• Dr. Awadhesh Kumar Mishra

'Lycidas' is an elegy that Milton created in 1637 to lament the death of his friend Edward King. Though lyrical, it is not spontaneous and is often the result of deliberate poetic art and can be as elaborate in style as the ode. We read the elegy as a conscious work of art and not as a spontaneous expression of sorrow. Death, the primary theme of most elegies, is a vast evocative theme. It leads the poet to regions of reflections usually lying beyond the lyric imagination. Death can be, and is often, the starting point for the poet to deal with serious themes. Milton, for example, gives us in 'Lycidas', speculations on the nature of death, tributes to friends, as also literary criticism. He comments on the degradation of poetry and religion in 'Lycidas'. Though grief is the dominant condition in the early parts of an elegy, many elegies and on a note of joyful resignation and also on a note of affirmation. The pastoral elegy uses the mechanism of pastoral convention shepherds and shepherdesses, incidents form bucolic life and rustic speech. As far as the structure of the poem is concerned, it could safely be divided into six identifiable sections. The first section serves as a prologue to the poem running through the first twenty four lines. Lines 25-84 constitute the second part of the poem. The third section, lines 85-131, is even more concerned to pastoral style. The fourth section, lines 132-164, expresses Milton's feelings on Lycidas' death. Lines 165-184, the fifth section presents Milton's belief in immortality. The sixth section, lines 185-193, forms the epilogue of the poem. This section refers to Greek pastoral poets and expresses a determination to make greater poetic achievements while facing life hopefully. 'Lycidas' is a pastoral elegy and is written in the form of other pastorals with its prologue and epilogue and the monody of a shepherd mourning another, all Milton's relationship with Edward King are expressed, all his thoughts about his character and genius are exposed. This poem is to be judged and read with the conditions of the pastoral as a form of the verse present at that time.

Elegy, Prologue, Epilogue, Pastoral, Mourning

"Postoral Elements in Milton's LYCIDAS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 8, page no.1198-1201, August-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1809A80.pdf

"Postoral Elements in Milton's LYCIDAS", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 8, page no. pp1198-1201, August-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1809A80.pdf