Lycidas
http://www.bachelorandmaster.com/britishandamericanpoetry/lycidas.html This analysis discusses the context, form and content of the poem Lycidas by John Milton, not necessarily in that order. To begin with, Milton chose Lycidas as an attempt at a trope, or continuation of a character, much like contemporary fanfiction. Lycidas was first written about by Herodotus in his ninth volume. Lycidas was an Athenian Councillor who was brutally executed (stoned to death) for suggesting truce between Athens and Persia, who were contemplating a hugely wasteful war when negotiations and peace were both available options. When written about by Theocritus, Lycidas was a goatherd wrongfully murdered, and by the time Milton wrote the poem Lycidas, Lycidas had become symbolic of unfair, unreasonable, fatally brutal death. Lycidas employs this symbol to express his anguish and frustration about the futility of Edward King’s death. This leads one to observe the form of the poem, which is an ...