Question

When I consider how my light is spent 

Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,

In these lines of verse from Sonnet XIX by John Milton, how does the speaker’s way of identifying this point in his life emphasize the despair he feels?

Answer 1

In the lines of verse from Sonnet XIX by John Milton, the speaker emphasizes the fact that, his light is spent, meaning that he has given up. He also describes the world as "dark and wide", hinting that he is feeling some despair. I don't know if I answered the question or not so I hope this helps

Answer 2

The poem emphasizes the desperation that the author felt for having been blind for half of his life and for this reason, he feels that his life is meaningless.

Step-by-step explanation:

This sonnet deals with the loss of vision that the poet suffered, a pitiful fact for those who have poetry as art, a circumstance that made him practically dependent on a third party, who collected his words.

In this poem he uses the word "light" as a metaphor for vision, so when the author speaks "When I consider how my light is spent" he is speaking of his worn out vision and this left the rest of his days a world dark and wide.