Lycidas by John Milton | Structure, Summary and Analysis

Lycidas was one of the early works of John Milton. It was published in 1638 in Justa Edouardo King Naufrago, a collection of elegies dedicated to the memory of Edward King, who died by drowning when the ship he was traveling with sank in the Irish Sea in 1637. John Milton didn’t have many friends during his college time, but he was very close to Edward King, who was elected as a fellow of Christ's College, Cambridge. Milton viewed King as an honest, selfless, and able one among the corrupt clergymen. Many other alumni of Cambridge wrote elegies for King in Greek and Latin that were published in Justa Edouardo King Naufrago, but Milton wrote Lycidas in English, and it was the last poem of the collection of elegies. Lycidas is a long 193-line poem. Milton mentioned this poem as a monody, a poem as a monologue. However, there are many other voices in the poem along with the narrator. Milton cleverly changes the form of the poem with each new voice. The shift from one form of a poem to another reflects the entrance of a new voice. In the end, the main narrator of the poem goes away while the second speaker appears. The poem lines are written in Iambic Pentameter with no specific rhyming. The poem is written as an Italian Canzone for most of its parts. At the end, when the second speaker appears, the poem changes its rhyme to a consistent ottava rima with the rhythm of abababcc. Though the poem is an elegy, Milton stressed more on his knowledge of classical literature and poetry. He certainly expressed his grief for the loss of Edward King, his friend, but this poem appears more like his resume, his effort to establish himself as a better poet. The poem includes a lot of fiction in place of true natural feelings and raises too many concerns along with King’s demise. Many critics have noticed that this elegy is inauthentic. Samuel Johnson criticized this elegy and said, ‘in the poem, there is no nature, for there is no truth, there is no art, for there is nothing new.” Johnson criticized the whole genre of pastoral elegies as ‘easy, vulgar, and therefore disgusting.” He famously said about Lycidas, “Where there is leisure for fiction, there is little grief.” Despite such harsh criticism, Lycidas was exceedingly popular, and it was considered the best poem of John Milton. The poem is a pastoral elegy, and like classical pastoral elegies, it begins as the poet invokes the Muse and offers the reason for writing this poem. A Muse is any of the nine ancient Greek goddesses who presided over arts, music, and literature. Ancient Greek poets or writers used to call their particular Muse to inspire them. In ancient times, poets used to write pastoral elegy in which they used to give a fictional name to the deceased. In this poem, Milton addresses his friend Edward King as Lycidas, as Lycidas was also a historical figure who died at a young age before he could bloom. Lycidas can be divided into six parts. The first part is the prologue, followed by the body of the poem, consisting of four parts, and then it ends with the epilogue, the sixth part. We will continue to discuss other important works of John Milton as we strive to offer a complete course for the preparation of UGC NET English literature, NTA NET English literature, PGTRB English,, SET English literature, TGT PGT English, GATE English Literature, and other exams, please stay connected with the Discourse, Thanks, and Regards!