What were Milton's relations to King? Were they intimate, personal friends?
Put into a sentence the substance of each digression.
In what part of the poem do we find that the allusions to the supernatural are classic and pagan? in what part, Christian? What corresponding difference is there in the tone of the poem?
FORM.--What relation do the first two paragraphs bear to the rest?
Where is the pastoral element first introduced?
At what places does Milton drop the pastoral form?
What is the effect of a change of person in the last eight lines?
Has the poem unity? Give reasons. How would the poet have justified his digressions?
How many syllables do you find as a rule in each line? How are the lines rhymed? Find several blank verse lines. What variations from the normal line do you note in the number of syllables and in the position of accented syllables?
Does the poet show deeper feeling in his lament for King or in the digressions?
In what way does the language differ from that of _L'Allegro_ and _Il Penseroso_? Account for the difference.
THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--Find out what you can of Milton's childhood home; his tastes and habits when a boy; his education; his perplexity about the choice of a career; his six years at Horton; his travels; his return home; his removal to London; his marriage; his prose writings; his spirit in controversy; his domestic life; his public life; his situation in 1660; his employment during the years of his retirement; the effect on his character, of controversy and the failure of his cherished ideals of government.
Into what three periods does his life naturally fall?
How does the character of his writings conform to these three periods?
What do _L'Allegro_ and _Il Penseroso_ reflect of his life at Horton? of his tastes? of his accomplishments? Do you find anything indicative of his Puritan sympathies? anything inconsistent with the Puritanism of his time?
Do you note any change of spirit from the earlier poems to _Lycidas_?
What spirit of Puritanism is reflected in _Lycidas_?
GENERAL HISTORICAL QUESTIONS.--Answers to the following are valuable because of their bearing on Milton's life and work.
How did James I differ from Elizabeth in matters of religious toleration?