JOHN MILTON, On his blindness
When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide,
Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve there with my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied,
I fondly ask; But patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts, who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.

The title creates expectations in the reader. The reader wants to know why the theme of blindness is treated and if blindness is a real or figurative blindness.
The title creates an expectation in the reader: to know who is reportedly the pronoun "his".
Poetry is a sonnet because it has fourteen verses. The sonnet has a semicolon in line eight, so the intelligent reader can understand that it is a structure of the Petrarchan sonnet. It is composed of an octave and a sestet and has a rhyme scheme of ABBA, ABBA, CDE,
and CDE.
The language that the speaking voice uses is a complex language. This aspect shows that the speaking voice has been instructed with a latin language.
The function of the two quatrains is to present the problem. The function of the two triplets is to give solutions to the problem.
In the octave the intelligent reader can understand that in the title is the theme of real blindness and that the pronoun "his" is refer to the speaking voice. Indeed in the fist line the speaking voice says that in his early years there was light, but then it disappeared. This shows that the speaking voice has lost his sight during his lifetime.
To describe the condition of blindness, the speaking voice uses the terms dark and wide. In this way he shows how the world is seen by a blind person.
The problem that the speaking voice offers us is a Puritan problem. The problem is to exploit the talent despite blindness.
According to the Puritan philosophy, hide your talent is equal to death.
The soul of the speaking voice wants to offer his talents to God because the speaking voice is afraid that if he does not it, God will chide.
In the text God is called Maker. The word Maker has an initial capital letter, so that the reader can understand that there are talking about God.
The speaking voice has a doubt: Am I blind now because I did my job well in the past?
When the narrator puts the question, he writes the adverb naively. He already knows that doubt is not lawful.
The doubt is immediately solved by patience. Patience, according to the Puritan philosophy, is a virtue. The speech made by the patient occupies the space of the sestet.
God does not need nor the labor of men nor of their gifts. Man must work for himself in order to reach the God's salvation.
The best servant of God is the one that best bears his light yoke.
The State of God is described as Kingly. The king is the richest and most powerful of the earth and is metaphorically linked with the richest and most powerful person in the sky.
The last triplet shows the large number of followers of God, this is explained by the word Thousands and the words Land and Ocean without rest.
The last verse emphasizes what I just said: all serve God, even those who are standing still and waiting.