The Sonnet

The sonnet may be addressed to any person or thing and is the direct personal expression of the author's feeling. It is like the ode, and also partakes of the general nature of the elegy but it differs from both in the rigidity of the rules of form that govern it. One of the most perfect sonnets is that of Milton,

On bis Own Blindness

When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,

And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more

bent

To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, less he returning, chide; "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?" 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 mild yoke, they serve him best. His state

Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed, And post o'er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait.” What is the meter of the first verse? Of the second? Of the third? Is it the same to the end? How many verses are there? What verses rhyme with the first? What with the second? How many different rhymes are there in the first eight verses? What verse rhymes with the ninth ? With the tenth? With the eleventh? Write out the rhyme scheme and study it till you are familiar with it.

Consider the thought. What is meant by "my light is spent "? “Ere half my days" Milton was about forty-four years of age when he was stricken with blindness and after this time he wrote

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his great epic, Paradise Lost. What is that one talent"? Why would it be useless? Was Milton really bent to serve his Maker" with that one talent? He devoted his life to the composition of the great epic. What does he mean by presenting his "true account"? Of what is it he wishes to give an account? What allusion is there in this reference to the one talent? What was the parable of the talents? Why should he say "returning"?

Whence does he return? Who is "He"? Who asks the question "Doth God exact day-labor"? What is the grammatical relation of "light denied " to the rest of the sentence? Why should he ask "fondly"? To prevent what murmur does Patience reply? To what word does the "his" in the tenth line refer? Whose mild yoke? Who serve him best? What is the meaning of "post"? With what thought does the sonnet begin? Does it contain more than one idea? What part of the sonnet is devoted to the question? What to the

answer?

Read the sonnet through several times noticing the harmony and beauty of thought and expression.

Victor and Vanquished

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

As one who long hath fled with panting breath Before his foe, bleeding and near to fall,

I turn and set my back against the wall, And look thee in the face, triumphant Death. I call for aid, and no one answereth;

I am alone with thee, who conquerest all; Yet me thy threatening form doth not appal, For thou art but a phantom and a wraith; Wounded and weak, sword broken at the

hilt,