HOW SOON TIME HATH BY MILTON
‘How Soon Time Hath' is a well-known sonnet
by John Milton. John Milton was a profound scholar. When this poet was
twenty-three years old, he composed the present poem. In fact, it is an
autobiographical poem. It throws light on the poet's early life.
'How Soon Time Hath' begins with the
personification of 'Time'. This early part of the poem reflects the poet's mood
of despair. The poet feels that time is passing fast. Twenty-three years of his
short life have passed without any great achievement. This feeling makes the
poet sad. It is the pessimistic attitude. He laments his own inability. The
lack of the mental and inward ripeness is the root cause of poet's grief.
When John Milton was eighteen years old, his
first poem was published. In a little span of time he composed many beautiful
poems. They anticipate a great future but they do not show the inward ripeness.
The poet has gained physical maturity but he has not gained mental maturity. It
makes the poet sad.
The concluding part of the poem is full of
optimistic tone. The poem begins with doubt. The poet laments his inability.
But it ends with faith and optimism. The mood of regret is over. The poet
thinks that the time has stolen twenty-three years from him but not in vein. He
believes in God. Thus it will offer him ripeness.
In the present poem Milton has used Petrarchan form of the
sonnet. It is divided into two parts -- Octave and sestette. The rhyme scheme
is abba, abba, cde, dce. In short, 'How Soon Time Hath' expresses two different
moods of the poet. In the beginning it shows the mood of despondency and at the
end the mood of a firm resolution.
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