Answer:

Sonnet 16” was printed in Poems (1673), but was most likely written at some earlier time, probably during a period in the early 1650s (his blindness became complete in 1652). Milton struggles in this sonnet with frustration at becoming blind and with his own sense of how important it is to use one’s talents well in God’s service. The sonnet records how he comes to understand a higher notion of service: real service is doing the will of God even if it means he must “stand and wait.” Notice as well the use of quiet puns or words that draw on double meanings. The words with double meanings are “spent” (in line 1), “talent” (secondary meaning, coin, line 3), “useless” (secondary meaning, without usury or interest on a debt, line 4), “account” (line 6), and “exact” (line 7). The secondary meanings run in a coherent line of images: all are images of monetary exchange. Milton is a poet who is highly sensitive to the multiple senses available in language and to clusters of imagery of this sort. Another thing to understand about Milton’s sonnets is their topical range. Not a writer of love sonnets in English (although the sonnets he wrote in Italian are love sonnets), Milton writes political sonnets, occasional sonnets, elegiac sonnets, and sonnets of personal meditati like this one..

Answer:

Sonnet 16” was printed in Poems (1673), but was most likely written at some earlier time, probably during a period in the early 1650s (his blindness became complete in 1652). Milton struggles in this sonnet with frustration at becoming blind and with his own sense of how important it is to use one’s talents well in God’s service. The sonnet records how he comes to understand a higher notion of service: real service is doing the will of God even if it means he must “stand and wait.” Notice as well the use of quiet puns or words that draw on double meanings. The words with double meanings are “spent” (in line 1), “talent” (secondary meaning, coin, line 3), “useless” (secondary meaning, without usury or interest on a debt, line 4), “account” (line 6), and “exact” (line 7). The secondary meanings run in a coherent line of images: all are images of monetary exchange. Milton is a poet who is highly sensitive to the multiple senses available in language and to clusters of imagery of this sort. Another thing to understand about Milton’s sonnets is their topical range. Not a writer of love sonnets in English (although the sonnets he wrote in Italian are love sonnets), Milton writes political sonnets, occasional sonnets, elegiac sonnets, and sonnets of personal meditati like this one..

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