Headnote and Lines 1-14

In the headnote, which was added in the 1645 edition of the poem, Milton states that the poem is a “monody,” that is, a lament recited or sung by a single voice. (This is in spite of the fact that the poem features several different voices.) He says that it is for a friend who drowned on the Irish seas in 1637. This is a reference to Edward King, a fellow student of Milton’s at Cambridge, who drowned on a visit to his native Ireland. Milton also states that the elegy will expose the corrupt clergy of the Anglican Church and bring about their downfall.

The laurels the speaker (the country swain) picks represent the crown of poetry bestowed by the god Apollo, and myrtles represent Venus, the goddess of love, who is often shown with a myrtle crown or wreath. Ivy is associated with Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, and also in Christian tradition with love and immortality. The swain picks these plants even though they are not yet ripe (Line 3) because Lycidas is dead before his prime and no one who is left is his equal. Therefore, Lycidas must not go unmourned; tears must be shed for him as his reward (Line 14).