does he do so? Turn to lines 19-22;where the poet says that if he writes
an elegy for Lycidas, the poet who is dead, then someone in the future may
reward him (Milton) with an elegy when he dies. The emphasis on self in the
opening lines is to establish that he is also a poet and he may also meet with a
premature death like King, thereby putting an end to his cherished ambition to
become a great poet.
34 The bemes are harkh and crude (unripe). Milton says that he has come to pluck
the unripe berries of these evergreen plants - i.e. he has come to write poetry
well in advance of time as King had died prematurely. It also implies that he
himself has not matured to write poetry.
5 "Shatter": Scatter. "Mellowing Year": maturing year. The unripe berries and the
scattering of the leaves in conjunction with the mellowing year evoke an
, '. autumnal image. Autumn is the season when trees and plants shed their leaves.
I
But ivy, myrtle and laurel plants are evergreen and are therefore unaffected by
I autumn. Then what does the poet suggest here? The poet repeats that he is forced
to sing this elegy on King at an unexpected time. The leaves in the life of King
had been scattered before he had grown old. So also he has to wr@ poetry before
he has matured. He has to sing this elegy rather prematurely.

.: 6 dear: dire, grievous, dreadful.

Shakespeare and Milton 8-1 1 Lycidas is introduced as a poet.
Pick out the line that describes him as a poet-

These lines (8- 11) "Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme" (11)convey the
implied statement that Lycidas must be sung and thereby, any poet (including
Milton) who meets with a tragic death will also be sung.
12 "watery bier": Watery grave ,

Line 12 mentions for the first time the accident of drowning that ended King's life. By
giving King the name of Lycidas, a classical name, the poem is framed within pastoral .
convention. The poem no longer concerns itself with Edward King his friend, but it is about
all poets who may be cut off before realising their full potentialities. The poem reflects on
the tragic possibilities of death overtaking creative poets like him and anempts to resolve
these fears culminating in a state of calmness and quietude towards the end.
15-22 Invocation to the Muses (goddesses of poetry).
This is one of the conventions of a pastoral elegy, invoking the blessings of the
Muses before writing the verse.
15 "sisters of the sacred well": The nine hiuses, who in classical mythology are
regarded as the daughters of Zeus and inspirers of learning, poetry and music.
16 The Muses were traditionally presented as dancing around Jove's altar. (Zeus or
Jove: the greatest of the Greek deities).
17 'Somewhat': rather
18 "Hence": do away with
20 ("Urn": (here) grave.)
Can you paraphrase lines 15-22?

Write down in the given space and check it with the paraphrase we have given below:
Inspire me to write poetry so that some other gentle poet will honour me after my death and
invoke peace on my remains.
Briefly analyse the significance of the first twenty-two lines. Write down in the space
provided and check with our analysis given below.

.................................................
- ................................................................
,
i h.........

.............................................................................................................................
~ i ~ n i f i c a nof -
c elines 1 2.2 : John Milton

1) These lines set the pastoral tone of the poem, through

a) reference to Lycidas (a shepherd in classical poetry)
b) invocation to the Muses.
2) They also introduce us to the details about Lycidas' death (drowning) and Lycidas'
vocation as a poet.
..
3) By referring to Edward King as a poet, the poem shifts itsemphasis from King to
poets or creative artists in general and echoks the fear of such tragic eventuality
overtaking anyone of them. Thus the scope of the elegy has been widened.
22-23 . Both Lycidas and the present singer (Edward King and Milton) have been brought
up together.
25-29 The lines lament the death of Lycidas. The poetic promise that ~ i n ghad ' shown
had proved no guarantee to his immortality. Notice the repetition: "thou art
g ~ n e " ( ~and ~ ) .....thee .....". (39). This produces an emotional effect of high
~ -"thee
intensity. We also notice the placement of the verb "mourn" at the end to sharpen

