Hills and Valleys

The hills and valleys in the poem are where the speaker retreats to sing his funeral song for his fellow shepherd Lycidas. This setting is a conventional one for pastoral poetry, in which shepherds often sing and dance in their natural surroundings while subtly discussing things like poetry, politics, and love. The natural setting provides the opportunity for Milton to showcase his knowledge of classical mythology, which often attaches certain gods and goddesses to different parts of nature.

Heaven

The Christian notion of heaven is alluded to throughout the poem, most notably by Saint Peter who threatens to smite any unworthy shepherds at the last judgement. The speaker struggles to understand heaven until the very end of the poem, when he realizes that despite Lycidas's earthly death, he can still celebrate his birth into eternal life. He instructs his fellow shepherds to celebrate this phenomenon with...