Stol’n on his wing my three and twentieth year!

 My hasting days fly on with full career,

 But my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th.

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Perhaps my semblance might deceive¹ the truth,

 That I to manhood am arrived so near,

 And inward ripeness doth much less appear,

 That some more timely-happy spirits endu’th.°

Yet be it less or more, or soon or slow,

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 It shall be still in strictest measure even²

 To that same lot, however mean or high,

Toward which Time leads me, and the will of Heaven;

 All is, if I have grace to use it so,

 As ever in my great Taskmaster’s eye.³

^{I choose this one because this reminds me the class learning material of forms of sonnet and I identify this as a petrach form. Firstly because of its composition of octave and sestet} Like Petrarch’s sonnets, Milton reflects on time, personal growth, and divine fate, emphasizing introspection rather than romantic love. At 23, he laments how quickly time has stolen his youth, yet he feels he has little to show for it (“my late spring no bud or blossom shew’th”). The poem contrasts outward appearance with inward development, suggesting that maturity is not merely external but spiritual. which I share the similar confusions as growing into 22 last month.

"Cromwell, our chief of men, who through a cloud

 Not of war only, but detractions² rude,

 Guided by faith and matchless fortitude

 To peace and truth³ thy glorious way hast ploughed,

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And on the neck of crownèd Fortune proud

 Hast reared God’s trophies,⁴ and his work pursued,

 While Darwen stream with blood of Scots imbrued⁵

 And Dunbar field resounds thy praises loud,

And Worcester’s laureate wreath;⁶ yet much remains

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 To conquer still; peace hath her victories

 No less renowned than war; new foes arise,

Threatening to bind our souls with secular chains:⁷

 Help us to save free conscience from the paw

 Of hireling wolves⁸ whose gospel is their maw.°"

This sonnet also follows the Petrarchan sonnet structure, which has two parts: an octave and a sestet. The octave focuses on Cromwell’s past achievements, especially his military victories and strong leadership. The sestet shifts to the future, warning that the fight isn’t over—peace also requires effort, and new threats to freedom are emerging. This structure helps Milton first praise Cromwell and then encourage him to keep defending religious and political liberty. The clear division makes the poem more effective, smoothly moving from celebration to a serious call to action.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'

Bob Dylan's song "The Times They Are a-Changin'" is about how time forces change, just like in John Milton's "How Soon Hath Time". Dylan talks about how things that seem slow now will speed up later, and how the present quickly becomes the past. Both works highlight that time doesn’t stop for anyone and change is inevitable. This also brings my personal confusion about how time has slipped away and we barely notice the change.

So for the extension reading, I choose FITT iii from Norton as continuing explore the concept, I choose from line 503-515

Then the world’s weather wages war on winter:

cold shrinks earthwards and the clouds climb;

sun-warmed, shimmering rain comes showering

onto meadows and fields where flowers unfurl;

woods and grounds wear a wardrobe of green;

birds burble with life and build busily

as summer spreads, settling on slopes as

      it should.

   Now every hedgerow brims

   with blossom and with bud,

   and lively songbirds sing

   from lovely, leafy woods.

In these lines, the poem depicts a dramatic transition from winter’s icy grip to the lush, energetic world of spring and early summer. Phrases like “weather wages war on winter” turn nature into a kind of battlefield, showing how the returning warmth battles the remaining cold. The imagery of flowers unfurling and hedgerows overflowing with blossoms highlights nature’s unstoppable renewal, while “birds burble with life” emphasizes the sheer energy pulsing through the environment. The detailed focus on vibrant colors and active wildlife underscores the poem’s celebration of nature’s cycle—an annual victory that transforms a gloomy landscape into a lively paradise.

"Be it chaplain or churl who rides by the chapel,

monk or priest, whatever man or person,

he loves murdering more than he loves his own life.

So I say, just as sure as you sit in your saddle,

if you come there you’ll be killed, of that there’s no question.

Trust me, he could trample you twenty times over or more.

In these lines, the author issues a grave warning about a deadly figure lurking near the chapel, someone so consumed by violence that he values murder more than his own life. By threatening “chaplain or churl” and “monk or priest” alike, the text implies that nobody is immune to his wrath. Repeated references to unavoidable destruction. I particularly enjoy this passage because it highlights the poem’s dark, suspenseful tone, intensifying the high stakes and heightening the overall danger.

"With New Year so young it still yawned and stretched

helpings were doubled on the dais that day.