.
the poignancy. All nature, represented by woods and caves, plants and flowers
mourns his loss.
50-5 1 Do you recognise yet another feature of the pastoral elegy in the mourning of the
dead ?
The third of the pastoral convention is the questioning of the Guardian spirits for
the dereliction of their duty to protect Lycidas. "Remorseless deep": Thedeep seas
which had no pity on Lycidas. Can you identify the figure of speech employed
here?
It is synecdoche. (refer to Unit 1) [deep; deep seas]. Thek lines once again refer to
Lycidas' death by drowning. Recall the first reference in lines 12-13.
The water nymphs could.not save him, though he was loved by them. The poem
thut builds up the tone of despair forthere is no protecting hand to help even
those who are divinely blessed with poetic talent. In lines 58-63 (deleted from
your text), Milton emphasises that even the Muse (the goddess of poetry) could
not defend her son. To be a poet was no guarantee against death.
64-84 The poet is able to build on this note of helplessness to digress about the validity
of dedicating oneself to the vocation of a poet. Why should one write great poetry
at all? Before one can attain fame, one is likely to be cut off from life. Milton's
arguments are those of a Christian humanist who values man's love for an,
beauty and poetry. But in the context of the immutable fact of death, why cannot
man remain a mere sensualist instead of dedicating himself to the cause of poetry?
W h y prepare oneself to write a kind of poetry that one may never write? This lea&
the poet to the second part of the digression, where he says that true fame is what
one receives in Heaven and not on earth. Milton, the Humanist valued the
aspirations of human mind that sought after high values and ideals. He himself
cherished great literary ambitions, and he relied upon the great classics to nunure
his talent to write immortal poetry. Even as he contemplated on the splendours of .
human achievement, he never forgot that true glory consisted in earning the
approval of God. So we have here Milton, the humanist in search of fame and
glory which all 'erected spirits' or 'noble minds' hardly ever discard and Milton,
'
the Christian poet who recognises that true fame cannot be had on earth but only
achieved in heaven. This digression shows the reconciliation of Milton's
humanism (with its respect for antiquity, classics and human aspiration) and
Milton's Christian faith. This concept is presented through classical means, as the
words are uttered by Phoebus, the classical God of the Greeks. The concepts of
true fame conferred by God is common to Christian and classical thinking. Milton
offers it in the classical form and this passage is illustrative of the effective fusion
of classical, Christian and humanist thinking.

64 "boot": profits.
65 "shepherd's trade" : poet's craft.
Shakespeare and Milton Also, taken in its Chri'skian association k t h the priest or the pastofi, 'shepherd's
trade' will signify the poet Whbse vwation is to write sublimy poetry in the role
of a poet-priest.
"thankless muse": "thankless" because the poet may go unrewarded in the event of
premature death.
Milton contrasts the poet who meditates upon the "thankless muse" to write
sublime poetry with the poet who writes idle compliments to Amaryllis and
Neaera. Amaryllis is a shepherdess, an object of love in Theocritus' and Virgil's
pastorals. Neaera is yet another pastoral character. There are many poems addressed
to Neaera by Latin poets like George Buchanen and Johanes Secundus. Thus
Milton raises the dilemma as to whether one should dedicate oneself to a virtuous
life to become a true poet with a missionary zeal or indulge oneself in the luxury
of love making and sporting with young women.
argue that the desire of fame is not an unworthy pursuit. It is but the last
infirmity (weakness) of noble minds. Milton has many classical precedents like
Cicero and Tacitus (Italian Poets) who have made similar statements that even
with the wise men, the desire of glory is the last to be discarded.
Refer to Milton's sonnets on his. Blindness and on h b 23rd biithday
which express his Christian faith and his desire not to hide his literary talent so
that he may achieve honour, repute and immortal fame.

Guerdon: reward
The blind fury: Atropos, one of the three Fates in classical mythology who cuts
the thread of man's life.
The fear of being cut off from life before achieving his ambition is'expressed in
these lines. In considering King's death, Milton experiences the fear of such an
eventuality overtaking him.
Phoebus: Apollo, the god of youth, beauty, poetry and music. "touched my
trembling ears": a gesture of disapproval. These lines seem to echo Virgil's lines
in his sixth Ecologue. Milton often borrows lines and phrases from the classics to
express his convictions that were purely Christian.
"broad rumour": worldwide reputation
"Jove": In Greek mythology, Jove is the sovereign God.
The first digression thus reveals Milton, the Christian Humanist. Having
digressed and moved away from the 'elegiac strain', Milton returns to the main
theme with a second invocation to the classical Muses. This re-invocation also
suggests that the reflection in th'e earlier lines (the digression) probably had a .
higher source of inspiration than that of the pastoral Muses and therefore he
wishes to apologise for deviating from the pastoral mood.
Arethuse: Fountain at Syracuse, the birth place of Theocritus-here
used as symboiic of Sicilian pastoral poetry.
Minicius: river in Lombardy, the birth place of Virgil, symbolic of
Latin pastoral poetry. By calling the-river 'vocal', Milton
may be refemng to the poeVir of Virgil. .

"Oat": Oaten pipe for playing music.

"My oat proceeds": I again proceed with my song.

"herald of the sea": Triton, a powerful sea-god (of the Greeks). His trumpet raised
or calmed the sea waves. Triton is brought in as Edward King who was drowned in
the sea.

