Pastoralism in "Lycidas"

Pastoralism is an attitude in literature where the writer looks at the life from the perspective of a shepherd. It has been utilized ingeniously in classical literature by Theocritus, Virgil and Bion. Its prominent practitioners in English literature have been Sir Philip Sidney, Edmund Spenser and John Milton.

Lycidas first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies entitled Justa Edouardo King Naufrago and commemorates the death of Edward King, a college mate of Milton's at Cambridge who drowned when his ship sank off the coast of Wales in August, 1637. The pastoral elegy has its own principles defined by traditions. The pastoral poet begins the poem invoking the Muses and alludes to the figures of classical mythology. In "Lycidas", we find an invocation to the muses in the lines 15 to 22.Secondly, the process of mourning in pastoral elegies is a universal phenomenon .All nature joins in the mourning of the shepherd's death in "Lycidas". Woods and caves join in the mourning. His death is as deadly to nature as the canker worm is to blossoms or the taint-worm is to weanling herds.

The inquest over the death is another ritual found in pastoral poems. In lines,50-63, Milton
charges the nymphs with negligence. Subsequently, he comprehends that that they were helpless to act. Triton, the Lord of the sea tries every wind in his court, and comes to the judgment that the air was calm when Lycidas set sail .The conclusion that is reached is that the ship was built during the eclipse, and was the prey to bad omens or curses.

Next is the typical procession of mourners as perceived in all pastoral elegies. Camu, representative of the Cambridge University leads the procession. St Peter stands last in the row of mourners to lament over the loss of Lycidas and the feeling of loss experienced by the church. There a strong condemnation of the church of the times and the clergymen. (88-111)Quite often, in post-Renaissance elegies, there was a detailed passage in which numerous flowers were brought to deck the hearse. The amaranthus stands significantly apart from the primrose, crowtoe, the pink and the woodbine, in that it emblematizes immortality (of the departed soul).

Pastoral elegies are also characterized by the closing consolation. Here, also the poet combines the concept of death with both Christian teaching and paganism. Milton states that death is a passage from mortality to immortality. Mingling paganism, he also asserts that Lycidas has rendered himself into the genius of the shore who will play guardian angel to those who remained afloat in the dangerous flood.

What is missing in the pastoral vein, is the intense personal regret. Adding to the exceptions, are the two famous digressions: the discussion of the true values of life and denigration of the clergymen of the day. The demise of Edward King is indeed poignant for the church, as it is deprived of an example. Furthermore, the death has resulted in yet another loss of a great poet who knew "to build the lofty rhyme". Milton's epigram labels Lycidas a "monody": a lyrical lament for one voice.