On_His_Blindness.ppt

onhisblindness byjohnmilton 1608 1674 background johnmilton seyesightbegantofailin1651 by1652 hewastotallyblind itisbecausehewastootiredwhenhewroteadefenseoftheenglishpeople oddly hewrotehisgreatestworks paradiselostandparadiseregainedafterhebecameblind manyscholarsrankmiltonassecondonlytoshakespeareinpoeticability typeofworkandyearwritten onhisblindness isapetrarchansonnet alyricpoemwithfourteenlines thistypeofsonnet popularizedbytheitalianpriestpetrarch 1304 1374 hasarhymeschemeofabba abba cde andcde johnmiltonwrotethepoemin1655 content awheniconsiderhowmylightisspent1berehalfmydays2inthisdarkworldandwidebandthatonetalent3whichisdeathtohidealodgedwithmeuseless 4thoughmysoulmorebentatoservetherewith5mymaker andpresentbmytrueaccount 6lesthereturningchide b dothgodexact7daylabor lightdenied aifondly8ask butpatience 9toprevent content cthatmurmur soonreplies goddothnotneeddeitherman sworkorhisowngifts 10whobestebearhismildyoke 11theyservehimbest hisstateciskingly thousandsathisbiddingspeed dandpost12o erlandandoceanwithoutrest etheyalsoservewhoonlystandandwait 13 哀失明 想到了在这茫茫黑暗的世界里 还未到半生这两眼就已失明 想到了我这个泰伦特 要是埋起来 会招致死亡 却放在我手里无用 虽然我一心想用它服务造物主 免得报账时 得不到他的宽容 想到这里 我就愚蠢地自问 神不给我光明 还要我做日工 哀失明 但 忍耐 看我在抱怨 立刻止住我 神并不要你工作 或还他礼物 谁最能服从他 谁就是忠于职守 他君临万方 只要他一声吩咐 万千个天使就赶忙在海陆奔驰 但侍立左右的 也还是为他服务 殷宝书译 以上注释出自胡家峦编著的 英国名诗详注 source meter allthelinesinthepoemareiniambicpentameter inthismetricpattern alinehasfivepairsofunstressedandstressedsyllables foratotaloftensyllables thefirsttwolinesofthepoemillustratethispattern 1 2 3 4 5wheni consid erhow mylife isspent1 2 3 4 4erehalf mydays inthis darkworld andwide explanation 1 lightisspent thisclausepresentsadoublemeaning a howispendmydays b howitisthatmysightisusedup 2 erehalfmydays beforehalfmylifeisover miltonwascompletelyblindby1652 theyearheturned44 3 talent seeline3 keytothemeaning 4 useless unused 5 therewith bythatmeans bythattalent withit6 account recordofaccomplishment worth explanation 7 exact demand require8 fondly foolishly unwisely9 patience miltonpersonifiespatience capitalizingitandhavingitspeak 10 god gifts godissufficienttohimself herequiresnothingoutsideofhimselftoexistandbehappy 11 yoke burden workload 12 post travel lines3 6 keytothemeaning lines3to6ofthepoemalludetothe parableofthetalents inchapter25ofthegospelofmatthew verses14to30 inthisfamousparable anemployerwhoisgoingawayforatimegiveshisthreeservantsmoneyinproportiontotheirabilitytoincreaseitsvalue hedistributesthemoneyintalents aunitofweightusedinancienttimestoestablishthevalueofgold silver oranyothermediumusedasmoney lines3 6 keytothemeaning inthe parableofthetalents theemployergivesthefirstservantfivetalentsofsilver thesecondservanttwotalents andthethirdservantonetalent aftertheemployerreturnsfromthetripandasksforanaccounting thefirstservantreportsthathedoubledhistalentstotenandthesecondthathedoubledhistofour bothmenreceivepromotions thethirdservantthenreportsthathestillhasonlyonetalent forhedidnothingtoincreaseitsvalue instead heburiedit theemployerdenounceshimforhislaziness giveshistalenttothemanwithten andcastshimoutsideintothedarkness theme godjudgeshumansonwhethertheylaborforhimtothebestoftheirability forexample ifonecarpentercanmakeonlytwochairsadayandanothercarpentercanmakefive theybothservegodequallywellifthefirstcarpentermakeshistwochairsandthesecondmakeshisfive ifonecarpenterbecomesseverelydisabledandcannotmakeevenasinglechair heremainsworthyinthesightofgod for asmiltonsaysinthelastlineofthepoem theyalsoservewhoonlystandandwait conclusion thefirsteightlinesofthispoemdescribethepoet smeditationaloneinthedark thelastsixlinesshowthevastbrightandinfinitespace opentherealmofthenarrow changetheconceptofpainintoacalmtone afterexperiencedapainfulreflectionandinnerstruggle themoreopen minded faithmorefirmly fromthispoem therewillbemor