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Lycidas
This is an electronic edition of the complete book complemented by author biography. The book was designed for optimal navigation on the Kindle, PDA, Smartphone, and other electronic readers. It is formatted to display on all electronic devices including the Kindle, Smartphones and other Mobile Devices with a small display. ************ John Milton’s poem, "Lycidas" has been called “‘probably the most perfect piece of pure literature in existence…’ [employing] patterns of structure, prosody, and imagery to maintain a dynamic coherence. The syntax of the poem is full of ‘impertinent auxiliary assertions’ that contribute valuably to the experience of the poem,”. The piece itself is incredibly dynamic, enabling many different styles and patterns that overlap, “the loose ends of any one pattern disappear into the interweavings of the others,”. Though a close reading of the poem shows that the work itself is more complicated than it appears to be, on the surface “Lycidas” reads as a pastoral elegy. The speaker, assumed to be Milton, laments the early demise of his friend Edward King, a colleague and close friend whose life was cut short by drowning “while crossing the Irish Sea,”. — Excerpted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. More e-Books from MobileReference - Best Books. Best Price. Best Search and Navigation (TM) All fiction books are only $0.99. All collections are only $5.99Designed for optimal navigation on Kindle and other electronic devices Search for any title: enter mobi (shortened MobileReference) and a keyword; for example: mobi ShakespeareTo view all books, click on the MobileReference link next to a book title Literary Classics: Over 10,000 complete works by Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Conan Doyle, Jules Verne, Dickens, Tolstoy, and other authors. All books feature hyperlinked table of contents, footnotes, and author biography. Books are also available as collections, organized by an author. Collections simplify book access through categorical, alphabetical, and chronological indexes. They offer lower price, convenience of one-time download, and reduce clutter of titles in your digital library. Religion: The Illustrated King James Bible, American Standard Bible, World English Bible (Modern Translation), Mormon Church's Sacred Texts Philosophy: Rousseau, Spinoza, Plato, Aristotle, Marx, Engels Travel Guides and Phrasebooks for All Major Cities: New York, Paris, London, Rome, Venice, Prague, Beijing, Greece Medical Study Guides: Anatomy and Physiology, Pharmacology, Abbreviations and Terminology, Human Nervous System, Biochemistry College Study Guides: FREE Weight and Measures, Physics, Math, Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Statistics, Languages, Philosophy, Psychology, Mythology History: Art History, American Presidents, U.S. History, Encyclopedias of Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt Health: Acupressure Guide, First Aid Guide, Art of Love, Cookbook, Cocktails, Astrology Reference: The World's Biggest Mobile Encyclopedia; CIA World Factbook, Illustrated Encyclopedias of Birds, Mammals
50 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1638
About the author
John Milton
3,800 books2,304 followersPeople best know John Milton, English scholar, for
Paradise Lost
, the epic poem of 1667 and an account of fall of humanity from grace.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
Beelzebub, one fallen angel in Paradise Lost, of John Milton, lay in power next to Satan.
Belial, one fallen angel, rebelled against God in Paradise Lost of John Milton.
John Milton, polemicist, man of letters, served the civil Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote in blank verse at a time of religious flux and political upheaval.
Prose of John Milton reflects deep personal convictions, a passion for freedom and self-determination, and the urgent issues and political turbulence of his day. He wrote in Latin, Greek, and Italian and achieved international renown within his lifetime, and his celebrated Areopagitica (1644) in condemnation of censorship before publication among most influential and impassioned defenses of free speech and the press of history.
William Hayley in biography of 1796 called and generally regarded John Milton, the "greatest ... author," "as one of the preeminent writers in the ... language," though since his death, critical reception oscillated often on his republicanism in the centuries. Samuel Johnson praised, "with respect to design may claim the first place, and with respect to performance, the second, among the productions of the ... mind," though he, a Tory and recipient of royal patronage, described politics of Milton, an "acrimonious and surly republican."
Because of his republicanism, centuries of British partisanship subjected John Milton.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
April 20, 2026
When I first read this poem at college In 1967, I thought it the most exquisitely perfect poem I had ever read. This work alone convinced me to major In English. Yet among my friends and favourite critics the jury was out on its merit.
I loved it for its classicist's spin on the death of a beloved friend - an exceedingly worthy and pious friend, who, unlike Milton, loved the Anglican Church and was an ill-fated Priest, destined for a "watery bier" In a South Irish Sea shipwreck.
