Explain a couple of the Biblical reference in Milton’s “On His Blindness”.
John Milton was not only a poet, thinker, theologian and political figure;
he was also one of the most astute ‘literary critics’ of the Bible. That is not
to say, of course, that the Bible was only a work of literature to him.
Scripture was the revealed Word of God. Milton wrote his own theology
most forcefully in his poetry. He lived during a period when biblical
interpretation was part of everyday life.
Milton wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best
known for his epic poem Paradise Lost and the famous “On His
Blindness”.
The sonnet’s speaker Milton laments his blindness and worries because
he cannot work anymore. Therefore he fears to be worthless in God’s
eyes.
Milton’s perspective on life is deeply religious and shaped by his powerful
belief in God. This is demonstrated by his inter-textual reference to the
Bible’s in the poem.
In the second line ' half my days' is an biblical reference in which Milton
is ,following the Bible, in Psalm xc.10 , of opinion that human life -span
was between 70 and 80 years. But the most critics estimate Milton would
have been more than 40 than when he wrote the poem. Some feel he had
in mind the hundred years mentioned in Isaiah xv.20;or the fact that his
own father lived to be 84;or even the duration of his working life.
The biblical allusion that Milton uses to unify and expand the poem is
found in Matthew 25.14-30. In this chapter the writer of Mathew's Gospel
groups together three parables—(v.1-13, 10 virgins/lamps; v. 14-30,
slaves/talents; v. 31-46, sheep/goats). They teach the necessity of being
prepared for the day of judgment, for the coming of the Lord. They
emphasize chiefly two aspects of preparedness: that the Lord's arrival will
be sudden and without warning, and that the actions of the waiting life are
an enactment of the judgment to be made (and, as in the third parable,
verses 31-46, that men cannot recognize the meanings of all their
actions).
The parable of verses 14-30 contrasts the behavior of servants of a lord
who in his absence are entrusted with sums of money. Two of them
employ the money as their lord had, in trade and usury, and double their
sums, while the third buries the one talent he has been given. When the
lord returns from his travels, the two who have doubled his money are
rewarded, but the one who has only the single talent to surrender back is
cast "into outer darkness. " The parable has been interpreted to equate
the talent with faith, and to mean that one must not merely possess faith,
but employ it in the manner God intends.
We find another reference of Bible in ' Present/My true account':- The
line provide a detailed explanation of what was owed a situation recalling
the parable in Mathew 18:23 onwards. God who gives people special
abilities might require them to account for how these have been used.
The words ' day -labour, light denied' are smeared with Biblical allusion.
In John ix 4 people are urged to work during the day while there is light
to see by. The poet being blind lacks "light" and wonders whether God will
still expect from him the kind of work he might have produced if he had
sight.
'Patience' is personified here as someone full of endurance or tolerance,
a quality recommended for believers in Revelation 14:12.
'Mild yoke' is an oxymoron. The phrase recalls Matthew xi.30 where
Jesus claimed that he will never test a believer with more than he can
bear.
In Zechariah 1:10,great numbers of angels on horseback ride across the
earth according to God's instructions.
In the last line 'They also serve who only stand and wait' 'they'
,according to Catholic conception ,represents the highest orders of angels
who never leave God's side and communicate His messages to lower
orders of angels.
Arguing " The nature of the bible itself as a literary test" and " the primacy
of the Bible in Milton's poetry”. Ryken’s introduction stresses the principle
that Milton's poetry exists in a biblical context and "the value of placing of
placing Milton's poetry into that biblical framework".
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John Milton was not only a poet, thinker, theologian and political figure;
he was also one of the most astute ‘literary critics’ of the Bible. That is not
to say, of course, that the Bible was only a work of literature to him.
Scripture was the revealed Word of God. Milton wrote his own theology
most forcefully in his poetry. He lived during a period when biblical
interpretation was part of everyday life.
Milton wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best
known for his epic poem Paradise Lost and the famous “On His
Blindness”.
The sonnet’s speaker Milton laments his blindness and worries because
he cannot work anymore. Therefore he fears to be worthless in God’s
eyes.
Milton’s perspective on life is deeply religious and shaped by his powerful
belief in God. This is demonstrated by his inter-textual reference to the
Bible’s in the poem.
In the second line ' half my days' is an biblical reference in which Milton
is ,following the Bible, in Psalm xc.10 , of opinion that human life -span
was between 70 and 80 years. But the most critics estimate Milton would
have been more than 40 than when he wrote the poem. Some feel he had
in mind the hundred years mentioned in Isaiah xv.20;or the fact that his
own father lived to be 84;or even the duration of his working life.
The biblical allusion that Milton uses to unify and expand the poem is
found in Matthew 25.14-30. In this chapter the writer of Mathew's Gospel
groups together three parables—(v.1-13, 10 virgins/lamps; v. 14-30,
slaves/talents; v. 31-46, sheep/goats). They teach the necessity of being
prepared for the day of judgment, for the coming of the Lord. They
emphasize chiefly two aspects of preparedness: that the Lord's arrival will
be sudden and without warning, and that the actions of the waiting life are
an enactment of the judgment to be made (and, as in the third parable,
verses 31-46, that men cannot recognize the meanings of all their
actions).
The parable of verses 14-30 contrasts the behavior of servants of a lord
who in his absence are entrusted with sums of money. Two of them
employ the money as their lord had, in trade and usury, and double their
sums, while the third buries the one talent he has been given. When the
lord returns from his travels, the two who have doubled his money are
rewarded, but the one who has only the single talent to surrender back is
cast "into outer darkness. " The parable has been interpreted to equate
the talent with faith, and to mean that one must not merely possess faith,
but employ it in the manner God intends.
We find another reference of Bible in ' Present/My true account':- The
line provide a detailed explanation of what was owed a situation recalling
the parable in Mathew 18:23 onwards. God who gives people special
abilities might require them to account for how these have been used.
The words ' day -labour, light denied' are smeared with Biblical allusion.
In John ix 4 people are urged to work during the day while there is light
to see by. The poet being blind lacks "light" and wonders whether God will
still expect from him the kind of work he might have produced if he had
sight.
'Patience' is personified here as someone full of endurance or tolerance,
a quality recommended for believers in Revelation 14:12.
'Mild yoke' is an oxymoron. The phrase recalls Matthew xi.30 where
Jesus claimed that he will never test a believer with more than he can
bear.
In Zechariah 1:10,great numbers of angels on horseback ride across the
earth according to God's instructions.
In the last line 'They also serve who only stand and wait' 'they'
,according to Catholic conception ,represents the highest orders of angels
who never leave God's side and communicate His messages to lower
orders of angels.
Arguing " The nature of the bible itself as a literary test" and " the primacy
of the Bible in Milton's poetry”. Ryken’s introduction stresses the principle
that Milton's poetry exists in a biblical context and "the value of placing of
placing Milton's poetry into that biblical framework".
DOWNLOAD
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