Dear Basketball

“When I Consider How My Light Is Spent” by John Milton (1673)

The 17th-century English Christian poet takes up the theme of fate and destiny in his sonnet. Like Kobe Bryant, Milton’s speaker thinks about his life in the greater scheme of things. While Bryant discovers his destiny early on, Milton’s speaker remains unsure. Someone has to remind the speaker that people “who only stand and wait” (Line 14) also serve God. While basketball isn’t a god, Bryant gives it a godlike aura and serves it with his “heart” and “hustle” (Lines 20, 21) and by running up and down the basketball court and after loose basketballs. In Milton’s poem, the theme of love and destiny requires much less action. God doesn’t need “man’s work or his own gifts” (Line 11). Unlike Bryant speaking as Kobe, Milton’s speaker doesn’t have to pick out a specific vocation or work hard for the higher power.

“This Is Just to Say” by William Carlos Williams (1934)

The 20th-century American poet William Carlos Williams also turned letters into poems. While Bryant addresses basketball, Williams addresses someone (his wife, perhaps) to tell her that he ate the plums in the refrigerator.