by: John MIlton

At the end of the discussion, 85% of the students are

expected to:
a. read and interpret the literary piece - "On His
Blindness" by John MIlton
b. reflect on the occurrences of the poem and
correlate the meaning of it to one's life; and
c. make use of the examples presented in the poem to
create own examples of different literary devices
John Milton
He was born on December 9, 1608 in
London, England and came from a
middle-class family.

John Milton is considered to be one of

the greatest English poets of all time.
He came from a middle-class family
and went to school at Christ’s College
Cambridge, where he originally
intended to enter the clergy. After
leaving university, he changed his plan
and spent the next years studying
independently for a career as a poet.

John Milton
Milton worked under Oliver Cromwell to
create pamphlets advocating for
religious freedom, divorce, and press
freedom.

- Secretary for foreign languages.

John Milton
Milton’s eyesight began to fail in 1644
and by 1652, he was totally blind.

This poem was written in 1655 – three

years after Milton became completely
blind.
The poem is an autobiographical
sonnet in which he expresses his
feelings as a blind person.
When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
by: John MIlton
I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, -
before
My true account, lest he returning chide; - To voice
disapproval to something
by: John MIlton
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” - does
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. - burden;
workload
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest: - over
‘On His Blindness’ was first published in 1673.
Milton's speaker is faced with the impossibility of
continuing his works as he had been blind and he
asks and receives an answer to his inner query.
Future
Fear
GOD/Religion
"On His Blindness" by John Milton is a fourteen-line,
traditional Miltonic sonnet. This means that the
fourteen lines follow a rhyme scheme of
ABBAABBACDECDE and conform to iambic
pentameter.

Its is separated into one octave, the first eight lines,

and one sestet, the remaining six lines.
When I consider how my light is spent, A
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide, B
And that one Talent which is death to hide B
Octave Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent A
To serve therewith my Maker, and present A
My true account, lest he returning chide; B
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?” B
I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent A
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need C
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best D
Sestet Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state E
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed C
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest: D
They also serve who only stand and wait.” E
Literary Devices are writing techniques used to create
artistic special effects, that immerse the reader into a
narrative, story, or text.

It enable writers to present their ideas, feelings, and

emotions impressively.
Assonance,
Consonance,
Paradox,
Pun, and
Enjambment.
The first of these, assonance, is the repetition of
vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of
/e/ and /o/ in “The murmur, soon replies: God doth
not need” and the sound of /e/ in “And post o’er land
and ocean without rest.”
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds
in the same line such as the sound of /n/ in “is
kingly; thousands at his bidding speed” and the
sound of /t/ in “And that one talent which is death
to hide.”
Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in
the same line such as the sound of /n/ in “is kingly;
thousands at his bidding speed” and the sound of
/t/ in “And post o’er land and ocean without rest.”
Paradox is a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory
statement but upon closer analysis makes sense.
When an author creates a paradox on purpose,
they’re trying to engage the reader on a deeper
level. Last line “They also serve who only stand and
wait.”
Ex: “I must be cruel to be kind” – Hamlet
My weakness is my strength.
The more you give, the more you get.
Less is more.
Pun is also known as ‘play of words’, it involves
words with similar or identical sounds but with
different meanings. “When I consider how my light is
spent” where light refers to his ‘sight’.
Ex: A bicycle can’t stand on its own because it’s two-tired.
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave
man.”
“The wedding was so emotional that even the cake was
in tiers.”
Enjambment a thought in verse that does not come
at an end at a line break rather it rolls over to the
next.
When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
by: John MIlton
I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
In your activity notebook, write your own
examples for each literary devices: Assonance,
Consonance, Enjambment, Paradox, and Pun.
Two (2) examples per literary device.

- 25 points