Point of View

"Lycidas" is written primarily from the first person perspective of the shepherd who mourns his friend's death. The poem details his retreat into nature to contemplate his grief and entreat his surroundings to help him make sense of Lycidas's untimely death. The speaker frequently shifts abruptly from memory to denial to desperate pleas to undo what has been done. As such, "Lycidas" can read as a deeply personal poem, one that dramatizes a person's experience with loss and showcases the erratic emotions inherent to the grieving process.

There are other voices present throughout the poem, most notably Apollo and Saint Peter. Apollo intervenes to ensure the speaker that his understanding of fame is too rooted in the earth and that he should consider the fame of eternal life. Saint Peter appears in order to chastise corrupt shepherds and threaten them with smiting at the final...