Question

Read the passage.

When I consider how my light is spent
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day labor, light denied?”
In Sonnet XIX by John Milton, the speaker feels that upon losing his eyesight, his talent has been rendered useless. Why does blindness have this effect on his talent?


A)The speaker feels that he won’t be able to see the results of his endeavors.
B)The speaker feels no one will want to read work written by a blind man.
C)The speaker feels that without sight, he will not be able to write, study his work,
or read other material.
D)The speaker feels that without sight, money is worthless.

Answer 1

This passage is about the speaker feeling that upon losing his sight, he has lost his purpose, his talent, which it's writing and to serve God. His blindness has this effect on his talent because C)The speaker feels that without sight, he will not be able to write, study his work, or read other material. The lines that best exemplify this are the following:

And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent

Answer 2

The best answer for this question would be:

C) The speaker feels that without sight, he will not be able to write, study his work, or read other material

This is the answer because the man feels that the talent given to him was to only serve God, with his recent blindness he can’t dutifully do his writing.