I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude, / And with forced fingers rude, / Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.
-- Speaker

Importance: This quote appears at the beginning of the poem when the speaker announces that he will disrupt the laurel and myrtle trees with his funeral song for Lycidas. It illustrates Milton's dedication to the pastoral tradition in which shepherds are presented as simple and untrained, but also suggests that the poet is highly skilled and will offer a literary intervention with his work.

For we were nursed upon the self-same hill, / Fed the same flock; by fountain, shade, and rill.
-- Speaker

Importance: This quote appears as the speaker is reminiscing about his youth that he spent with Lycidas. Here, the speaker portrays himself and Lycidas as equals. Based on the context surrounding the poem, these lines suggest that Milton saw himself and Edward King as equal poets. In reality, they were...