They Also Serve

This sonnet by Milton came up at church last week because of the last line. The whole sonnet is moving, certainly, and teaches the important lesson that our talents are not something that God needs to complete His work, as he has many who he could call upon. They are gifts to us, allowing us to share in the work.

The last line can fit many other circumstances where one is just standing around, waiting, such as for a spouse to finish a conversation or workmen to complete a task, giving such dead time an air of higher purpose. Asimov has Henry the waiter for the Black Widower Society use the line at the close of one of those short stories.

On His Blindness

When I con­sid­er how my light is spent
Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one tal­ent which is death to hide
Lodged with me use­less, though my soul more bent
To serve there­with my Mak­er, and present
My true account, lest he return­ing chide,
​“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fond­ly ask. But Patience, to pre­vent
That mur­mur, soon replies: ​“God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts: who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is king­ly; thou­sands at his bid­ding speed
And post o’er land and ocean with­out rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”