On His Blindness – John Milton

On His Blindness (Sonnet XIX) is a petrarchan sonnet virtually how Milton comes to impairment with his expiry of sight. The sonnet duologue to the highest degree how he looks for help with his sightlessness in religion, Milton was a devout Puritan. This soakedly influenced Miltons thinking, his family were often involved in many political and religious controversies. A lot of Miltons writing was influenced by the Bible and Greek writers such as Homer. Milton follows the typical Petrarchan sonnet form of fourteen lines all in one stanza.This stanza is internally split into an octet (eight lines) this usually asks a question, here it is Milton complains about his blindness and how he thinks its unfair for it to happen to him. The sestet (six lines) answers the question asked in the octet, here Milton talks about how patience is a virtue. In the sestet there is a quote from the Parable of Talents, this emphasises Miltons strong religious beliefs. It has an Iambic pentameter, f ive stressed then unstressed syllables.Milton physical exercises the contrast of light and shadowy to take care his affliction My light is spent this implies that his time with sight had run out. Alliteration is used darkening world and wide this emphasises Miltons struggle to come to name with his blindness. This contrast helps give an understanding of his blindness. in that location is a strong link to the Parable of Talents Milton uses the Parable to guide him and give him encouragement to come to terms with his blindness. The extended metaphor on lines three to five which implies that being blind is something that Milton is ashamed of and doesnt need others to know.Milton writes in the past tense which implies that hes moved on from his issues and he has comes to terms with his blindness. The use of pre-modifiers fondly ask to emphasis his problem. Compound sentences show how deep and complex his argument about his blindness is. Enjambment shows that his thoughts on his i ssue are continuous and that he doesnt stop thinking about it. However caesuras are used which implies that he swaps from one thought to another quickly. Miltons rhyming var. of ABBAABBACDECDE follows the typical Petrarchan sonnet form.The earreach for this poem would typically have been a society which was God-fearing. At this time the church and religion was very influential and everyone had to attend church services. Therefore Miltons audience was universal as everyone would seek approval from God as the most people had a strong belief in heaven and hell and would want God to look down on them positively to send them to heaven. In conclusion Milton used imagery such as metaphors and connotations to help us understand what hes going through and the struggle hes facing coming to terms with his blindness.