Lycidas (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: John Milton
- First Published: 1638
- Type of Work: Elegy
- Genres: Poetry, Elegy
- Subjects: Friendship, Poetry or poets, England or English people, Christianity, Death or dying, Gods or goddesses, Bereavement or grief, Clergy, Mortality, Angels
The Poem
“Lycidas” is a pastoral elegy in which John Milton laments the drowning of his friend and schoolmate, Edward King, at the University of Cambridge. Mainly iambic pentameter, with irregularly appearing short lines of six syllables, the poem’s 193 lines are divided into verse paragraphs of irregular length and changing rhyme schemes. In the convention of the pastoral poem, the first-person persona of the poem is a shepherd, who speaks of King as the lost shepherd Lycidas; in the convention of the elegy, “Lycidas” progresses through sadness over an individual’s...
[The entire page is 1688 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
Related Topics
