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,
Lodg'd with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve there with my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied,
I fondly ask; But patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts, who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best, his State
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.TRADUZIONE:Quando rifletto su come ho speso la mia luce,
Prima della metà dei miei giorni(circa 30-35 anni), in questo mondo buio e ampio,
e che quel talento, che è morte nascondere,
alloggia in me inutile, benché la mia anima sia ben disposta
a servire con esso il mio fattore(Dio), e a presentare
il mio vero rendiconto, per paura che lui, rispondendomi, mi sgridi.
L'esatta fatica giornaliera di Dio, ti ha negato la luce?
Ingenuamente chiedo, ma la pazienza, per prevenire
quelle lamentele, subito replica: "Dio non ha bisogno
né del lavoro dell'uomo né dei suoi doni, chi meglio
sopporta il suo giogo leggero(mite), essi lo servono al meglio, il suo stato
è regale. Migliaia ai suoi ordini corrono
e si affrettano su terra e oceano senza riposo:
lo servono anche quelli che solo restano fermi e aspettano".
Fonte traduzione: Pavi92
https://myenglish.blogfree.net/LA PARABOLA DEI TALENTI:
La parabola parla di un uomo che parte per un viaggio ed affida i suoi beni ai suoi servi. Ad un servo affida cinque talenti, ad un secondo due talenti e ad un terzo un talento. I primi due, sfruttando la somma ricevuta, riescono a raddoppiarne l'importo; il terzo invece va a nascondere il talento ricevuto.
Quando il padrone ritorna apprezza l'operato dei primi due servi; invece condanna il comportamento dell'ultimo.
THE PARABLE OF THE TALENTS: A servant had 5 talents, another servant had 2 talents, another one had only one talent. The Lord travelled and when he comes back he could see that the person who had only one talent hid it. The others made them bear fruit(they invested them) and Lord was very happy and he found himself richer.
SONNET- ON HIS BLINDNESS
When he thought about he had spent the moment in which he could see(1st line), he became blind when he was less than 40. In the 2nd line there is a reference to Inferno’s Dante, the “selva oscura”, that represents the obstacles of life and the sin. He called “dark” because it is difficult to see, everything became very complicated because life is hard, difficult. In the 3rd line he wrote that he was getting blind, he was losing the talent of writing and of poetry. He feels miserable, he had no longer his sight. He had fear that he didn’t do all that he could when he had his sight. Man has to work to show that they deserve the Grace of God. He support negatives aspects(obstacles) of life and Catholics pray God. The primary theme of the sonnet is the blindness of the poet. In the first line there is a metaphor, LIGHT, that stands for SIGHT and for LIFE. The second line remembers the first line of Dante’s Divina Commedia. Here there is a sound device: the alliteration of “D” and “W”. With the phrase “DARK WORLD” the poet expresses the world in which he lives that is full of sins. The contrast between LIGHT and DARK underlines the inferiority of the poet because (of?) he can’t see. The word TALENT, in the third line has two different meaning:
- It means ABILITY, GIFT;
- Literary it means COIN, connected with puritan theory and importance of work.
By analyzing this line (3), the poet wants to express an important concept, that is everyone receives gift that must be exploited. By referring to the parable of three servants, the poet identify himself in the third one because God asks him why he isn’t exploited the poetic talent he has received.
The poet answers that even though he is sure to serve God, he doesn’t exploit his talent at best because he can’t see. Day-labour is a metaphor for work. YOKE is a device worn by some animals by which their master can direct them, so it stands for BONDAGE. In this case this word symbolizes the complex relationship between God and Man; in fact for the puritans God is seen as a master of men whose purpose in life is to serve him. If people don’t oppose God’s directions but follows them, their yoke becomes mild and they serve him best, and so got the salvation.
The sonnet is divided into:
- an octave, which theme is the blindness and at the same time there is a sort of complain. The poet also introduces the problem and puts a question. He is blind and he doesn’t accept his blindness. He asks himself how he can serve God with his handicap. God gives him the poetic talent but he can’t use it because he is blind;
- a sestet which theme is the resignation. The poet resolves the problem and offers an answer. There are two different ways to serve God: you can stand and wait as the poet or you can rush like the Angels in the sky.
The rhyme scheme ABBAABBA / CDECDE and it marks the subdivision of the poem. The stress pattern is a iambic pentameter. The poet is like the parable which says that you must use the talent whenever is possible and if you haven’t the capability you can rush as celestial creature. Metrically, the rhyming scheme is ABBA divided into 2 quatrains and 2 triplet broken down by the use of enjambement.
Fonte: Pavi92
https://myenglish.blogfree.net/Edited by Pavi92 - 28/10/2009, 22:00
