On his blindness

The primary theme of the sonnet is the blindness of the poet. He became blind in the third period of his production. In the first line there is a metaphor, Light, that stands for Sight and for Life. Spent has two different meaning: - used up (consumata); - for consonance with Italian is Spenta. The second line remembers the first line of Dante’s Divina Commedia. Here there is a sound device: the alliteration of “D” and “W”. With the phrase “Dark world” the poet expresses the world in which he lives that is full of sins. The contrast between Light and Dark underline the inferiority of the poet because of he can’t see. The word Talent, in the third line has two different meaning: - For consonance with Italian (talento) it means Ablity, Gift; - Literary it means Coin, connected with puritan theory and importance of work. By analyzing this line (3), the poet want to express an important concept, that is everyone receives gift that must be exploited. By referring to the parable of three servants, the poet identify himself in the third one because God asks him why he isn’t exploited the poetic talent he has received...