On Time by John Milton

 

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 plummet's pace;

And glut thyself with what thy womb devours,

Which is no more than what is false and vain,

And merely mortal dross;

So little is our loss,

So little is thy gain.

For when as each thing bad thou hast intombed,

And last of all thy greedy self consumed,

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 climb,

Then, all this earthly grossness quit,

Attired with stars, we shall for ever sit,

Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee, O Time.

  (The poet seems to defy the supremacy of time. Due to his firm belief in the god and devotion the poet feels time cannot harm his physical being. )

 

(1)   “And merely mortal dross” what do you understand by ‘mortal dross’?

Answer: ‘Mortal dross’ means the mundane activities in which human beings waste their lives. Emotions like hate, greed, selfishness, lust, envy etc. lead a human being to his/her destruction.

(2)   “With an individual kiss:

And joy shall overtake us as a flood”

What does individual kiss mean here?

Answer: Due to our righteous actions we will be able to escape the ravages of time. We all will be kissed individually by eternity. Thus we will be blessed for our devotion to the God as well as noble karmas.

(3)   “Then long eternity shall greet our bliss” how will long eternity greet our bliss?

Answer: We all are given an individual kiss for our righteous actions. We are blessed and made free from all the temptations and vices. We feel immense joy as our souls are liberated and thus we become an integral part of the divine.

(4)   What is meant by ‘Earthy grossness’?

Answer: By ‘earthy grossness’ the poet means to say that we human beings are absorbed in mundane activities of the earth. So we forget the delight of enjoying supreme blessings and suffer a lot.

(5)   “Fly envious time” why does the poet want the envious time to fly?

Answer: Envious time tries to bring human beings under its ravage. The poet defies the supremacy of time and orders it to flee as it has no opportunity to harm him.

(6)   What guides human souls towards divinity?

Answer: The righteous actions and unselfish devotion to the Almighty pave the path to divinity. The person who possesses the virtues of truth, peace and love escapes the ravages of time and his/her soul will be guided towards divinity.

(7)   What is the theme of the poem?

Answer: In the poem ‘On Time’ the poet John Milton deals with the idea that life on the earth is wrought with constant change and decay. The poet emphasises that humans can escape the ravages of time by attaining an eternal life in heaven by leading a pious life.

(8)   “About the supreme throne of him” which supreme throne does the poet talk about?

Answer: Obviously the supreme throne is the heavenly abode of the almighty. The poet John Milton brings forth his religious belief to establish the fact that with truth, peace and love human beings can also attain a place in the heaven.

(9)   What is sincerely good and perfectly divine?

Answer: Righteous actions free from all the vices are sincerely good. The actions include truth, peace and love. These righteous actions pave path for divinity of human beings. A firm belief in the ways of the God further ensures this perfect divinity. It brings immense enjoy an outcome of the blessings of the divine.

(10)“Triumphing over Death, and Chance, and thee O Time!” what does triumph over death, chance and time signify?

Answer: Human beings are prone to suffer the ravages of time. Those who are absorbed in ‘earthy grossness’ cannot escape their doom; it is inevitable. But people who lead a pious life full of righteous karmas secure boundless joy due to the blessings of the divine. If we are sincerely good; we can attain perfect divinity. It will bring salvation for us. Thus we will become untouchable from the cruelty of time. We will triumph Death, Chance and above all Time. Thus we will become immortal, even though our body dies. We will reserve a place for us in the heaven.

(11)   Write critically the central idea of the poem.

Answer: John Milton’s poem ‘On Time’ describes time’s influence on the human beings and the poet’s response to escape its ravages. The poet uses the theme of religion to bring forth the fact that through righteous karmas and firm devotion in the Supreme, we can easily defy time.

The poet uses personification frequently throughout the poem to give time and other abstract objects human like qualities. The poet uses a subtle symbol of ‘lead-weight’ to describe how hours can only be measured by a clock whose pace is determined by the plummet. One obvious way Milton uses personification is by capitalising the word eg. Time, Chance, Truth and Peace.

The rhyme scheme in the poem is ABABCDDCEEFFGGHHIHJJH. Just by looking at the rhyme scheme, it is evident that there is various rhymes throughout the poem. The tone is very strong, it seems as if the poet is talking to time face to face.