In 1910, the scholarly critic James Holly Hanford praised this classic piece of inspiration as "probably the most perfect piece of pure literature in existence," and yet the greatest-known critic of English Lit, Samuel Johnson, decried it as an abject failure.
But Johnson was an opinionated religious Puritan like Milton. So what gives?
I think I may be able to solve that mystery....
You see, by the time Milton wrote it the Puritans had defeated the Monarchists and gained the Throne of England. But by the Glorious Revolution of the Church of England engineered by King William, Britain had become disillusioned with Cromwell AND Catholicism.
A Polarized Age (as ours is again, now) produces a Polarized Public. Nowadays, we all make war on our fellows rather than love 'em! The religious right hates the woke left, and vice versa.
True compassionate peace and brotherhood is a Hippie Cold War Relic! So even wise Old Timers are ignored and stifled.
But Milton? His Puritanism was comfortable (Puritans were now in charge in Britain) while Johnson's Monarchism was a strange bedfellow to his Puritanism, by the monarchical but more cynical eighteenth century.
So Johnson’s inner struggle in a time of cynicism produced truly great Mannerist criticism, while Milton's comfort following the bloody English War of Religion had produced Great Classical Poetry - THIS masterpiece.
You see, Mannerism is eternally at war with Classicism. An eternal game of unsettled emotions versus settled Faith.
No wonder Johnson dissed Milton!
But for both of them, just as the War against Discomfort produces, in an Oyster, the Pearl of Great Price...
Just so, in the end for all of us, without the Pain of Loss, there is no Creative Gain.
https://youtu.be/S_mp5oA-LTM?si=wafA0...
I loved it for its classicist's spin on the death of a beloved friend - an exceedingly worthy and pious friend, who, unlike Milton, loved the Anglican Church and was an ill-fated Priest, destined for a "watery bier" In a South Irish Sea shipwreck.
In 1910, the scholarly critic James Holly Hanford praised this classic piece of inspiration as "probably the most perfect piece of pure literature in existence," and yet the greatest-known critic of English Lit, Samuel Johnson, decried it as an abject failure.
But Johnson was an opinionated religious Puritan like Milton. So what gives?
I think I may be able to solve that mystery....
You see, by the time Milton wrote it the Puritans had defeated the Monarchists and gained the Throne of England. But by the Glorious Revolution of the Church of England engineered by King William, Britain had become disillusioned with Cromwell AND Catholicism.
A Polarized Age (as ours is again, now) produces a Polarized Public. Nowadays, we all make war on our fellows rather than love 'em! The religious right hates the woke left, and vice versa.
True compassionate peace and brotherhood is a Hippie Cold War Relic! So even wise Old Timers are ignored and stifled.
But Milton? His Puritanism was comfortable (Puritans were now in charge in Britain) while Johnson's Monarchism was a strange bedfellow to his Puritanism, by the monarchical but more cynical eighteenth century.
So Johnson’s inner struggle in a time of cynicism produced truly great Mannerist criticism, while Milton's comfort following the bloody English War of Religion had produced Great Classical Poetry - THIS masterpiece.
You see, Mannerism is eternally at war with Classicism. An eternal game of unsettled emotions versus settled Faith.
No wonder Johnson dissed Milton!
But for both of them, just as the War against Discomfort produces, in an Oyster, the Pearl of Great Price...
Just so, in the end for all of us, without the Pain of Loss, there is no Creative Gain.
https://youtu.be/S_mp5oA-LTM?si=wafA0...
November 7, 2020
From BBC Radio 4 - Drama:
A two-part drama telling the stories behind two of the greatest and most influential poetic elegies ever published in English - Milton's Lycidas and Tennyson's In Memoriam.
Part 1. Milton's Lycidas - starring Holliday Grainger and Nico Mirallegro.
Although written two centuries apart, in 1637 and 1833, the making and circumstances of these great elegies are full of interconnections and are centred on the poetic response to grief and loss. Milton's Lycidas is the first great elegy in English poetry. Both Lycidas and In Memoriam were written in response to the sudden unexpected death of a young male friend, striking the poets in their mid-twenties. when the poets were students at Cambridge. The dead men were prodigiously gifted and also poets, early rivals and first readers to the poets who elegised them.
Milton and Tennyson were thereby thrown into personal grief and poetic challenge, but how to make a poetic elegy that honours and reflects that genuine grief whilst rising to the challenge of the first great poetic subject in these young poets' lives? Milton and Tennyson responded to these complex and terrible circumstances with radically different elegies that stand among the finest poems in English literature.
