John Milton On Time Summary

of their humanity. Furthermore, the references to “dead time” and the “night” foreshadow the great loss that pervades this play (2.3. 99).

The second stanza tells about a “glorious lamp of heaven”, the sun, running a race from sunup to sundown (Herrick 385). In the third stanza it talks about when people are youthful they think they have all the time to accomplish their goals but “times still succeed the former”, which simply means time

“At Mornington” is about the acceptance of death and the transient nature of life. The poem conveys the richness and complexity of life ranging from naïve confidence of the child to the mature wisdom of the woman who gains fulfilment from a moment of shared friendship and can look calmly into the future. The poem is littered with biblical references and other literary techniques to outline this idea of a constant time and its effect and the change this has on a person’s identity and their reassessment. These concepts are further expanded upon in the first stanza and is utilised in

The temporal setting “oppress the character with the shape of a pendulum” (3) He fears its deadly velocity which represents his final hours of life. He feels terror of the doom that will “cut” his time on earth. As everyone knows, this symbolizes that death is inevitable.

In the beginning of the poem we see the line “Time that is moved by little fidget wheels” conveying the meaning he was taken before his time. This refers to the chronological and systematic time of humanity in which is measured by minutes and hours, shown on clocks that are symbolised by bells. This concept of time is far more powerful with the use of personification as emphasised by the capitalisation.

Finally both authors’ stories are rife with symbolism, specifically dealing with the inevitability of time and age. In “The Pit and the Pendulum” the abyss in the center of the dungeon and the swinging, bladed pendulum represent time. The blade gets closer and closer to the helpless victim and even when he is successful in escaping the pendulum, there is another torture in store. The torture – time- is “most unrelenting.” (9) He cannot avoid his impending death.

The statue is an extremely lifelike rendering of a human, with carefully carved clothing, a face full of expression, and even glasses. Somehow, “Father Time” is still, by the denotative understanding, not alive. Also, since he is a statue, by nature, “Father Time” should be immobile, but as is noticeable, he does move. These paradoxes are paralleled in the poem, “Time Is”, because it is obvious that a single person can experience more than one of the given emotions at once. For example, a soldier’s spouse, could, simultaneously experience fear, for their husband or wife’s life, and love, toward the same person. In the poem, it is written that time is “Too Swift for those who Fear”, but also “for those who Love, Time is not” (Lines 2, 5, and 6). Now if someone was fearing and loving, according to the poem, they would not experience time. Yet they still are experiencing time, because for them, time is “Too Swift”. In this way, both “Time Is”, and “Father Time” present impossibilities to their

As we can see he answers his own question saying that he doesn’t need to work for God or give him gifts but just believe in him and continue with his day to day and be patience. He also states that he should not worry about satisfying God because he is served by thousands and if he waits kindly they will also serve him. “thousands at His bidding” and “They also serve who only stand and wait” (1050).

Thomas's poem denounces quiet submission to the inevitable from its first line "Do not go gentle into that good night" (1) while Milton presents this acceptance as the only proper way to live. Although Milton begins his poem by questioning God's actions in his life, these questions are resolved through an imagined conversation with the personification of Patience who says "Who best/ Bear his mild yoke, they serve Him best" (10-11) and "They also serve who only stand and wait" (14). Milton's poem contradicts Thomas's by suggesting that to "go gentle into that good night" (1) is not only acceptable but also the proper way for humans to act.

BibliographyMilton, John. The Complete Poetry of John Milton. New York; Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. , 1971.

Select a novel, play, or epic in which a character experiences such a rift and becomes cut off from “home,” whether that home is the character’s birthplace, family, homeland, or other special place. Then write an essay in which you analyze how the character’s experience with exile is both alienating and enriching, and how this experience illuminates the meaning of the work as a whole. You may choose a work from the list below or one of comparable literary merit. Do not merely summarize the plot. (2010 AP Literature and Composition)

The next section runs from lines 21 to 32, here the speaker moves away from the hypothetical to reality but retains the melodramatic language used in the previous section to sustain the tenacity of his points. Time here is portrayed as chasing the speaker as opposed to being something the speaker is in control of as in the end of the last section. This is done using the image of a ‘winged chariot’ (l.22), this has classical associations with Greek mythology which relates to his form of argument. The meter of the poem is restrictively regular, this structure emphasises the idea that time is constantly progressing; reflecting the speaker’s argument.

The speaker is preparing to die. The crowd is now ready to experience the grandeur the speaker thought would accompany death, but suddenly, a fly intervenes. This is a lead in to the next stanza, in which the fly interrupts the event the speaker is waiting for at the moment of their death. The speaker has almost ceremonially prepared for death. It seems as though nothing will go wrong and they will see the big even they have been waiting for, and suddenly a fly appears, spoiling the moment they hoped would come.

Paradise Lost is a story of Genesis told as it normally would be, but with a protagonist focus on Satan. The story is told largely with Satan being favorably portrayed and God having little presence other than cursing things, which convinces the audience that Satan’s view of God as a tyrant may not be too far off. Still, Satan is portrayed as the villain of the story. However, he has characteristics of a classical hero; including flaws that make the audience relate to and feel sympathy for him. By using part of the black-and-white Genesis story which paints Satan as evil and juxtaposing a narrative which paints Satan as a sympathetic hero, Milton raises a question about morality that largely define the audience’s reaction to the story:

John Milton's poems, "How Soon Hath Time" and "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent" both focus on life and how the time we are given is or should be spent. Milton uses the word "How" in both the titles and I cant help but wonder "Is there something to examine there?" How by itself is a question of is it possible, and if so then what needs to be done to make it possible. It, in this case is time: Is time possible or better yet, is it possible to stop time? If so then how will it be accomplished? What needs to happen to cause time to stop? Milton uses the speaker in this poem to explain a way of looking at time and how quickly time really does fly by. In these two poems the speakers refer to