Analysis of the poem How Soon Hath Time

John Milton’s infamous literary classic, How Soon Hath Time has been analyzed from various
aspects, reflecting on his mood, conflicts with beliefs, and personal shortcomings and most of all,
expediency of time.
How Soon Hath Time is one of the most intriguing and poignant classic poems. The basic
premises are time and its cavalier indifference to individualistic attitude irrespective altogether.
The poem starts on a tragic note with John looking in retrospect at his years gone-by, with his
accomplishments running thin as opposed to years usurped. His belief in god remains shaky

Stanza 1:
John Milton was a staunchly religious person, considering himself a missionary to god’s noble
cause. Awaiting divine intervention is evident in his first lines of How Soon Hath Time where he
laments, ‘How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth’, as well as in another sonnet released
after his subsequent blindness, ‘When I consider how my light is spent’. He awaits divine
inspiration in his poetic publications. As the poem starts in a lamentable tone, he begins with
‘How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth’. He feels betrayed by the speed at which youth
and time have left him with years past, not recording an achievement of substantial value.
Career-wise and artistically, he has yet to produce his masterpiece and make a stamp on history.

Stanza 2:
He accomplished more than his contemporaries and future critics having command on many
different languages and studying poetry linguistics shows his apparent humility and
measurement criteria. Only a handful of writers have published life-long classics at an early age
including John Keats while most others published their epic works in the later years.
In his lyrical poem Lycidas, he touches upon this aspect. Briefly touching that aspect of his
immaturity, ‘before the mellowing year’, he deems himself in competent and lacking in poetic
prowess even at a ripe age of 29 years. With his self-established high aesthetic standards, he
ardently aspires to attain them within his lifetime.

Stanza 3:
This is a direct linkage to his collegiate years where his feeble physical structure was deemed as
girlish and feminine, resulting him earning the title of, ‘The Lady of Christ’s’. With a feminine
overall outlook, he continues to underestimate himself in comparison to contemporaries having
accomplished much more in his prime age.

Stanza 4:
In conclusion, he ends his tragically-toned lament with having faith in god for assisting him in
his quest for greatness. In another poem, ‘On His Blindness’, he lovingly accepts god’s will in
his divine scheme of things, bestowing his fellow men as he pleases. As he indicates, ‘my great
taskmaster’ has sealed his fate. John Milton’s monotonous tragic sonnet has tones of ambition,
religious bent and a maestro in making with his magnum opus Paradise Lost released afterwards.

Stanza 5:
This is a direct indication Jesus’s parable for God’s reward for all those reporting for duty on
time and slightly late on time. God being all the knowing and kind, views hos people as equals.
It’s also an indirect attack on god’s double standards ever so delicately.

Stanza 6:
John Milton mentions this discrepancy in his concluding lines, with certain delicacy, ‘If I have
grace to use it so’. He creates some ambiguity regarding his poetic grace. The grace could be
within him or god-gifted. Using the word ‘have’, he’s conflicted on whether his poetic talents are
at his own command or god’s will. This shows slightly negativistic attribution in his poem is
later found in Paradise Lost poem, where Eve’s epithet for god is ‘Our Great Forbidder’. It
shows veiled criticism to god’s so-called willpower and judgment traits. Milton was an ardent
advocate of this ideology in his lifetime. Young Milton was conflicted of god’s role in life and its
consequent play with freedom and freewill, obedience and justice, flowing freely in Milton’s
published works.