"Neptune": Roman Sea-God

 "Felon": Cruel John Milton

mark the beginning of the procession of mourners. The next ten lines deleted from
your text announce that neither the god of the winds nor of the sea was
responsible for Lycidas'edeath. It was just destiny that destroyed the young poet. It
is important to note that the pastoral world of Lycidas can offer no rational
explanation for this tragedy. The pastoral world is controlled by Fate and man is
helpless to counter its machinations. It is against this tone of helplessne'ss and
despair that the second consolation is set through a second digression.
Continue the mourners' procession ; one of them is St. Peter.
"Camus": The river Cam that runs through Cambridge.
"Mantle hairy": the academic gown of the university; it also means the trees
lining the river bed.
"Bonnet sedge": the cap made of sedge, a plant or kind of grass. This can also be
"bonnet's edge" - referring to the fringes of the cap.
"Inwrought": embroidered
"Sanguine flower": The hyacinth flower that sprung from the blood of
Hyacinthus, a beautiful Greek Prince who was accidentally slain by Apollo, the
G~eekGod.
"reft": past participle of "reave" = to plunder
"Pledge": Child
The last to come in the procession is St. Peter, the first bishop of the Roman
Church and keeper of the keys of Heaven. St. Peter, according to the Bible was a
fisherman, who was called by Christ to monitor the entrance to the kingdom of
Heaven.
In the elegiac tradition we have a number of mourners who come to visit the
body. It is natural that St. Peter should also visit King, who at the time of his
death was being groomed for the Church. This enables Milton to denounce the
clergy in the words of St. Peter. His friend Edward King who was also a poet is
now enlarged to take the status of one destined for the Church and therefore, his
loss is mourned by St. Peter. St. Peter's outburst against the corrupt clergy thus
forms the second digression. The attack is but a continuation of the theme of
despair which laments the destruction of the good and the survival of the bad. In
the earlier section, Milton had despaired over the helplessness of man against
destiny which may choose to deny him the fulfilment of his vocation as a poet-
priest. But what cannot be done against Fate can be taken up against society that
protects the parasites and destroys the genuine priest.
The attack against the Anglican clergy in this second digression is not extraneous
to the theme of Lycidas which deals with the fate of the poet-priest both as an
individual and as a member of society. But even this attack on the Christian
corrupt clergy is framed within the pastoral imagery. The link is supplied by the
shepherd figure- as the one who minds his flock-both of sheep and men. The
shepherd who pipes and sings thus includes both the poet and priest figures in
addition to bringing together the classical and Christian traditions.
111 "opes": opens; "amain" : with force.
112 ,"miter'd locks: reference from St. Matthew where St, Peter is described as one
with "mitre'd locks" where "mitre" means the headdress worn by archbishops and
bishops
"stem" : angrily
114-118 There are Biblical references in this passage. Milton refers to the angry
denunciation of false priest by St. Peter in his second Epistle. Taking the parable
of St. Matthew of the 22nd chapter, he superimposes on it the classical.imagery
of the harvest feast when the worthy guest is driven away by unworthy scramblers
who creep and intrude and fill their bellies.
Shakespeare and Milton 119 "blind mouths": the worthless shepherds. How can a mouth be blind? ~ e rMiltoni
refers to the shepherds (both the pastoral and Christian) whose function is to be
watchful, but who instead turns a blind eye to his flock while remaining
gluttonous and selfishly feeding himself.
120 "sheep-hook": the bishop's pastoral staff.
120-1 Please note the use of double metaphor regarding the task of a shepherd.
122 "they are sped": They have prospered.
123 "list": choose; "flashy": @sipid
124 "scrannel": weak, feeble.

