Question

Questions of the poem 'On his Blindness'
Q1. What does ' they also serve who only stand and wait' mean?
Q2. What are the different literary devices used in the poem?
Q3. What is the sonnet about?
Q4. What does Milton mean by ' Ere half of my days'?

pls pls!!!!!

The Poem:
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
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
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.
​

Answer 1

Answer:

1. The poet reflects that he has a place in God's world despite his disability.

2.There are numerous literary devices that may be found in any given poem, such as meter, rhyme, rhythm, symbolism, imagery, repetition, consonance, assonance, alliteration, enjambment, and so on.

3.The poem takes the form of a Petrarchan sonnet. These traditionally focus on love and romance, but Milton subverts this in order to explore his relationship with God. Milton fears that his blindness will prevent him from doing God's work.

4.The phrase "'ere half my days" means "before half my days [are past]," which would mean that he had "spent" his "light"--his ability to see--before he was half as old as he was when he wrote the poem. He was, at the oldest, 47 when he wrote the sonnet, meaning that he'd lost most of his sight by the time he was 23