The Great Die Young
In the pastoral elegy, Lycidas by John Milton, the author uses plants and flowers to set the mood of the story and express his sorrows for his lost friend Edward King. The quote, “Live your life to the fullest because you never know if your going to wake up the next morning” describes Milton’s idea that anything could happen at a given instant and nothing is certain. Milton is grieving over his lost friend and uses plants and flowers to represent the mood he is feeling. Edward King’s death has many similarities with plants, since he died prematurely at a young age. Milton uses imagery to let his readers picture the setting as he talks about the death of Edward King. Milton’s Lycidas sets the mood in the opening …show more content…

Milton is expressing to his audience that King would have been known throughout the world instead of people hearing about what he could have been and thinking it is just a rumor. Nowadays many famous people die young before they can show their fans the true talent they possess. Milton is truly saddened and is upset that the prize writer is gone and will never made another piece of work to show his true ability. Milton’s uses metaphor to describe a plant for its fame that “lives and spreads aloft.” Again, the author is explaining that his work will live forever even though he will not. Also, that his work will spread through people’s ears and eyes and his audience will understand how smart, talented, and hard working Edward King was. Towards the end of the story, Milton believes the plants are aware of the death and that they have “eyes.” It almost seems that King has become apart of nature symbolically and literally. “Throw hither all your quaint enameled eyes That on the green turf suck the honeyed showers, And purple all the ground with vernal flowers.”
Milton describes the plants as having “enameled eyes” which is giving his audience a view of all the flowers curiously patterned and with many colors. This changed the mood from very dark to a splash of color symbolizing happiness because of the remembrance of King. Milton also is expressing how “purple” and alive the flowers are by “sucking” the rainwater from the ground. Kings