Lycidas as a Form of a Pastoral Elegy Written by John Milton - Essay Example

Essay, English: Lycidas Introduction Mortality of human beings is such an unpalatable fact of life and at times it paves way for reactions of the highest spiritual level. Birth and death of a human being are totally controlled by one’s destiny. “Lycidas” is a form of a pastoral elegy, in which the John Milton, laments the death of a fellow Cambridge student, Edward King, in a drowning incident in the Irish Sea in 1637.The tragic event touched the chords of the inner world of Milton which resulted in one of his greatest emotional poetic creations “Lycidas”, in the form of spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. What is the connection between a pastoral elegy and the corrupt clergy? Seemingly nothing! But to establish connectivity is the art of the skillful poet like Milton. The church has ‘vested interest’ in any death as it is considered as an act of God. In case of premature deaths, the questions addressed by the near and dear ones of the dead individual are intriguing. The clergy of the Church has to defend such unfortunate incidents with great skill. Milton saw his opportunity to test his poetic skill and to take to task the corrupt clergy of the time. Thus the pastoral elegy of “Lycidas” was born in which a shepherd mourns the death of a fellow shepherd. By using this limited platform, the poet reaches out to the bigger issues that confront the society and which have engulfed the administration of Churches. John Milton’s use of the pastoral in his poem “Lycidas”, transforms a work of mourning into a work of spiritual consolation and additionally, how “Lycida” addresses the corruption of the English church. A poet may be intelligent. He may seem impartial in articulating his views on a given subject. But no poet will be able to sweep under the carpet one’s strong thinking on the issues that confront the society during his time and Milton succumbs to this temptation, and rightly so. Thus “Lycidas” serves the purpose of a historical document as for the goings on in the Christian Church during the time of Milton and thus it is the gold-mine for researchers of many subjects, and the mirror that reflects the cultural traditions of the era. 1. Mark Womack writes, “Lycidas exemplifies such daredevil greatness on several levels. The poem employs patterns of structure, prosody, and imagery to maintain a dynamic coherence.”(120) He further adds, “Much of the value of this poem lies in the undeniable sense of consolation it provides in the face of death.”(134)By naming his deceased fellow Cambridge classmate, Edward King, Lycidas, Milton is following to a custom of memorialising a loved one through pastoral poetry. Milton describes King as "selfless," even though he was of the clergy. Through allegory, the speaker accuses God of unjustly punishing the young, selfless King. The speaker labels the ministers and bishops of the Church of England, as depraved, materialistic, and selfish. He begins with imagery of the pastoral, and then he turns mournful and sadly reflective, which are the characteristics of this elegy. Milton uses the pastoral to pay tribute to his time with Edward King, who was also an aspiring poet, he recalls the time together as he portrays two young shepherds who live in their pastures. “For we were nursed upon the self-same hill, Fed the same flock; by fountain, shade, and rill” (Lines 23-24) Pastoral celebrates nature, youth and natural beauty and depicts a stark contrast between the urban and civilized. The pastoral goes back to the ancient world; Virgils “Eclogues” captured dialogues between shepherds and his fantasy of the rural and leisure, served as inspiration for John Milton’s poetry. The pastoral was revived in Renaissance England with Marlowes “The Passionate Shepherd” to his Love. John Miltons “Lycidas” was written for the death of a drowned student at his university, in the style of the pastoral. This pastoral elegy is prophetic for it foreshadows the ruin of a corrupted clergy, then in its prime. Milton imagines himself as a fellow shepherd; he depicts the role of an artist in a time of crisis and uses a baroque style. “Lycidas” uses catachresis, challenges you to reconstruct preconceived notions. In this essay, I will examine how John Milton uses of the pastoral in his poem “Lycidas”, transforms a work of mourning into a work of spiritual consolation and additionally, how it addresses the corruption of the English church. In the poem Milton has employed a number of pastoral conventions, and “Lycidas” is a pastoral name which he uses to refer to the King. Providing allegorical meaning is the highlight of Greek and Roman literature. It serves the hidden agenda of the poet in criticizing a social malady, instead of launching a direct attack on the malfunctioning administration in churches. 