Point of View

The poem is told from the second-person point of view, with the poet John Milton as its primary subject. The speaker uses second-person pronouns throughout, such as “thou” and “thy” (1, 9). The second-person point of view functions to direct the address toward a singular subject and establish a connection between the speaker and Milton. It is as if the speaker is talking directly to Milton in spite of the fact that they lived more than a century apart. This suggests an intimacy and a deeper knowledge of the subject. If the poem were written in the third person instead, the reader would not feel as strong of a bond between the two characters. The use of the second-person point of view also makes the poem into a kind of ode and a eulogy, as the attention is constantly drawn toward Milton as an object of celebration...