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What is a summary of "On His Blindness" by Milton?

The title of John Milton’s poem “On His Blindness” is first found in a 1761 edition of Milton's poetry. The poem was originally published in Milton's 1673 Poems, and was identified by a number and its first line or incipit, "When I consider how my light is spent." 


The poem is written in the form of an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet. It consists of fourteen lines divided into an octave rhymed ABBAABBA and a sestet rhymed ABCABC. The meter of the poem is iambic pentameter.


The poem is autobiographical and written in the first person. The octave describes how blindness overtook a middle-aged Milton. A deeply religious writer, he felt his writing was part of his service to God and feels his blindness deprives him of the ability to serve God effectively. In some ways, he thinks God made him go blind as a rejection of him and his work. 


Milton finds resolution in his sestet finds through the notion that God does not need humans to do his work for him; rather, God only asks that people serve Him by their faith.

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