123-124 These lines are remarkable for their racy and razor-sharp invective. These lines also
echo Virgil's third Eclogue. These shepherds are worthless who play on their
pipes unlike Lycidas who played on his oaten pipes. The songs of these shepherds
are insipid and their pipes are 'scrannel' (thin) pipes made of wretched straw.
125-126 Echoes of Dante (Italian poet) can be observed. The shepherds do not tend to their
hungry sheep. St. Peter's angry outburst is in tune with M.ilton's earlier outburst
against "blind fury"? (1. 75) who may not allow him to feed the hungry sheep
through his poetry. Note the comparison between the Christian and the pastoral
shepherd and their respective flocks of sheep. Milton thus effectively enlarges on
the concept of. the poet as a singer and as a spiritual leader while drawing the
analogy between him and the pastoral shepherd. St. Peter's angry invective
underscores the main argument of the poem that just as the good clergy are
destroyed and the bad clergy survive, Lycidas, the good shepherd (poet) is taken
away.
But the second digression also offers consolation. St. Peter is not baffled by the turn of
events-of Lycidas' death and of the momentary triumph of the corrupt clergy. He points out
that God's retribution is at hand for the corrupt, dishonest and the insincere pastors of the
Church. This consolation is a purely Christian one.
130-131 The Biblical reference is to be noted. Refer St. Matthew (XXVI, 31) and St. Mark
(XIV 27) where it says "for it is written. I will smite the shepherd and the sheep
of the flock shall be scattered" where the punishment falls on the idle shepherd
who leaves his flock unattended.
130 "Two handed engine" : two-handed sword.
"at the door" : at hand.
St. Peter warns that punishment is at hand for those who betray the trust of their followers.
This warning slowly moves the poem from its initial despair to a final consolation whereby
the poet once again takes up his poetic activity with reriewed zest and vigour.
132-135: Milton returns once more to the theme of Lycidas' death and re-invocates the
Muse to aid him to sing his elegy. This passage that extends up to 1,164 marks
the transition from St. Peter's outburst to the calm movement of the final lines.
From the awesomeness of the 'two-handed engine' Milton moves to a description
of flowers of incredible beauty.
132 "Alpheus": a legendary river of Arcady who pursued the nymph Arethusa with
great passion, till the nymph was turned into a fountain by Diana. Hence the
invocation to Alpheus for poetic inspiration.
133 "Sicilian Muse": Muse of Theocritus and other Greek bucolic poets in general.
165-193: This final sectiomdescribes the resurrection of Lycidas and his entry into heaven.
Lycidas is not dead in spirit and this consolation is basically a Christian
consolation.
168 "day-star": Sun
169 "repairs": renews
170 "tricks": adorns, decks.
 172 Reference to St. Matthew. XIV (22-23). The reference is to Christ. Milton makes john Milton
a direct ippeal to the Christian belief that the pure and the chaste shall wake up in
Heaven. Christ redeemed man through his sacrifice. Lycidas will be redeemed and
there is no cause for lamentation.
The scene is richly pastoral and Lycidas walks through groves and streams surrounded by the
flock of his fellows "in solemn troops and sweet societies."

176 "nuptial song": the inexpressible marriage song -

the kference is to Revelation (19.9) "Blessed are they which are called unto the
marriage supper of the lamb'? (the marriage feast of the Lord).
Look at the consolation offered by the poet:
1) The loss of earthly fame (premature death) is compensated by heavenly reward.
2) The corrupt clergy will be destroyed and the shepherds under the Good Shepherd
will rise in "solemn troops and sweet societies" (179).
3) The loss of life on earth is compensated by the gain of spiritual purgation in
heaven.
The first consolation is common to both Christian and classical thinking. It is Phoebus who
offers these words of consolation and it is Jove who shall be the all powerful judge of men's
deeds.
The second is purely Christian; while the third consolation given in the backdrop of pastoral
scene suggests the ideal, pastoral world of the.shepherds where such calmness can exist. The
referenies to "Dorick lay" (Pastoral Poetry), the "uncouth swain" (the rustic poet) and "fresh
.
words and pastures new" show Milton's fusion of pastoral imagery with the Christian
consolation. Lycidas is dead, but he (the poet) is still living. here-is no need to despair and
he can proceed with greater determination and comfort towards further poetic achievements.
Milton looks upon himself as "the uncouth swain" who shall renew his song and activities
with the arrival of the new dawn. The idyllic, calm beauty of the pastoral world affirms the
calm bliss that Christian redemption offers to the chaste and the virtuous. Hence the uncouth
swain, the unknown poet, who begins on a note of despair at the start of his clergy uses the
Dorick lay to sing again a song of promise and expectation. Just as the sun which sets in the
evening renews itself the next dawn with splendour, Lycidas shall also be resurrected. So the
poem ends on a vision of hope and promise. Christian religion does not accommodate
despair. It is nurtured on faith in the grace of God. Man has to continue with life in a spirit
of humility, faith and hope and do his duty to earn his heavenly reward.

3.6 POETIC DEVICES IN LYCIDAS

i) In your detailed study of Lycidas, you have noted the rich synthesis of the classical,
Christian and Humanist elements in the poem. It is evident that Milton has employed
both classical and Christian allusions and effectively blended them to suit his
twin purposes of an elegy on a learned friend and of a scathing attack on the corrupt
clergy of his times.
ii) In the previous unit on ~ h a k e s ~ e a(Unit
r e 2), you read about Shakespeare's use of
inversion. Can you identify examples of inversion ~. in this poem?.
The opening lines provide a good deal of examples such as "myrtles dear", "season
due". These adjecFives coming at the end intensify the poet's poignancy at being
compelled to write the elegy on his learned friend who had met with an untimely death
at a very young age.
iii) Another significant feature of the poem is its use of repetition. The opening line
i-
strikes the note of repetition with "yet once more .... and once more" and a little later
we have the heightening of tension in "For Lycidas is dead, dead are his.prime,
Young Lycidas ...."
This intensity is continued in lines 37-39 when the poet laments
"............................. ................., now thou art gone,
Now thou art gone, and never must return:
. Thee, Shepherd, thee the woods and desert caves ..... mourn."
shakespeare.'and Milton iv) Milton employs alliteration that helps him to slow down the tempo and at times to
gallop and flow without a pause. For example, in the opening stanza, when he is
disturbed at the thought of writing an elegy on his friend who had &xi prematuely, he
speaks of "forced fingers rude" and later when he invokes the "sisters of the Sacred
well" he says "Begin, and somewhat loudly sweep the string".
V) In Unit-1 you learnt about a few figures of speech. Milton has employed
synecdoche, apostrophe and antithesis in this poem. Can you pick out the
examples of each one of these figures of speech? -

