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Lycidas
work by Milton
Lycidas, poem by John Milton, written in 1637 for inclusion in a volume of elegies published in 1638 to commemorate the death of Edward King, Miltonās contemporary at the University of Cambridge who had drowned in a shipwreck in August 1637. The poem mourns the loss of a virtuous and promising young man about to embark upon a career as a clergyman. Adopting the conventions of the classical pastoral elegy (Lycidas was a shepherd in Virgilās Eclogues), Milton muses on fame, the meaning of existence, and heavenly judgment.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.
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