NCERT Book Class 12 English (kaleidoscope) Poetry 2 Poems by Milton

94/KALEIDOSCOPE

2
Poems by Milton
John Milton began writing poetry at the age of
ten. After finishing his formal education at
Cambridge, he read almost everything available
in Latin, Greek, Italian and English. He was
appointed Latin Secretary where he worked
so hard that eyestrain, from years of late night
reading, caused him to become totally blind at
the age of forty- five. In the final years of his
life he wrote (through dictation) Paradise Lost John Milton
and Paradise Regained. 1608-1674

I
On Time
Fly envious Time, till thou run out thy race,
Call on the lazy leaden-stepping hours,
Whose speed is but the heavy Plummets pace;
And glut thy self with what thy womb devours,
Which is no more than what is false and vain,
And merely mortal dross;
So little is our loss,
So little is thy gain.
For when as each thing bad thou hast entomb’d,
And last of all, thy greedy self consum’d,
Then long Eternity shall greet our bliss
With an individual kiss;
And Joy shall overtake us as a flood,
When every thing that is sincerely good
And perfectly divine,
With Truth, and Peace, and Love shall ever shine