2. “Lycidas” works to deconstruct the idea of the pastor. Milton understands the kindness, care and responsibility that a shepherd has for his sheep. He contrasts a bad pastor as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. “Lycidas” depicted as a priest-shepherd and its problem, the frustration of a sincere shepherd in a corrupt church and the process of resolving his plight. W. Shumaker writes, “Three movements are enclosed within a pastoral introduction and conclusion, each movement in turn depending to some extent on pastoral machinery for its organization.”(485)Death of an individual is not an ordinary happening from the spiritual point of view. From the secular point of view death by drowning is an incident, but from the point of view of transcendence, it is an incident that had to happen at the appointed time. Milton deals with the corrupt dispositions of the Church in the second part of the poem. W. Shumaker quotes the Arthur Barker’s second movement and writes, “The second laments “Lycidas” as priest-shepherd; its problem, the frustration of a sincere shepherd in a corrupt church, is resolved by St. Peter’s reference to the ‘two handed engine’ of divine retribution.”(485)The shepherd-poet is into the investigation of the tragic death, and as such demands to know from Triton, the spokesperson for Neptune, the god of the sea. He comes out with the clarification that Neptune was not responsible for the death of “Lycidas.” He provides the fact statement that the sea and winds were calm that day. The drowning incident happened by the malfunctioning ship in which “Lycidas” was sailing. The poet writes, “that fatal and perfidious bark, / Built in th’ eclipse and rigg’d with curses dark.”(Lines 100-101) Figuratively, this ship is the church, the divine vehicle taking the support of which human beings continue their spiritual journey. Church is supposed to be the abode of God. St. Peter intervenes on behalf “Lycidas” and supports him that he was far superior and noble as compared to those who administered the Church affairs and those who do not care for the welfare of their congregation. Milton writes, “The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed.”(Line 125) Peter declares that they are bound to be punished as per the law of divine retribution. In secular terms also no action, good or bad, can escape reaction. He makes it known about the nature of punishment, “That two-handed engine at the door/ Stands ready to smite once, and smite no more.”(Lines 130-131) Milton does not provide any solution for challenging death and acknowledges the pleasure of the supreme will of God to create and handle such situations. Mark Womack writes, “Lycidas deals with a tragic death; the very occurrence of such a tragic event threatens our sense of comprehensible order in the world. Although Lycidas cannot make death comprehensible to us, it can and does temporarily embolden our minds by offering us a token experience of superhuman mental capacity (134). The poem performs a good act of spiritual counseling. Yet there seems to be a drawback in Milton’s approach and J. Hanford writes, “ …and not infrequently the pastoral imagery continues to be felt as a defect, attracting attention to its own absurdities and thereby seriously interfering with the reader’s enjoyment of the piece itself.”(403) May be true, but the author only knows the compulsions for the procedures that he adopts to lend support to a burning issue, and bad Church administration was one of the problematic issues of his time. 3. Milton believed a corrupt clergy would interfere with people’s devotion to God. “Lycidas”ends with him sinking low, though his body is high next to the waters in which he drowned. The poem ends with “Lycidas” married to Christ which serves as the renewal of church and society. Through the pastoral, “Lycidas” renews faith and hope. Milton took public stand on a number of issues of his time, most importantly his poetic onslaught on malpractices in religion. Most of the bishops and priests had cross dangling on their necks, but no Christ in the hearts. Christianity stood divided, the Anglican Church (the Church of England) was split into high Anglican, moderate Anglican and Presbyterian. The division was more or less on societal status. Milton belonged to the sect mentioned last and the thought processes of this sect were revolutionary. They called for the abolition of the post of bishops and Milton went to the extent of calling for removal of all priests who he termed as “hirelings.” Whose hirelings? Logically they were the hirelings of the aristocrats and the political authority. He compared Catholics to hungry wolves leaping in to a sheep’s pen. Milton did not visualize a grim picture about the division of Protestants into more and smaller denominations. Rather he welcomed smaller denominations, as such fragmentation will lead to healthy introspection of the individual conduct of a Christian and overall administration of the Church affairs