Lycidas Themes

This one's an elegy folks, which means that it's all about lamenting someone's death. Okay, we get that, but besides Lycidas' death, what else is there? A lot more death, that's what. Just about ev...

Shepherds do their shepherding in the great outdoors, so it's no surprise that nature is everywhere in "Lycidas." We've got flowers, plants, bodies of water, even a few animals. The flora and fauna...

"Lycidas" was written partly as a tribute to Edward King, one of Milton's college friends, and so it celebrates their friendship, and a bit idealistically, if we may say so. There is a whole back s...

Get out your tissues, Shmoopers, this one's a tearjerker. The speaker of "Lycidas" has just lost his best bud. Needless to say, our guy is sad. He repeatedly reminds us that not only are he and his...