Synecdoche: "Blind Fury" - reference to one of the three fates in classical

mythology, fabled to cut the thread of life.
"Remorseless deep": the deep seas which had no pity on Lycidas.
"oat": Song from the oaten pipe. /
Apostrophe: 1 1. 50-51 "Where were ye, Nymphs, ..... Lycidas?"
1 I. 165-166 "Weep no more ... is not dead."
Antithesis: This i,s a figure of speech in which thoughts or words are balanced in
contrast.
1.172 "So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high"
1.111 "The golden opes, the iron shuts amain"
1.71 "That last infirmity of noble mind"
vi) Apart from the rich classical and Biblical allusions, Milton's imagery is striking. For
example, "the wolf' in 1.128evokes the rapacious, cruel and corrupt popery of the
17C. "Blind mouths' (1.1 19) is a bitter metaphor for worthless shepherds both in the
pastoral and Christian sensk of the phrase. "sanguine flower" (1.106) where the red
colour of the hyacinth flower indicating the blood of Hyacinthus evokes image of grief
and woe at the untimely death of Lycidas.

3.7 SONNET XIX ON HIS BLINDNESS

When I consider how my light is spent,
. E're half my days, in this dark world a d wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg'd 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-labour, light deny'd?
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 Yoak, they serve Him best, His state
Is kingly; thousands at His bidding speed
And post o're land and Ocean without rest:-
They also serve who only stand and wait

3.8 INTRODUCTION TO MILTON'S SONNET

In the previous units (Units I & 2) you were introduced to two distinct kinds of Sonnets:
a) The ltalian or the Petrarchan Sonnet and (Ref. Unit 1, 1:3:2)

b) The English or the Shakespearean Sonnet

and also to an analysis of three Shakespearean Sonnets (Ref. Unit 2)

While the English Sonnet devkloped in the 16th century in the hands of Sir Thomas wyatt'
'(1503-42), Earl of Surrey ( 1 5 17-47), Sidney, Spenser and Shakespeare (towards the closing
decade of the 16th century), it was given to Milton to revive the Italian form in the 17th
form. Yet another distinction between Milton and the other English sonneteers is that John Milton
Milton's sonnet is a personal sonnet and is not addressed to his beloved or friend. The Italian
sonnet has two distinctwe types:

a) practised by Petrarch who divided the Sonnet into two quatrains (8) and two tercets (6)
with a pause at the end of each division.

b) introduced by Della Casa who dispensed with the pause and instead used enjambment or
run-on lines so that the system was no longer made to depend on metrics.
Milton practised both types of the Italian Sonnet, but preferred the latter (the Della Casa
type) when the subject of his poem demanded sublime treatment. Milton's Sonnet structure
was different from that of Shakespeare which (-as you have studied in Unit 2) consisted of
three quatrains and a couplet. Milton, following the Petralcnan kind returned to'two quatrains
and two tercets and employed only two rhymes in the octave -either abba, abba or abab,
abab. In the sestet, there was more freedom with the usage of two or three rhymes with
various combinations of each. Look at the prescribed Sonnet XIX and note the rhyme
scheme. It is abba, abba, cde, cde. (Two rhymes in the pctave and three in the sestet.)

Further in the Shakespearean Sonnet, you noticed the turn at the erid of the third quatrain,
whereas here in this Sonnet of Milton, you will recognise the turn in the middle of the
eighth line, though in many of his other sonnets, he places the turn at the very
commencement of the sestet. This central turn in the sonnet helps the thought to turn back
on itself in the concluding lines.

Here in this sonnet On His Blindness, the poet's near-despair in the opening lines gives way
to faith in Providence at the close. The poet with his "soul bent to serve the Lord" is
reconciled at the end to 'stand and wait' and thereby serve him. The sonnet moves from point
to point to meditate upon the active and the passive ways of service to God. When the poet
despairs that he can no longer serve his lord actively (due to blindness), the Sonnet takes a
turn to give him the strength to accept his physical weakness with a consoling thought that
"they also serve who stand and wait".