CAST
Holliday Grainger ..... Emily Tennyson
Nico Mirallegro ..... John Milton
James Cooney ..... Alfred Lord Tennyson
Conrad Nelson ..... John Milton senior
Ashley Margolis ..... Diodati
Elegies was written and adapted from Lycidas by John Milton by Michael Symmons Roberts
Directed by Susan Roberts
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00...
A two-part drama telling the stories behind two of the greatest and most influential poetic elegies ever published in English - Milton's Lycidas and Tennyson's In Memoriam.
Part 1. Milton's Lycidas - starring Holliday Grainger and Nico Mirallegro.
Although written two centuries apart, in 1637 and 1833, the making and circumstances of these great elegies are full of interconnections and are centred on the poetic response to grief and loss. Milton's Lycidas is the first great elegy in English poetry. Both Lycidas and In Memoriam were written in response to the sudden unexpected death of a young male friend, striking the poets in their mid-twenties. when the poets were students at Cambridge. The dead men were prodigiously gifted and also poets, early rivals and first readers to the poets who elegised them.
Milton and Tennyson were thereby thrown into personal grief and poetic challenge, but how to make a poetic elegy that honours and reflects that genuine grief whilst rising to the challenge of the first great poetic subject in these young poets' lives? Milton and Tennyson responded to these complex and terrible circumstances with radically different elegies that stand among the finest poems in English literature.
CAST
Holliday Grainger ..... Emily Tennyson
Nico Mirallegro ..... John Milton
James Cooney ..... Alfred Lord Tennyson
Conrad Nelson ..... John Milton senior
Ashley Margolis ..... Diodati
Elegies was written and adapted from Lycidas by John Milton by Michael Symmons Roberts
Directed by Susan Roberts
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m00...
Read
July 6, 2025Read for the House of Humane Letter's summer course, "How to Read a Poem Like C.S. Lewis."
I will need to reread this, attend class, and perhaps read some companion essays. In my first go-around, I understood very little of the poem that Harold Bloom referred to as one of the greatest poems in the English language.
I will need to reread this, attend class, and perhaps read some companion essays. In my first go-around, I understood very little of the poem that Harold Bloom referred to as one of the greatest poems in the English language.
December 31, 2017
A very brief look into both a classical poetry type and the struggle with grief overy the loss of an aquaintance, both done well in Milton's deft hands.
January 18, 2023
Twice in a row now, my first read of the year has been Milton. He’s not even my favourite author!!
However, I also cannot deny his abilities. Even with this, having not yet come into his own as a poet, he still made his words dance and flit across the page.
This poem is part of an anthology to commemorate the loss of one of his classmates at Cambridge, Sir Edward King.
As much as this poem is melancholic and bitter at the fact that a budding soul was taken so soon, it is also a piece of work. Even in the early stages of his career, Milton did not shy away from using every metaphor and reference known to man to fill his rhymes with. Some may call it pretentious, but the way I’ve come to see it—and the way my own professor has described it to me— is that he was writing as a scholar (as a University student, that is) to other scholars. Which, considering the crowd that did attend University in the 1600s, can definitely be seen as an ostentatious and flashy piece. Something only fit for the elite to understand. However, he only used lore that would be “common knowledge” to a student in higher education. Which is to say: common knowledge to myself as well. While the way subjects are taught now and what is taught has definitely changed since then, and while I may not have been exposed to all that he speaks about in this poem, I still appreciate the complexity. I appreciate the little *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* of: “Hey, you. Humanities student. You should know this shit. You’re gonna keep running into Virgil and allusions to the Catholic Church. Get with the program.” It feels almost as if Milton is extending his own hand through the ethos to grasp at mine. The touching words being from one student to another. From one aspiring artist to another. From one word-hungry child to another.
I’m not sure why I consistently speak about dead writers as if they are friends whom I dearly miss because I have not seen them for a long time. Maybe it is this childish desire to unite them all in my head. That if I can link them all back to myself, I can build an armada of writers to… do what exactly? I’m not sure. Perhaps if all could write and create at the same time, it would form a symphony of words and sentences that could cure the world of all its illnesses. Yes, there is a “literary cannon”, but what if there was a literal canon? To create something so powerful that it would shake the world and force all people to read and reflect in its wake. If one writer can impact the lives of hundreds of thousands. What could hundreds of writers do if they wrote all at once?
Okay. That had absolutely nothing to do with Lycidas or Milton (unless you consider that Milton has touched me so much with this poem, to a point where I am writing him fan mail)
But anyway. Great poem. Staggering. Undoubtedly cool. Cheers, mate!
