What is Milton's "one Talent" in "On His Blindness"?

Milton's "one Talent" refers to his literary abilities. It is telling that Milton capitalizes "Talent" in the third line of "On His Blindness"; the word becomes a focal point of the beginning of this poem and points to a double meaning.

The Parable of the Talents is found in Matthew 25 in the New Testament. In short, it is the story of three men who are given varying amounts of money, referred to as "talents" in Scripture, to keep for their master while he is away. Two of the servants invest it, earning more for their master; the third servant buries the talent for safekeeping. When the master returns, he is angry with the servant who hid away his money, calling him "wicked" and "lazy" for his lack of initiative.

As a deeply religious man, Milton understood the value in using his own talents for the purposes of God. In this poem, he reflects upon his own struggles; he had recently lost his vision. In the mid-1600s, a writer who couldn't see faced significant challenges.

As Milton's speaker, who represents Milton himself, thinks about his God-given "Talent" of writing, he believes that it would be deathly to "hide" this talent away and not use it for God's work. Yet in his new blindness, he initially feels that a talent for writing is "useless" to a man who can neither read nor see the paper on which to write.

By alluding to the Parable of the Talents, Milton recognizes the importance of using his own writing talents for the purposes of God's work, though the poem's sestet acknowledges the value of waiting when one cannot immediately serve God.

Why does Milton believe his blindness renders his talent useless in "On His Blindness"?

It's important to consider the setting of "On His Blindness" in order to convey the full significance of the poem's central conflict. The speaker of this poem is Milton himself, who went completely blind early in 1652. At this time, there weren't any great means of assisting the blind, and those who were rendered sightless often struggled to function in a society which required sight in order to survive.

Milton himself was particularly affected by the loss of his sight. He was a deeply religious man, crediting God for giving him the talents to write well. He was a supporter of a commonwealth government, and he had already been using his talents to craft essays and pamphlets that supported a Puritan rule.

In his blindness, Milton faced the reality that he could no longer independently write as he had always done. In this poem, readers are privy to his inner turmoil as he considers how he will now serve God as his "one Talent" is rendered "useless" since he can no longer see the pages on which to write.

In today's society, we have many assistive technologies to aid those who are visually impaired, but Milton had no such societal support. He would eventually find ways to write again, using the help of close friends and family; however, in this poem he struggles with an uncertain transition into a world of darkness.