3.9 INTERPRETATION
The last section in 3.8 has given you a brief summary of this Sonnet. This section is
intended to give a detailed analysis of the poem. During the murse of this section, we shall
ask you to refer to the next two sections - 3.10 and 3. I 1 - which deal with the Date of
Composition of the Sonnet and the Biblical references respectively.

These three sections 3.9,3.10 and 3.1 1 will help you to identify the triumphant mood (of
optimism) at the end of the poem, besides Milton's appropriate selections of the Biblical
phrases to reinforce the theme of Christian virtues of Patience and Faith.

Lines
1 "how my light is spent": Milton's use of present tense indicates that he is
referring to the time of writing this sonnet. The exact date of composition is not
conclusively established. We have analyzed this in section 3.10. Read 3.10
closely. The plausible date we havexonsidered is 1644, the year when Milton
realised that his sight was growing weak. The shock and anxiety on his
realisation of a? impending blindness gives rise to a note of near-despair in the
opening quatrains.

"Light": (i) power of vision. Milton &ems to express his worry that his power
of vision is getting worn out.

(ii) Light of poetic inspiration. Milton had always great hopes of

writing immortal verses. It is possible that he may have felt a gradual failingof
inspiration during this period, for between 1644and 1649, Milton did not write,
rather he chose "to hide his talent". Milton seems to despair that he may not be
able to use his creative talent in the service of his Lord.
Shakespeare and Milton (iii) closely following the second interpretation of 'light' (as the light
of 'poetic inspiration'), we can contrast 'light' with 'dark' in the following line
(3). Milton seems to say that my light should have been spent to illuminate the
dark, wide world. Milton's concept of poetry had always been didactic and he
often expressed a desire tossing not the praises of heroic men, and famous cities,
but the glory of God. Hence. Milton's deep-seated fear that his light might have
been spent without providing the much needed illumination to the dark world.

"E're half my days"

Refer 3.10, the Date of Composition

"Dark World: Sinful world '

World of ignorance

Notice how Milton's Sonnet begins with "I" and ends with 'They" (14). This
gives a clue to the change that occurs in the sonnet from a single, self-centled
man, desiring to illuminate the wide world to thousands of God-centred angels
(lines 12-13) who move through this world "over Land and Ocean", spreading the
message of God. Yet another point to note is the completion of his adverbial
clause in line 1, "when I consider ..... ". The main clause that marks the
completion occurs in lines 7-8, when Milton raises his query "I fondly ask" as to
whether God exacts "day-labour" even when he denies light.

"Talent". (Refer 3.1 1 -the ~iblicalreferences ti))

i) The Biblical meaning is "faculty"/ "coins"

ii) Milton uses it in the sense of "Literary ~alent"

"though my soul ..... maker": We have analysed Milton's concept of poetry as a
form of service to the Lord (Refer to the second and third Meanings of "light").
"true account" (Refer 3.1 1 -The Biblical references (ii))
"lest he returning chide'': God may show displeasure that Milton's account of
service in terms of the gifts he had bestowed on him proves inadequate. -
"day-labour" (Refer 3.1 1 -The Biblical references (iii))
"light deny'd": i) loss of the power of vision . P

ii) loss of poetic inspiration

In truly Christian terms, Milton acknowledges the operations of Divine grace in

human affairs. There is a perceptible change in his tone-from nervous despair
to an admission that God is both the giver and the withholder of gifts to man.
Hence, the question that Milton asks seems to be foolish - "I fondly ask" (8).
If God denies him the light, how can he expect him to render service which may
fall short of expectations? .

"Patiencew:- (Refer-3.1 1- The Biblical references (iv))

i) The poet's agitation in the earlier lines is countered by "patience", wttich

means "calmness" that is essential for dispassionate deliberation.

ii) The Biblical meaning of faith in God.. . ,.

Milton's disturbed state of mind, with its concomitant feelings of despair and
'anxiety is set to rest by the revival of his faith in God's actions. He recognises
that whatever suffering or affliction he has to undergo is part of God's plans. He
who accepts his burden without a murmur, serves him in the best way (1 I).
There is no one-to-one equation between labour and wages as illustrated in the '.
Biblical parable. Milton realises that God does not exact day-labour, but He
desires that a patient bearing of one's suffering is in itself a form of superior
-service.
 12-13 Refer to the interpretation given to line 2. These lines underline the contrz '
between active service and passive service, but the contrast is only on the nlode
of service and not on its essence.

