{"id":1040,"date":"2018-02-12T15:54:33","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T15:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottishmedicalhumanities.org\/human\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2026-04-17T18:28:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T17:28:38","slug":"seeing-in-a-different-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scottishmedicalhumanities.org\/human\/seeing-in-a-different-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing in a different light"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n

When I Consider How My Light Is Spent<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I consider how my light is spent,
\nE’re half my days, in this dark world and wide,
\nAnd that one Talent which is death to hide,
\nLodg’d with me useless, though my Soul more bent
\nTo serve therewith my Maker, and present
\nMy true account, least he returning chide;
\n“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
\nI fondly ask; But patience to prevent
\nThat murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
\nEither man’s work or his own gifts; who best
\nBear his milde yoak, they serve him best. His State
\nIs Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
\nAnd post o’re Land and Ocean without rest:
\nThey also serve who only stand and wait.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Poem written by John Milton (1673).<\/p>\n

Commentary<\/h3>\n

When I consider how my light is spent <\/em>is a sonnet written by John Milton that is sometimes given the title On his blindness<\/em>. The poem has features of a classic sonnet – it has 14 lines and it builds up an argument that changes halfway through the poem after a break (when he questions “Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”). In the first half, he is slightly bitter about God depriving him of his sight and the worthless feeling he experiences when he is not able to serve his ‘Maker’ as he wishes to. Towards the end of the sonnet, he becomes more patient, learns to see ‘things in a different light’ and accepts his blindness. “They also serve who only stand and wait”.<\/span><\/p>\n

John Milton (1608-1674) was an English poet, still regarded as one of the greatest English writers. He wrote poems by dictating to his amanuenses*<\/em> after he lost his sight (the cause of which remains unknown, but plausibly untreated glaucoma or bilateral retinal detachment). He was born at a time when several movements and wars were brewing. He must have seen life through a unique pair of lens and legend has it that he got a chance to meet Galileo Galilei. At St Paul’s School he must have been well aware of John Donne<\/a>, the eminent metaphysical poet whose sermons attracted huge crowds as Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral from 1621 – 1631.<\/p>\n

*amanuenses –\u00a0<\/em>a literary or artistic assistant, in particular one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts.<\/span><\/p>\n

More info<\/h3>\n