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Sonnet 7: how Soon Hath Time
by John Milton
How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stol’n on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!
My hasting days fly on with full career,
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th.
Perhaps my semblance might deceive the truth
That I to manhood am arriv’d so near;
And inward ripeness doth much less appear,
That some more timely-happy spirits endu’th.
Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,
It shall be still in strictest measure ev’n
To that same lot, however mean or high,
Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heav’n:
All is, if I have grace to use it so
As ever in my great Task-Master’s eye.
_______________________________
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet, polemicist, and civil servant. His 1667 epic poem Paradise Lost, written in blank verse and including twelve books, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political upheaval.
By 1652, Milton had become totally blind; the cause of his blindness is debated but bilateral retinal detachment or glaucoma are most likely. He wrote Paradise Lost via dictation, while blind.
To some extent, this poem is autobiographical. We do not know, though, whether the onset of his eventual full blindness spurred the piece, or whether it was from another cause that he laments the loss of youth.
How Soon Hath Time is a sonnet in the Petrarchan form, in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDEDCE. You might be inclined to argue that Milton took some liberties with crafting abbreviations of words to fit the rhyme and meter. Of course, I did not grow up in 17th century England. Maybe “shew’th” and “endu’th” made perfect sense in the time that it was written.
The poem begins with the Speaker bemoaning that his life is passing by too quickly. Time is personified and blamed for the loss. In the next two lines (3-4) Milton complains that the creativity of his youth is no longer present. It’s worth mentioning that Milton was extremely accomplished by a young age. His family’s affluence allowed for hi to have a private tutor as a child. Prior to his 23rd birthday, Milton could read and write in Latin, Greek, Italian, and other languages. He read both ancient and modern works of theology, philosophy, history, politics, literature, and science in preparation for a prospective poetical career. So you might wonder if he was being immodest or sincere here in lines 3-4.
Lines 5 through 8 are concerning Milton’s lack of a masculine physique. His nickname at school was “the Lady of Christ’s College.” He is showing concern here over whether his inward ripeness into manhood is as delayed as his outward appearance shows. Despite having accomplished much in fact, he seems to doubt it.
Line 9 is the turn / volta of the sonnet. He shifts from bemoaning his problems to taking comfort in the fact that he will – God willing – do what he can when he can and that God will judge him.
Reading between the lines, Milton was incredibly driven but also insecure. Perhaps his physique drove him to feel as though he needed to do more, in order to prove himself. If you’re a man reading this in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, and don’t feel this same drive to work, take heart. Perhaps the reason is that you are an attractive manly man whose friends would never call you a lady.
Maybe the world owes some debt of gratitude to Milton’s college friends/bullies. Something drove him to become one of the greatest writers in the English language. Do we get Paradise Lost either way? There’s no way to be certain. He was born intelligent and and his family was wealthy, thus he was well-educated. Perhaps though, struggling and overcoming gave him something to say that was worth hearing.