Some critics are of the opinion that Milton regarded the order of angles who left
God's presence to move over land and ocean to spread the message as secondary
in comparison with those who never left his presence and waited attendance on
Him. But the main distinction does not concern thedifferent orders of angels.
Milton is only asserting the virtues of service within one's capability. If he is
denied light - both the power of vision and the power of creation - then he
will have to patiently wait - to stay in expectation of the unfolding of God's
will and'commands.
II

14 Refer to 3.1 1 the Biblical refefences (v).

The Sonnet thus exists on two levels:

i) on the level of physical blindness and

ii) on the level of spiritual blindness.

I

His service to God is likely to be hampered on both counts. If his poetic inspiration fails
him, he may feel the emptiness within and may not be able to sing his Lord's praises. But
on both planes of existence on the physical and the inspirational the recovery is possible if
one submits himself to God's will and waits for His grace to recover the lost power and
render service to Him in accordance with God's bidding.

3.10 DATE OF COMPOSITION

This sonnet is the most celebrated personal sonnet of Milton. Hence, the date of
composition .assumes significance in understanding the mood of the poet as reflected in the
Sonnet and thereby modify our interpretation of the poem. The available evidence points to
three possible dates - 1655, 1651-2 and 1644. I
',
On the basis of the chronological order of the sonnets, sonnet XIX is dated later than April-
May 1655. There q e other critics who place the sonnet in the period immediately following
1652, when he lost his eyesight totally. But the evidence of lines
34 And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless ..... .
goes counter to Milton's literary achievement in 1654 when he wrote The Second Defence as
a rejoinder to his critics. In this pamphlet, he stated that he considered his blindness less of
an affliction than a proof that God had marked him out for some remarkable work. So the
feeling of despair in the lines above quoted muld not have been with Milton in 1655.
As early as 1651, Milton wrote in a friend's album "I am made perfect in my weakness"
which once again suggests an acceptance of and not a despair over his visual impairment.
Hence the two dates of 1651-2 and 1655 do not lend credence to the statement in the sonnet
. that the loss of his eyesight implied the waste of the talent he had been endowed with:
This leaves us with the third date of 1644. Milton who was born in 1608, had completed his
thirty-fifth year in 1644. The sonnet's opening lines give a clue to the date of its
. cpmposition.
When I consider how my light is spent
E're half my d a ~ .....
s
This sonnet is an intensely religious poem, with an abundance of Biblical quotation (read the
following Section 3.1 1) and an affirmation of Christian faith and virtue. Hence it is not
incorrect to refer the Psalmist's mention of the normal 1ife:span of man as "three score years
and ten" (3 x 20 + 10 = 70 years) and apply the same to calculate "half my days" as thirty-
five. The date 1644 becomes plausible. It is also important that in a letter written byMilton
-in 1654, he says that he had been getting weaker in sight over the last ten years.
Hence Milton seems to say in the sonnet that his light-his power of vision-is worn out,
though he has not lost it totally. It is the beginning of the process of blindness that gives
Shakespeare and Milton him the fright that he may not be able to use the god-given 'talent' in the service of his lord.
The poem if dated as a 1644 composition then underlines the struggle within the Poet to
accept a complete loss of his eyesight. The Christian's acceptance of God's dispensations and
his abiding faith that God shall accept any form of service from his dependents gives the
poem a triumphant note at the end. .

3.11 BIBLICAL REFERENCES

Note on the Bible.

The Bible is the sacred book of the Christians. It is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In a simple
and elegant style, it narrates the life and teachings of Christ with the help of a number of
parables. The Bible, often referred to as the New Testament of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ, also idcludes Psalms and proverbs that direct men through the right path to attain the
kingdom of Heaven. There are four versions of the Gospel by St. Matthew, St. John,
St. Luke and St. Mark. Milton in his sonnet XIX 'On His Blindness' has employed the
Biblical phrases to restate'the task of the Christian - to stand and wait, in acceptance and
acknowledgment of God's gifts, inabiding faith in his providence with no concession to
despair even in one's darkest moments.

i) Service to God through the usage of God-given talent is the essential focus of this
sonnet. This theme cambe traced to Christ's parable of the talents in Matthew XXV:
14-15.