by those in charge. For a true Christian, Church and other binding forces will be obstacles in the path of spiritual progress. He called for the abolition of all Church establishments and advocated that religion should the private affair of an individual. A truly personal man can as well be the universal entity. He articulated that an organised religion as a hurdle to true faith. He believed in the individual and his conscience to be the best tools to interpret, understand follow the Word of God than the preaching of the priests. With true repentance and faith it should be possible for a human being to reach out to the portals of divinity. The story of “Lycidas” is no match or a competitive literature as compared to Bible, but it will enable the reader to engage Christian preachers who are part of the organized Church, challenge them in their evil and arrogant practices and help and individual to become a better Christian. As such, Milton was inclined to avail every opportunity, any platform to challenge the malpractices of the Christian Church. J. Hanford writes, “For in Milton’s eyes the pastoral element in “Lycides” was neither alien nor artificial. Familiar as he was with poetry of this kind in English, Latin, Italian, and Greek, Milton recognized the pastoral as one of the natural modes of literary expression, sanctioned by classic practice, and recommended by not in considerable advantages of its own.”(403)In the last section of the poem, he tones town his anger and the setting turns pastoral. The agents of nature join in paying tribute to the memory of “Lycidas”. The valleys come and get flowers to spread on the waters of the river Alpheus in his memory. The poet tells the4 shepherds to check their emotions, view the tragedy that has stuck them in its true perspective and enlightens them that “Lycidas” is not really dead. The sun sinks in the west only to rise again in the east, to view the world afresh and bring the glory of light to the world. Similarly, he argues that “Lycidas” is rising in Heaven. Being in heaven, he is sure to enjoy heavenly powers and as such he can be considered as the protective deity of those who sail the Irish Sea. Was such a prayer or religious procedure possible under the Church administration, as for the last rites for the departed soul? Moreover, in the present case, the death is under tragic circumstances. After the lamentation the poet immediately provides new perspective to the life of the shepherds with the encouraging counseling, “tomorrow to fresh woods, and pastures new.” As such Milton advocates the merit of living a true religious life, without entertaining a defeatist attitude, and he tells the people how to overcome the tragic event of death of the King. Conclusion Whether a King or the common Christian, the law of fragility of life is applicable to one and all and no priest can provide a religious solution, to bring the dead man to life again. The first condition for a religion to be true and acceptable is that it must provide the intrinsic strength to the followers to challenge the fear of death, more so premature death. Everything in this world is happening as it should. There are no undeserving rewards or illogical punishments to anyone. The articulation in this poem is about rebirth, a divine rebirth, which is significant and meaningful because it teaches the near and dear ones of the departed soul, as to how to face the situation and then lead the normal life. Succumbing to corruption is comparable to death of the spirit of humanity and as such it must be fought at all levels. Thus an incident of tragic death, was converted into a great opportunity by Milton to guide the society properly and he utilized his poetic talents to write one of the world’s greatest poems. He converted his anger and resentment against the societal traditions with a positive note and with the final affirmation of faith in cosmic order and that All Pervading force that guides the human destiny and destination. John Milton has no qualms about God, spirituality or even religion in their pure form. Society degenerates, when the so-called guardians of religion, succumb to negativities and when the religious power has succumbed to the political power, it has invariably resulted in damaging the noble structure of the society. Church administration was in bad shape during the times of Milton. There were multitudes of issues that were facing Christians, which the Church authorities were not willing to look into and provide a platform to resolve the grievances, especially the ones relating to their faith. Bibliography Hanford, J. (1910). The Pastoral Elegy and Milton"s Lycidas. PMLA, 25(3), p.403 Shumaker, W. (1951). Flowerets and Sounding Seas: A Study in the Affective Structure of Lycidas. PMLA, 66(4), p.485. Womack, Mark. "On the Value of Lycidas." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 1997: [119-136]. JSTOR. 3 Nov 2008 Read More