For Mike
318. On His Blindness
WHEN I consider how my light is spent
E're half my days, in this dark world and 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 5
My true account, least 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 10
Bear his milde 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 waite.
- John Milton
** note: John Milton was blind when he dictated Paradise Lost.
This is a pretty good source of biographical information if you're interested.
I read Satan as the hero of the story, Adam as a boring jerk, and Eve as the picturesque image of human frailty. Adam can even represent the naive human, incapable of thinking outside what he is told to want and desire. Eve looks at herself in the pool when they meet and admires what she sees -- vanity acts on her. She does not like what she sees when Adam appears.
That's enough of my ranting. For now.
WHEN I consider how my light is spent
E're half my days, in this dark world and 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 5
My true account, least 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 10
Bear his milde 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 waite.
- John Milton
** note: John Milton was blind when he dictated Paradise Lost.
This is a pretty good source of biographical information if you're interested.
I read Satan as the hero of the story, Adam as a boring jerk, and Eve as the picturesque image of human frailty. Adam can even represent the naive human, incapable of thinking outside what he is told to want and desire. Eve looks at herself in the pool when they meet and admires what she sees -- vanity acts on her. She does not like what she sees when Adam appears.
That's enough of my ranting. For now.