A Critique on Lycidas Written by John Milton - 1206 Words

Lycidas is a popular, well-known poem, which was written in the early 1630s by John Milton. The poem is written in the style of pastoral elegy and is dedicated to Edward King a friend of John Milton who drowned out at sea. About 100 years after the poem had already been well known, Samuel Johnson responded forcefully by writing a critique that has also become well renowned. Samuel Johnson, who wrote the English Dictionary, questions the worth of Lycidas. According to Johnson, poetry is an art form that should be praised when its qualities are beautiful, symmetrical and full of passion. John Milton’s Lycidas does not meet any of these standards. Lycidas is a typical pastoral elegy that does not strike any chords of emotion. Cleary†¦show more content†¦Perhaps Milton is talking about himself but he covers it with his allegorical language. The surroundings filled with nymphs and gods does not relate back to anything real. There is something sneaky about the way Milton draws in his ideas about fame. This is supposed to be an elegy, not a questioning about one’s chance for eminence. (MILTONS OBSESSION WITH HIMSELF AND HIS WORDS) Milton asks many pointless questions throughout his poem but the most obvious one is â€Å"What hard mishap hath doom’d this gentle swain?† (92) Although he does not personally ask it, Milton still knows the answer. Clearly Edward King drowned, in the sea, on a boat. Milton’s word choice of â€Å"what hard mishap† â€Å"doom’d† and â€Å"gentle swain† is very dramatic and misrepresents King’s death. Milton, himself is carried away by his own dramatic grandeur, to the point that he only seems to want to entertain his readers more than convey his sadness. Besides trying to captivate his readers through obnoxious opulence, Milton also uses Lycidas as his own political soapbox. In the middle of Lycidas, Milton goes on a tangent where the â€Å"pilot of the Galilean sea†, Saint Peter, appears and gives a speech about the way the clergy treats the believers of the church. Among other things, Saint Peter says, â€Å"The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed, / But swollen with wind, and the rank mist they draw, / Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread.†(125-127) The sheep represent the people ofShow MoreRelatedJohn Milton s Lycidas Uses Fruitful And Fertile Imagery1643 Words   |  7 Pagesclose friend, John Milton’s Lycidas uses fruitful and fertile imagery to describe the watery death of his collegiate companion. Water in this poem functions both as it normally does, describing rebirth in a true baptismal fashion, and in an alternate way, in reference to the drowning and death of Edward King. The poem also takes time to discuss the malicious actions of the English clergymen, poetically described in traditional pastoral imagery, so in this way it is similar to what Milton does with the