Evidence in LA IL that the poet favors Melancholy over Mirth

Topic

Evidence in LA IL that the poet favors Melancholy over Mirth

Instructions

What evidence is there in LA IL that the poet favors Melancholy over Mirth? Or do you see the two poems as simply presenting two equal lifestyle choices?

Answer preview

Although scholars have debated on the character of the poems “L’Allegro and IL Penseroso”, most depict that Milton’s favors the lifestyle of IL Penseroso. To the contrary, his ambivalent nature to the lifestyles is seen openly in the poem “I allegro.” As these poems harmonize each other and also stand alone they stand to achieve harmony by their liaison. Milton believed that some mirth and melancholy is essential for life. Milton is not evidently seen to favor one lifestyle over the other as she believed that each lifestyle has intrinsic worth in its own twist. “Hocutt, D. L., & Schwartz, L. (1997). Milton and the Tension of Poetic Inspiration.”

Word count: 358