However, I also cannot deny his abilities. Even with this, having not yet come into his own as a poet, he still made his words dance and flit across the page.
This poem is part of an anthology to commemorate the loss of one of his classmates at Cambridge, Sir Edward King.
As much as this poem is melancholic and bitter at the fact that a budding soul was taken so soon, it is also a piece of work. Even in the early stages of his career, Milton did not shy away from using every metaphor and reference known to man to fill his rhymes with. Some may call it pretentious, but the way I’ve come to see it—and the way my own professor has described it to me— is that he was writing as a scholar (as a University student, that is) to other scholars. Which, considering the crowd that did attend University in the 1600s, can definitely be seen as an ostentatious and flashy piece. Something only fit for the elite to understand. However, he only used lore that would be “common knowledge” to a student in higher education. Which is to say: common knowledge to myself as well. While the way subjects are taught now and what is taught has definitely changed since then, and while I may not have been exposed to all that he speaks about in this poem, I still appreciate the complexity. I appreciate the little *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* of: “Hey, you. Humanities student. You should know this shit. You’re gonna keep running into Virgil and allusions to the Catholic Church. Get with the program.” It feels almost as if Milton is extending his own hand through the ethos to grasp at mine. The touching words being from one student to another. From one aspiring artist to another. From one word-hungry child to another.
I’m not sure why I consistently speak about dead writers as if they are friends whom I dearly miss because I have not seen them for a long time. Maybe it is this childish desire to unite them all in my head. That if I can link them all back to myself, I can build an armada of writers to… do what exactly? I’m not sure. Perhaps if all could write and create at the same time, it would form a symphony of words and sentences that could cure the world of all its illnesses. Yes, there is a “literary cannon”, but what if there was a literal canon? To create something so powerful that it would shake the world and force all people to read and reflect in its wake. If one writer can impact the lives of hundreds of thousands. What could hundreds of writers do if they wrote all at once?
Okay. That had absolutely nothing to do with Lycidas or Milton (unless you consider that Milton has touched me so much with this poem, to a point where I am writing him fan mail)
But anyway. Great poem. Staggering. Undoubtedly cool. Cheers, mate!
April 5, 2026
prachtig geschreven natuurlijk maar voelt meer als een gigantische flex van mythologische kennis dan een oprechte elegie 🤨
July 18, 2017
This was just a rambling poem that roamed about with no destination except to help the author deal with his grief at the loss of his friend in prose.
February 15, 2023
Milton beautifully captured and preserved his grief for eternity.
Not sure what exactly, but this poem made me feel something.
Not sure what exactly, but this poem made me feel something.
November 4, 2025
Men created elegies to talk about their dead bros without sounding gay
June 29, 2026
I read this in the Oxford Book of English Verse, so not as a separate book, but I wanted to review it separately, because besides being long, it deserves it.
What amazed me is that - despite the typical Miltonic litany of mythological Names and Places, many of which still elude me - the vibrant substance of the poem was so potent that I finished it in a sense of almost trance and amazed satisfaction. Somehow, woven through the scintillating scenes of nature and myth, there is a well-accomplished catharsis of grief fading into healing. The Christian hope is the foundation of it, but also the ability to emote with epic grandeur. The ending is perfection.
Milton may be most famous for Paradise Lost but some of his lesser works are much lovelier.
What amazed me is that - despite the typical Miltonic litany of mythological Names and Places, many of which still elude me - the vibrant substance of the poem was so potent that I finished it in a sense of almost trance and amazed satisfaction. Somehow, woven through the scintillating scenes of nature and myth, there is a well-accomplished catharsis of grief fading into healing. The Christian hope is the foundation of it, but also the ability to emote with epic grandeur. The ending is perfection.
Milton may be most famous for Paradise Lost but some of his lesser works are much lovelier.
March 30, 2025
This is a poem worth savoring—as nearly all great poetry is—line by line, unpacking its meanings and allusions. The repetition of sounds like the o’s evoke mourning, while the softer l’s lend lightness, each sound portrays the feelings of this passionate poem.
I spent two hours studying this relatively short poem and the time flew by. What an extraordinary work this is—not just a masterpiece of elegy, but a profound ode to friendship, loss, and artistic legacy
Resources used:
https://milton.host.dartmouth.edu/rea...
https://youtu.be/8PB-IFgdL68
https://youtu.be/0QmqnkNYKss
I spent two hours studying this relatively short poem and the time flew by. What an extraordinary work this is—not just a masterpiece of elegy, but a profound ode to friendship, loss, and artistic legacy
Resources used:
https://milton.host.dartmouth.edu/rea...
https://youtu.be/8PB-IFgdL68
https://youtu.be/0QmqnkNYKss
July 6, 2026
Ay me! I fondly dream
Had ye bin there'—for what could that have done?
