Poetry


Notes on John Milton’s ‘When I consider how my light is spent’

Structure

Miltonic sonnet – Italian/Petrarchan sonnet

14 lines, octave and sestet – Problem and solution

ABBAABBA CDECDE

Iambic pentameter

Enjambment – run-on lines

Diction

“Dark” – gloominess

“denied” - he has been hard done by, treated unfairly

“fondly” – loyal

Imagery and figures of speech

Alliteration – “world and wide” – vast

Synecdoche – His soul represents his whole being

Personification – Patience replies

Alliteration – “best bear” – plosive represents the work

Allusion – Parable of the three talents

Mood and Tone

Mood changes throughout, lines 1 – 4 frustration, anxiety

Lines 5 – 8 – Questioning, confused, unsure

Sestet – Accepting, understanding, hopeful

Theme and intention

Religion; Using your talents

Intention – not one way to worship God, Do not give up

I felt a funeral in my brain

F4 Poetry memo.pdf