Blindness

Blindness symbolizes loss. Blindness occurs in this poem both literally and figuratively. Milton has actually gone blind, in the literal sense of the word, and that experience is depicted in the poem: it is dark, he cannot see, he fears the loss of competence that comes with disability. However, blindness also operates on the metaphorical level. It represents the inability to "see" in the sense of understanding. By focusing on his literal blindness, the narrator has become blinded to deeper spiritual truths.

Light

Light symbolizes knowledge. Light, the direct counterpart to blindness in this poem, similarly works on both a literal and metaphorical level. The narrator mourns the loss of being able to see light in a literal sense. He grieves the fact that "light" is "denied" him (7). However, the word "light," as in the first line of the poem, also refers to metaphorical light (1). His...