John Milton at the Age of Twenty-Three
...e our precious time quite wisely. In lines 1-2 Milton expresses a metaphor of time as a bird flying away with his youth (“stol’n on his wing”). In line 3 Milton tells his readers how quickly time passes with his “hasting days” and “full career”. The crisis created by Milton’s awareness of the passing of time is one that can be resolved by his choice of putting his faith and future in God’s hands. In the first eight lines of the poem, Milton worries that time has passed too quickly. His awareness of the importance of time creates a crisis of faith in Milton. He now begins to believe he has wasted his valuable time here on earth. However, perhaps the poet’s talent, which "be it less or more," will be less when he is mature. In lines 7-8 Milton refers to his “inward ripeness”, metaphorically speaking that he is more mature on the inside or has more “ripeness” than people t...