So, I really need to stop reading other posts before I write my own because it gives me all of these other ideas I hadn't planned on. Jillian's reminder about The Road caused me to start thinking about what it really means to LIVE LIFE and especially how life is a matter of what we do/make out of what comes our way.
Milton writes beautifully in "When I Consider How My Light is Spent" of the talent given him and insinuates that he is somehow shaming his maker by being unable to continue shining. It is hard not to read the underlying depth of despair Milton feels at not being able to write and create. I only have one objection to his verse and that is the implication that his "light is spent" (line 1). The light that each of us chooses to shine, whether it be a bright glow of day or a grim and murky effusion that reflects off of solar luminescence, has a rippling effect that is impossible to calculate or anticipate. (Hopefully it is the bright and shiny sort of light.)
Milton's light continues to shine today through the words he wrote and the life he shared. Though there has been a literal 'death of the author,' his light continues to shine with each new reading of his creations. I love that each of us can use our talents to continue to 'carry the fire' and use our talents to the benefit of those around us.
Milton's writings also stand as a brave testament that faith doesn't have to conform to social norms in order to be acceptable to God. Milton was considered by many not to be a defender of the faith but to be a destroyer of the right way to worship. He chose to share his talents in a way that satisfied his needs and fostered an understandable relationship to deity. This poem was a refreshing reminder to me that we all have our own fire to carry. Just because we don't all do it in the same way doesn't mean that we aren't making use of our talent. I like to consider that the light we effuse might be similar to the sun in the sense that it may live on long after we have departed.
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Jaree,
ReplyDeleteBoth Jillian and you brought up some memories of the time we spent reading "The Road" with Daniel last semester, good times! "The Road" as you know made me extremely emotional. Last Tuesday you said something about how there has been a lack of getting emotionally invested with the literature this semester, well not to say I haven't enjoyed it, but except for Shakespeare and " Dream of the Rood" I have found that this semester has stimulated me more intellectually than emotionally as well... which is good, balance is the key. But the last few classes I have felt a change in the emotional tide of the literature. I think Milton brings it to the forefront. I loved when you wrote, " Milton's writings also stand as a brave testament that faith doesn't have to conform to social norms in order to be acceptable to God."