And as king and company were coming to the hall

the choir in the chapel fell suddenly quiet,

then a chorus erupted from the courtiers and clerks:

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“Noel,” they cheered, then “Noel, Noel,”

“New Year Gifts!” the knights cried next

as they pressed forwards to offer their presents,

teasing with frivolous favors and forfeits,

till those ladies who lost couldn’t help but laugh,

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and the undefeated were far from forlorn.6"

As for this part, I really like how the author personalized New Year's Eve into a "children's" feeling. Phrases like stretch and yawned represents the new starting of a year and complete new start of the journey. In this way, the journey was portrayed not as serious and challenging, but innocent and in a happiness atmosphere. Moreover, the stanzas which mentions the meal and the feast were doubled really provides a vivid image for me of how important this celebration was. Lastly, the part where the Choir turn silent and yells "Noel" pushed the whole celebration into the climax

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video clip relate to this

He brimmed with ebullience, being almost boyish

in his love of life, and what he liked the least

was to sit still watching the seasons slip by.

His blood was busy and he buzzed with thoughts,

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and the matter which played on his mind at that moment

was his pledge to take no portion from his plate

on such a special day until a story was told:

some far-fetched yarn or outrageous fable,

the tallest of tales, yet one ringing with truth,

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like the action-packed epics of men-at-arms.

Or till some chancer had challenged his chosen knight,

dared him, with a lance, to lay life on the line,

to stare death face-to-face and accept defeat

should fortune or fate smile more favorably on his foe."

For this part, I think it is a very great foreshadowing of the their future encounter with the green knight and how the green knight destroys the happiness in the celebration and brings the real challenge. This part emphasize how king Arthur is different from other people in the celebration; the author portrays his energetic character, expecting the story before the celebration. However, King Arthur did not simply expect the story, but also expecting a knight that challenges him, I recognize as a challenge towards his destiny.

This is a part from page 471 and it is a brief introduction to Chaucer and the Canterbury tales. This is an inspiring part of reading because I can tell Chaucer's innovation on the scale of narrative structure. Since pilgrim narrations is a popular topic and inspire a lot of authors in the medieval era. What Chaucer did differently is that he did not simply arrange one particular character to do the narration. He set all pilgrimages from different social classes to do the narration, this provides different perspectives and enriches the whole story as different social classes. Moreover, he adds particular fictional part to it.

"This clerk was cleped° hende° Nicholas.
Of deme° love he could, and of solas,°
And therto he was sly and full privee,°
And like a maide meeke for to see.

A chamber had he in that hostelry
Alone, withouten any company,
Full fetisly ydight° with herbes swoote,°
And he himself as sweet as is the roote
Of licorice or any setewale.°

His Almageste and bookes great and smale,
His astrelabye longing for° his art,
His augrim stones° layen fair° apart
On shelves couched° at his beddes head;
His press° ycovered with a falding red;

And all above there lay a gay sautry,1
On which he made a-nightes° melody
So swetely that all the chamber rong,°
And Angelus ad Virginem he song."

I choose this part because this part has a very interesting figure of Nicholas. Nicholas is a wisdom scholar but lives in poverty. He focused not on traditional scholar academics, but he studied astrelabye. Unlike many religious scholar and traditional ones, he studies music as well. Chaucer's portray for Nicholas is a man knows astrelabye, music, knowledge and his house represents a very elegant environment. At first, I thought his figure is a very positive and well-known, but later on I realize that Nicholas is a form of sarcaism from Chaucer's perspective. A wisdom man who studies love and relationships, he did not use his wisdom on the reality, but used on predicting weather, love and even manipulate people.

"One of the most fascinating aspects of the Wife of Bath’s character is the way she both confirms and subverts medieval misogynistic stereotypes. She seems to embody the accusations of women being materialistic, deceitful, and overly sexual, yet at the same time, she exposes the flaws and biases of the patriarchal system that created these stereotypes. Readers are invited to appreciate her wit and resilience, even as they acknowledge the flaws in her character. This duality makes her one of the most complex and engaging figures in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales."

I think what make the wife of Bath interesting is her character corresponded to the medieval misogynistic stereotypes about women who were materialistic and deceitful. However, Chaucer's biggest difference among the other medieval authors is that he did not just simply illustrate a fictional story that follows along the social norms in medieval era. The story of Wife of Bath emphasizes on her three husbands as well. In this way, the story reveals how this society contains strong stereotype towards women, and Chaucer led the readers admire her wisdom and toughness.

"In his Prologue the Pardoner boasts to his fellow pilgrims about his own depravity and the ingenuity with which he abuses his office and extracts money from poor and ignorant people.

The Pardoner’s Tale is a bombastic sermon against gluttony, gambling, and swearing, which he preaches to the pilgrims to show off his professional skills.

The sermon is framed by a narrative that is supposed to function as an exemplum (that is, an illustration) of the scriptural text, the one on which the Pardoner, as he tells the pilgrims, always preaches: “Radix malorum est cupiditas” (Avarice is the root of evil)."

One of the most astonishing fact is that the pardoner's blatant hypocrisy. As our previous tale emphasize the stereotype of the hyprocrisy, this tale illustrate the hidden evil hypocrisy that are not easy to find out. Chaucer set the pardoner to expose himself, the spiritual duty turns into an ironic confession. Pardoner is a reflection of the medieval society that corruption exists in the system and reflects how many individual governors are becoming the pardoner themselves.