On Time
By John Milton
Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more then what is false and vain,
And meerly mortal dross;
So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.
For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb’d,
And last of all, thy greedy self consum’d,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;
And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When every thing that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine,
With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine
About the supreme Throne
Of him, t’whose happy-making sight alone,
When once our heav’nly-guided soul shall clime,
Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,
Attir’d with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time.
Summary of On Time
- Popularity of “On Time”: A sonnet “On Time” by John Milton, perhaps appeared between 1631 to 1633 when Milton was quite young. He wrote several other such poems during this timeframe such as “How Sooth Hath Time,” which is also a sonnet like this one. Therefore, this is not the first Miltonian sonnet dealing with the concept of time. Its uniqueness, however, lies in that it deals with time in a different way. Milton’s approach, contrary to the mundane concept of time, is rather theological.
- “On Time” As a Representative of Time: Opening the poem, Milton personifies time, saying he is envious and that he is able to fly or run away, while the hours are quite lazy as compared to the general concept of time that he personifies. He, then, goes on to say that the time should throw away what is considered dross or rubbish, which means that humanity will not feel any loss or any gain or profit from this. Interestingly, in the next few verses, he calls time not only greedy but also having hoarded many things equalling the phrase with “what time hath in store.” Following this, there is eternity presented as a personification which is also a blissful state for human beings. This is a theological concept of time that it brings everything before the supreme Throne of God where there will be truth, love, and peace. When the soul of a person visits that place, it leaves everything worldly here and the entire humanity shall feel victorious against time, chance and death. This holiness of the occasion will itself make time irrelevant.
- Major Themes in “On Time”: Mundane time, eternity, and religious sense of eternity are three major themes of the poem. Milton presents time having all the features of an individual persona with strange mannerisms. However, he advises Time to throw away what is excessive and accept what is acceptable with the suggestion that it would not cause any harm, loss, or profit to any stakeholder. Following this, he advises time that when it would enter Eternity, it would be a blissful period for humanity saying that all would be equal before the Supreme Au9thority and that this religious sacredness would cause man’s soul to triumph such things such as Time, Chance and Death.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “On Time”
literary devices are literary tools essential for poetic or prose writing to make the text beautiful and worth reading. The analysis of these devices in the poem as given below shows this fact.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line such as the sound of /o/ in “Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race”, /a/ in “Which is no more than what is false and vain” and the sound of /e/ in “For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb’d.”
- Alliteration: It is the use of successive consonant sounds in the initials of the successive words such as /p/ in “Plummets pace”, /w/ in “with what”, and /m/ in “meerly mortal.”
- Anaphora: The poem shows the use of anaphora as the repetition of “So little is…” in the seventh and eighth verse of the first part.
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /f/ in “Fly envious Time, till thoug run out thy race”, /s/ and /p/ in “Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace,” and the sound of /l/ and /s/ in “So little is our loss.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
And last of all, thy greedy self consum’d,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. The poem shows the use of imagery such as “Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;”, “With an individual kiss” and “Then all this Earthy grossness quit.”
- Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between the objects that are different. The poem shows the use of metaphor of Time, Death, Chance and Eternity.
- Personification: The poet has personified several abstract ideas such as Time, Hour, Love, Truth, Peace and even Death as having life and emotions of their own.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows the use of the symbols of death and time to demonstrate his theological leanings.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “On Time”
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is the analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows an ababcdd rhyme scheme that lasts until the end.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There two stanzas or parts in this poem. The first one has eight lines and second has 14 lines.
Quotes to be Used
These lines from “On Time” are relevant to use when teaching the time in a religious sense.
When once our heav’nly-guided soul shall clime,
Then all this Earthy grosnes quit,
Attir’d with Stars, we shall for ever sit,
Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time
