Christian Ammerman
Dr. Boynton
ENGL310 – Nature of Poetry
20 February 2018
Just On Time
Originating in Italy in the 13th century, sonnets are a shortened and intense poetic form, which are composed of 14 lines, with 10 syllables in each consequent line. Sonnets have evolved over time, yet their functionality remains the same. John Milton, renowned writer and poet, incorporated his religious beliefs into many of his works, in which he utilized his skills as a poet. Almost 400 years ago, Milton embarked on a journey of education, which started his writing for Sonnet 7: “How Soon Hath Time, the Subtle Thief of Youth”, which tells a nearly autobiographical tale of how age affects the human body when compared to the human mind. Considered to be …show more content…
These lines depict that “Time” has changed into a bird, and has flown away with the speaker’s childhood, as he turns 24. The speaker’s reflection upon his past life, shows that he is worried about his emergence into manhood, and how he has not received any reward for his strenuous efforts so far. In these lines, Milton uses imagery when referencing that time is a “subtle thief” of his youth, by comparing time and a common thief, which serves to deliver his message that time is not something that should be taken for granted. When using word choice, Milton uses phrases such as ‘subtle’ to express that time does not abruptly steal your years, but rather creeps upon you. In terms of ambiguity, these lines are seemingly straight-forward, as they can only be interpreted one way. When attempting to re-arrange the sentence structure in these lines, there are a limited amount of possibilities one could transpire, paraphrased as such: ‘Time, the subtle thief of youth, how soon has stolen on his wing my 23rd year,’ which does not correlate to any direct meaning with the remainder of the poem. Milton expresses in these two lines that although he has gone through 23 years of his life, he has been unable to write or produce any
Dr. Boynton
ENGL310 – Nature of Poetry
20 February 2018
Just On Time
Originating in Italy in the 13th century, sonnets are a shortened and intense poetic form, which are composed of 14 lines, with 10 syllables in each consequent line. Sonnets have evolved over time, yet their functionality remains the same. John Milton, renowned writer and poet, incorporated his religious beliefs into many of his works, in which he utilized his skills as a poet. Almost 400 years ago, Milton embarked on a journey of education, which started his writing for Sonnet 7: “How Soon Hath Time, the Subtle Thief of Youth”, which tells a nearly autobiographical tale of how age affects the human body when compared to the human mind. Considered to be …show more content…
These lines depict that “Time” has changed into a bird, and has flown away with the speaker’s childhood, as he turns 24. The speaker’s reflection upon his past life, shows that he is worried about his emergence into manhood, and how he has not received any reward for his strenuous efforts so far. In these lines, Milton uses imagery when referencing that time is a “subtle thief” of his youth, by comparing time and a common thief, which serves to deliver his message that time is not something that should be taken for granted. When using word choice, Milton uses phrases such as ‘subtle’ to express that time does not abruptly steal your years, but rather creeps upon you. In terms of ambiguity, these lines are seemingly straight-forward, as they can only be interpreted one way. When attempting to re-arrange the sentence structure in these lines, there are a limited amount of possibilities one could transpire, paraphrased as such: ‘Time, the subtle thief of youth, how soon has stolen on his wing my 23rd year,’ which does not correlate to any direct meaning with the remainder of the poem. Milton expresses in these two lines that although he has gone through 23 years of his life, he has been unable to write or produce any