John Milton's "How Soon Hath Time" is a Petrarchan sonnet that contains much figurative language, among which are metaphors. Three such metaphors are contained in the octave in which the speaker bemoans the loss of his twenty-third year by the personified Time that has wings: "My hasting days." The implication here is that time is a thief.
One metaphor is "my late spring" which is an implied comparison with his youth now in its latter part.
In another metaphor, the speaker bemoans that "no bud or blossom shows"; that is, he still looks young and has not achieved manhood physically. Nor, has he accomplished any manly act.
In the octave, the speaker is resigned to the fact that what will happen is in the hands of his Maker. Here God is compared in the metaphor "the will of Heav'n" and the "Task-Master" whose "eye" is metonmy as the one part represents the whole of the "Master."
In figurative language, the speaker resolves to go "where Time leads me," meaning he will follow the directions of God in his life. In this figurative phrase, Time is personified since it has the divine power to direct the speaker's life.
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