What could the Muse herself that Orpheus bore,
The Muse herself, for her enchanting son,
Whom universal nature did lament,
When by the rout that made the hideous roar
His gory visage down the stream was sent,
Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore?
Somewhat interesting as a show of grief from Milton, though I'd say its not as good as some of Milton's other early poems.
Had ye bin there'—for what could that have done?
What could the Muse herself that Orpheus bore,
The Muse herself, for her enchanting son,
Whom universal nature did lament,
When by the rout that made the hideous roar
His gory visage down the stream was sent,
Down the swift Hebrus to the Lesbian shore?
Somewhat interesting as a show of grief from Milton, though I'd say its not as good as some of Milton's other early poems.
April 27, 2024
‘While the still Morn went out with sandals gray;
He touched the tender stops of various quills,
With eager thought warbling his Doric lay;
And now the sun had strecht out all the hills,
And now was dropped into the western bay.
At last he rose, and twicht his mantle blue;
Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.’
He touched the tender stops of various quills,
With eager thought warbling his Doric lay;
And now the sun had strecht out all the hills,
And now was dropped into the western bay.
At last he rose, and twicht his mantle blue;
Tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.’
December 11, 2025
A pastoral elegy that Milton wrote after the drowning of his great friend Edward King. It definitely helps to have annotations to understand all the wording.
Thomas Jefferson made a small contribution to this style with the sudden passing of his dear friend Dabney Carr.
I had not read since college, so good to revisit.
Thomas Jefferson made a small contribution to this style with the sudden passing of his dear friend Dabney Carr.
I had not read since college, so good to revisit.
Read
January 3, 2026«Begin then, Sisters of the sacred well
That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring;
Begin, and somewhat loudly sweep the string.
Hence with denial vain and coy excuse!
So may some gentle muse
With lucky words favour my destin'd urn, And as he passes turn
And bid fair peace be to my sable shroud!»
That from beneath the seat of Jove doth spring;
Begin, and somewhat loudly sweep the string.
Hence with denial vain and coy excuse!
So may some gentle muse
With lucky words favour my destin'd urn, And as he passes turn
And bid fair peace be to my sable shroud!»
January 26, 2026
3.5☆
‘Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil’
ˋ°•*⁀➷
my review:
Milton’s pastoral elegy.. in the run up to me actually getting through Paradise Lost… it may be months before I actually finish the whole thing.. but Milton is definitely an incredible poet.
✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ: *
‘Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil’
ˋ°•*⁀➷
my review:
Milton’s pastoral elegy.. in the run up to me actually getting through Paradise Lost… it may be months before I actually finish the whole thing.. but Milton is definitely an incredible poet.
✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ: * ✧･ﾟ: *
May 11, 2026
ngl this should not count towards my reading goal but it’s so good I have to review it… so so beautiful. Milton grieves for his friend King and describes this grief through the ancient tradition that has existed for hundreds of years before him.
June 26, 2026
Such delicate descriptions of an idealized country life contrast so much with the patriotic emotions that, when thinking about why and for what this elegy was written, you just want to say: Uncle Milton, keep it simple.
August 16, 2019
Both a poignant expression of grief and a philosophical exploration of the nature of true faith; Milton always had more than one thing going on.
November 6, 2019
Confessional poetry about grief knows no bounds!
November 2, 2020
"To-morrow to fresh woods, and pastures new."
September 19, 2022
read for university
January 7, 2023
This poem is so powerful and heart breaking. Milton... you're a genius, I have no doubt!!!
I need a hug :" This made me cry my eye balls out. So beautiful🤍🤍🤍
I need a hug :" This made me cry my eye balls out. So beautiful🤍🤍🤍
Read
October 16, 2023beautiful but empty
March 5, 2024
what a beautiful memorial for a lost friend. there were a lot of references to myths and ancient people. now i have a lot of google tabs to close
February 26, 2025
i want to borrow milton's ego
March 13, 2025
Milton’s genius will never fail to astound me.
July 27, 2025
“surely no man could have fancied that he read Lycidas with pleasure had he not known its author.”
July 15, 2026
The cadence of the language here holds an archival quality that is deeply immersive. A masterful contribution to the history of literature.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews