How Soon Hath Time - Milton

The first time that I read this sonnet, I wasn't quite sure of the message that Milton conveys. But after much reading and consideration, I have finally come to a coclusion. The speaker in this poem is a 23 year old man who questions life; he wonders why he has not been blessed with the physical attributes of age. He feels as mature as a man, but cannot show the world does not accept him as one because he appears as a child. He is anxious to move to a new plateau and excited for what the future holds. The young man's attitude in this poem parrallels the haste and excitement of the youth that Herrick warns in "To the Virgins...". The theme of time in poetry has always fascinated me. The point of view of the speaker and consequently his/her ultimate message in the poem is dependant on the speakers age -almost always does the message reflect the age of the speaker. I will first introduce Milton's sonnet, then I will explain my conclusion about the message of the poem. How Soon Hath Time - John Milton (1608-1674)

1How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth, 2 Stol'n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year! 3 My hasting days fly on with full career, 4 But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. 5 Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth 6 That I to manhood am arriv'd so near; 7 And inward ripeness doth much less appear, 8 That some more timely-happy spirits endu'th. 9Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow, 10 It shall be still in strictest measure ev'n 11 To that same lot, however mean or high, 12Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav'n: 13 All is, if I have grace to use it so 14 As ever in my great Task-Master's eye. The first couplet tells us that the young man has just celebrated his 24th birthday. The exclamation point shows his excitement with growing older. He calls the present his "wasting

days" in the third line that "fly on with full career". This means that although the present might be wasteful, there is an ultimate goal that is to be reached in the future, called adulthood. In line four, Milton calls the young man's slow physical maturation his "late spring". He points out that he has not grown to be a man because "no bud or blossom shew'th". "Bud", in my oppinion, refers to facial hair and "blossom" to blossoming pecks or muscles. Milton also compares human maturation to the maturation of a fruit when the young man speaks of his "inward ripeness". He is ripe (mature) on the inside but has not shown to be through appearance. Time is spoken of in lines 11 and 12 as if it is inevitable. Most young adults feel as if they are invincible and do not realize their own mortality; they just want to grow up and obtain the experiences and consequently the knowledge that age and maturation bestow. This young man is beyond his years because he realizes that he can wish away time or wish to keep time, but in the end it doesn't really matter because God calls all the shots and time is unobtainable and inevitable. ANOTHER ANALYSIS
John Milton, the Puritan writer of the great biblical epic Paradise Lost, also wrote sonnets; approximately twenty-four of them. He was not a writer of rebellion as many others were, who tried to write like they hadn't studied; his devotion to the old masters of literature was greater than most, having spent six years of his education in a self-devised deliberate study and emulation of poets such as Virgil and Petrarch. This sonnet, or poem, and others are composed in Petrarchian style, and in iambic pentameter, similar to William Shakespeare's sonnets. However, John Milton differs from his contemporaries and his literary idols in choice of topic for poems such as these. While other poets wrote primarily about love or God, John Milton chose more pedantic topics, such as politics, or friendships he enjoyed, or even personal crises. The tension he creates in his poems seldom breaks the confines of form and meter. His emotion and his poetic form remains under control, even as his passion or emotions threaten to break through. Each line has a perfect five beats within. John Milton even cheats a little, shortening some words rather than sacrifice the form of the poem (as in "stol'n", "shew'th", or "endu'th"). He makes his argument that Time, personified with a capital T, is a thief that steals youth away before greatness can be achieved. His potential, which he can feel within him, is not yet reached. He can't see outward signs of this greatness yet, but expresses faith that his future will unfold as God wills it. In the last line, John Milton makes reference to a parable from the Bible (Matthew 20:1-16 KJV) where laborers come to labor in the field. Some come early, and some come late, but both are paid the same wages. When the earlier laborers complain, the taskmaster over the field explains that "the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen." (vs. 16) When considered in the context of the poem, it becomes a comparison that gives us an idea of the extraordinary faith in the face of youthful uncertainty that John Milton felt in God and in the mission he felt compelled to perform. There is no sense of hurry or panic at the loss of time beyond the middle of the poem, but a confident declaration of faith that the Lord would grant him all he needed to accomplish the greatness that he felt, but could not see. The structure of the poem is interesting, when we consider that each stanza of four lines makes up an entire sentence that perfectly fits the iambic pentameter of the poem, yet still produces a cohesive

thought. The second stanza of four lines is the same. The strength of the biblical imagery at the end puts a base of strength underneath the lighter, more airy symbolism of spring in the beginning. The tension between the body and the spirit becomes more apparent, with the spirit winning dominion; a dominion of faith over fear of loss or age. John Milton, who declared at age 30 that he would produce a great English epic, and followed through thirty years later with Paradise Lost, shows that same strong sense of self and certainty in this poem. John Milton wrote Sonnet #7 (How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth) on the occasion of his 23rd birthday. He was in process of completing his Master of Arts degree and was contemplating his future career. One possibility was to become an Anglican priest. Another was to continue his work in poetry. In light of all this, he reflects on how quickly the last year has gone. Notice the pun on the word career in line 3, which can mean a swift course as well as ones profession or occupation in life. Milton aspired to be a great poet but was not satisfied with what he had written so far (my late spring no bud or blossom showth in line 4). However, even though his literary output was not what he wanted, he was confident that an inner maturing was taking place which would bear fruit in its proper time (lines 7-8). The final six lines of the poem show Miltons determination to continue his work. He knows that God is the one who ultimately directs his steps, allots him his tasks, and determines the timing. Whether God has high or low (mean in line 11) tasks planned for him, nothing is wasted. The next year Milton embarked on a six year program of self-study in preparation to become a poet.

The heading of this sonnet 'On his being arrived to the age of 23' is not found in either edition of 1645 or 1673. The sonnet has every appearance of having been written on Milton's birthday, 9 December. And taking the usual interpretation of line 2, 'Stolen on his wing,' viz. that the 23d year is passed and gone, the date of composition would be 9 Dec. 1631. The verses were sent to a friend, name unknown, with whom he had had a serious conversation the day before, on the subject of taking orders in the Church of England. The friend had urged, as friends do, that it was time Milton was doing something better than 'study.' Milton's reply is a noble vindication of the life of the intelligence, as opposed to that of action. But Milton does not take his stand on this platform, but defends his delay on the utilitarian ground of a desire to make himself 'more fit' for life. He wrote in the letter in which the sonnet was enclosed: 'Not the endless delight of speculation, but this very consideration of that great commandment, does not press forward as soon as many do, to undergo, but keeps off with a sacred reverence and religious advisement how best to undergo; not taking thought of being late, so it give advantage to be more fit; for those that were latest lost nothing, when the master of vineyard came to give each one his hire . . . . Yet that you may see that I am something suspicious of myself, and do take notice of a certain belatedness in me, I am the bolder to send you some of my nightward thoughts somewhile since, because they come in not altogether unfitly, made up in a Petrarchian stanza, which I told you of.' Then follows the sonnet, 'How soon hath Time,' &c.

l. 1, subtle thief of youth.Imitated by Pope, Sat. 6. 76'The subtle thief of life, this paltry 'time.' l. 2, Stolen on his wing.Pope, Im. of Martial'While time with still career, Wafts on his 'gentle wing his eighteenth year.' l. 5, my semblance.An allusion to his juvenile face and figure. At Cambridge he is said to have been known as 'the lady of Christ's.'... Milton tells us of himself, Defensio Secunda, that when he was forty he was always taken for ten years younger. l. 10, It shall be still in strictest measure even.Nothing in Milton's life is more noteworthy than his deliberate intention to be a great poet, and the preparation he made with that intention from the earliest period. Here we have a solemn record of self-dedication, without specification of the nature of the performance. In 1638, we find, Mansus, 80, the determination formed, that his life work shall be a poem, though more than thirty years were to pass over before the execution of the work.