WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Poetry Fix: On Time

Episode Date: September 20, 2025

Today, Erika Kyba reads John Milton's "On Time." This is a poem that echoes the themes John Donne's "Holy Sonnet X," asserting the triumph of believers over death and temporal decay.

Welcome to the Poetry Fix on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm your host, Erica Kaiba, bringing you your weekly fix of poetry from across time. Today we're reading John Milton's On Time. This is a poem that echoes the themes of John Dunn's Holy Sonnet Ten, Death We Not Proud. Like Dunn, Milton addresses a personified cosmic force. Like Dunn, Milton appears to taunt this cosmic force, stripping it of its power. And like Dunn, Milton asserts the triumph. of believers over the forces of destruction.

Milton portrays time as a devouring yet lethargic entity. He faults time for glutting itself with what its womb devours. There's this grotesque image of time bringing forth new life and generating new possibilities. That's the purpose of the womb, but then turning to consume what it creates. And that is the nature of life on earth. New seasons bring new people into our lives, new circumstances, new hopes, and yet, there's always something that there's always something that that gets left behind. We move, our favorite shops closed down, our hopes are either fulfilled

or disappointed, doors closed just as new ones open, and we lose people that we loved. That could be through distance, argument, or death, but it can't be denied that it's impossible to hold on to the people that we love forever. Milton, however, paints time as impotent in the grand scheme of things. This might seem a little too optimistic, trite even, to the modern ear. However, if you place yourself in Milton's perspective, considering his core beliefs, his vaunt over time makes perfect sense. He believes that Christ will come again and make all things new, and that he will unite his flock to himself for eternity. And it's this concept of eternity that takes all the power out of time. Because if we eventually live in unchanging bliss, there's no longer any meaning in counting the days

or years. Additionally, if you accept the idea that Christ will restore everything that was good when he returns, then all time has really done is consume worthless temporal matters. It leaves the clothes moth-eaten and the buildings run down, but it cannot touch souls, and even the bodies that it corrupts will be restored. And so, like John Dunn, Milton scorns the power of time and death simply by putting these forces at the feet of eternity, and watching them fade to nothing in the face of it. With all that said, let's dive in. On Time by John Milton Fly envious time

Till thou run out thy race Call on the lazy leaden stepping hours Whose speed is but the heavy plummet's pace And glutthyself with what thy womb devours Which is no more than what is false and vain And merely mortal dross So little is our loss So little is thy gain

For when as each thing bad thou hast in tomb and last of all thy greedy self-consumed, then long eternity shall greet our bliss with an individual kiss, and joy shall overtake us as a flood, when everything that is sincerely good and perfectly divine, when truth and peace and love

shall ever shine about the supreme throne, of him to whose happy making sight alone, when once our heavenly-guided soul shall climb, then all this earthy grossness quit, attired with stars we shall forever sit, triumphing over death and chance, and thee, oh time. You've been listening to The Poetry Fix with Erica Kaiba.

If you enjoyed this episode, consider following The Poetry Fix on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. And if you have any poems you want to see in a future episode, email your suggestions to The Poetry Fix at gmail.com. Join me next week, and we'll be reading as King Fishers Catch Fire by Gerard Manley Hopkins.