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The title of “Only Stand and Wait” comes from a poem by John Milton, who laments his blindness — “my days in this dark world” — but accepts his fate and concludes “they also serve who only stand and wait.”

I tell myself, “They also serve, who only stand and wait,” but it seems hollow to me.

They also serve who only stand and wait, said Aunt Lydia.

As John Milton, that other blind survivor, once noted: Though "Thousands at his bidding speed / And post o'er Land and Ocean without rest: / They also serve who only stand and wait."

Elizabeth Bishop clarifies the famous words of her blind predecessor John Milton: “They also serve who only stand and wait.”