A man called his servants and gave them talents (faculty) according to their ability. To
one of them, he gave five, to another, two. But he that had received one, dug the earth
and hid the money. When ffie master asks them as to what they had done with the
talents given to them, he was pleased with the first two who had used them profitably
to multiply and increase. But when he discovers that the thirdshadremained slothful
and had not put to use the'one ralent given to him, he takes away his gift saying.
For unto everyone that hath shall be given.
'
and he shall have abundance; but for him
that hath not shall be taken away even that
which he hath. (Matt. XXV: 29).
You can now understand why Milton is distressed that his blindness may hamper him
in the discharge of his service to the Lord and he may not put to use the talent-in his
case, the literary talent to sing his Lord's praise. The unprofitable, slothful servant in
Christ's parable suffers spiritual death in losing the kingdom of Heaven. Milton
expresses anxiety that he may also be forcedto hide his talent on account of the
impending blindness. "To hide it" is "death". A Poet can gain immorklity through the
use of his literary talent. To keep it unused will amount to spiritual death.
, I (ref. lines 3-4)
ii) The second Biblical reference is' related to line 6, where Milton speaks of presenting
"my true account". The word "account" is possibly from Matthew XVIII. 23 :
"Therefore is the kingdom of Heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take
account of his servants ......"
"Account" means reckon with service. Milton uses the term "account" in the sense of
an acdount of his services. Milton in many of his writings has acknowledged gratefully
the gifts of God, but there has also been an undercurrent of anxiety lest he should
account for fewer of the gifts and thereby incur God's displeasure for not utilising all
that had been given to him.

iii) The third reference is from Matthew XXV 1 ff, where the allusion is to the parable of
labourers in the Vineyard. It tells the story of a man who hired labourers to work in
the Vineyard for a penny a day. While some worked for a full day, other were appointed
at different times even as late as the eleventh hour Yet when the evening came,
everyone was paid the sqme wage of a penny irrespective of the number of hours they
had worked -To those who protested against this equality inlhe distribution of the .
42 wages disproportion&e to the longer duration of work put in by a few of them, the
 man replied that he did no wrong for he paid as per the promise he had given to each John Milton

.
one of them, at the rate of a penny a day.

Milton alludes to the parable in line 7 when he asks whether God demands a full day's
labour from those without sight. It is, as he acknowledges in the next line, a foolish
question. The answer is given in the sestet which says that God does not need man's
work nor does he expect a return of his gifts. No one should feel burdened by God's
bounty as to wony how to repay the lord, nor does the lord need labourers to serve
him. Like the moral of the parable, Milton's question includes the answer that God
expects everyman to do what is possible and there need be no equation between labour
and wages, between service and reward., .
iv) The word 'Patience' in line 9 refers to Christian Patience or faith in Providence. The
source can be traced to the Book of Revelations XIV. 12 and Psalm XXXVII. 7 ff. The
Revelations interpret 'Patience' as faith in Jesus. The Psalms state "Rest in the Lord,
and nfait patiently for him" and a little later, "those that wait upon the Lord, they shall
inherit the earth." (9).

v) 'Yoak in line I I is yet another Biblical term taken from Matthew XI (29-30) where the
. Lord says "Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ...... for my yoke is easy and my
burden is light". God's demands are not exacting nor does he overburden those who
serve him. God expects everyone to accept His dispensations. Those who carry God'?
Yoke lightly serve him in the best manner. The biblical word 'Yoke' thus underlines
the importance of faith in God that gives no room for despair.

vi) "Wait on the Lord" is from the Psalms XXVII. 14 and is a phrase frequently present in
the Bible.

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say,
on the Lord.

Milton uses 'wait' as the concluding word of his sonnet, to equate it with passive service to
God. In the context of-this sonnet that begins on a note of pessimism, the poet needs
courage ta accept his blindness and to sustain himself in the midst of physical darkness. In
the Second Defence written in 1654, he says "not blindness, but the inability to endure
blindness is a source of misery." The suffering which his blindness imposes on him is'itself
a service for it implies an acceptance of Lord's dispensation and a willingness to serve Him
passively through standing attendance on the Lord and waiting for his commands.

3.12 COMPl$EHENSION EXERCISES ON LYCZDAS

AND ON HIS BLINDNESS
1) What is the common feature in 'Lycidas' and 'ON HIS BLINDNESS'? (Hint: The
poem begins on a note of despair and ends with an offer of consolation based on
Christian faith and hope)
2) Identify the characteristics of a pastoral elegy as evidenced in Milton's 'Lycidas'.
3) How does Milton succeed in introducing Christian elements in a poem framed within
pastoral convention?
4) What are the thtee possible dates of composition of Milton's Sonnet 'ON HIS
BLINDNESS'? Which, according to you, is the most appropriate date and why?
- -

3.13 SUMMING UP
In this unit you studied Milton's Pastoral elegy and his sonnet 'ON HIS BLINDNESS' You
s learnt that :

1) Milton is both a Christian poet and a humanist.

2) both the p&ms 'Lycidas' and 'ON HIS BLINDNESS: reflect his Christian faith and
'personal anxiety.
I

Shakespeare and Milton 'Lycidas' written in the form of a pastoral elegy combines classical, Christian and
i 3)
humanist element.

4) Milton's Sonnet belongs to the Petrarchan tradition consisting of,two divisions into an
octave and a sestet.