How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #1
Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear,
Compels me to disturb your season due (6-7)
Duty calls. The speaker implies that this song, this tribute to his friend, is something of an obligation. It is a "constraint," not something voluntarily undertaken, at least not completely. This might be because the speaker doesn't want to use his poetic gifts for such a sad subject. Or maybe he is so overcome with grief that he can't quite control his own decisions.
Quote #2
He must not float upon his watery bier
Unwept, and welter to the parching wind,
Without the meed of some melodious tear. (12-14)
The speaker wishes that Lycidas could hear this elegy, or "melodious tear." We can't help but notice that he describes the poem with a reference to water ("tear"), which is fitting considering that Lycidas met his death at sea. The fact that the tear is "melodious" suggests that the speaker is converting grief into art, beauty, poetry. We have a feeling Lycidas would be pleased.
Quote #3
What could the muse herself that Orpheus bore,
The muse herself for her enchanting son
Whom universal nature did lament. (58-60)
By comparing Lycidas to Orpheus, the speaker tells us just how much of an impact Lycidas' death will have. Even "universal nature" will be bummed to hear the news. Oh, and by the way, it is a convention of the pastoral elegy to describe all of nature mourning for an especially beloved poet. Milton is checking off all his boxes, like a good poet should.
Quote #4
Look homeward angel now, and melt with ruth (163)
If this angel is Lycidas, does this mean he has to mourn his own death? There are other places in the poem (166 especially) where the speaker seems to imply that Lycidas should continue to be sorrowful. Why might that be?
Quote #5
Weep no more, woeful shepherds weep no more,
For Lycidas your sorrow is not dead,
Sunk though he be beneath the wat'ry floor.
So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed,
And yet anon repairs his drooping head,
And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky. (165-171)
The speaker tells the shepherds to stop being so sad, because Lycidas isn't dead. Nope, he is just reborn in heaven. That's not so sad at all, right?
Quote #6
There entertain him all the saints above,
In solemn troops, and sweet societies
That sing, and singing in their glory move,
And wipe the tears forever from his eyes (178-181)
This passage picks up the themes from lines 165-171, where it isn't clear exactly what the word "sorrow" refers to. In this passage, "forever" is ambiguous, suggesting both cessation – Lycidas' tears have been wiped away for good – and continuance, as if the "saints" were wiping Lycidas' tears for all time. How do you read it?
Quote #7
Now Lycidas the shepherds weep no more (182)
The shepherds no longer weep for Lycidas, but why? Is it because they know that Lycidas is in heaven being entertained by saints? Or is it because the proper time for mourning has come to an end? Either way, it takes most of the poem for the shepherds to stop crying their eyes out, which helps emphasize the importance of time in the mourning process.