John Milton | L'Allegro and Il Penseroso | Summary and Analysis

John Milton | L'Allegro and Il Penseroso | Summary and Analysis

 Hello and welcome to the Discourse. L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are the two companion poems by John Milton that he wrote during his early days as a poet after completing his graduation from Cambridge.

These are companion poems, that is these were written around the same time with a similar theme in mind. These are two contrasting poems at the opposite ends of a debatable point. The issue under discussion in these poems is whether it is better to live a carefree life or a contemplative life.

The titles, L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are Italian terms though the poems are written in English. Both these poems begin with the poet invoking the Greek Goddesses as their guide. Several Greek and Roman gods and goddesses have been mentioned in these poems.

L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are companion poems. These two poems together can be understood either as arguments offered by two different poets supporting different approaches to life. Or, these two poems can also be considered following the same poet from his youth in L’Allegro to his old age in Il Penseroso. These poems were very popular during the 17^th, and 18^th centuries. William Blake was so inspired by these two poems of Milton that he made illustrations of both these poems.

L’Allegro means a Joyful man in Italian. L’Allegro appears to be inspired by Greek and Roman classical works. Christopher Marlowe’s A Passionate Shepherd can also be seen as an inspiration for Milton as Marlowe’s Passionate Shepherd and Milton’s L’Allegro offer similar arguments to support a carefree life.

Both L’Allegro and Il Penseroso were written in Octasyllabic couplets (couplets with lines having 8 syllables). However, there are some 7 syllabic lines in between the poems. There are some interesting metaphors, similes, hyperbole, allusions, and major conflict in the poems. The tone of L’Allegro is buoyant and joyous.

Summary of L’Allegro

In the introductory stanza of L’Allegro, the poet banishes goddess Melancholy. He begs goddess Melancholy to leave him alone and go and bother the Cimmerians. Cimmerians are a group of people who were believed to dwell in unending darkness. The poem is set in springtime, so the sunlight is in full bloom. So the poet suggests that Melancholy and all other dark things should go away.

After this, the poet welcomes and celebrates, Mirth, the goddess of Joy throughout the poem. The poet begins by imagining how the goddess Mirth was born. In one such story, the poet suggests that she is the daughter of goddess Venus and god Bachus. Both these Greek gods are associate with love and fertility. In another similar story of the birth of the goddess of Joy, the poet suggests that she is the daughter of Zephyr and Aurora, the Greek gods representing the wind and dawn. As the poem continues, the poet continues to bounce from one story of her birth to other as he doesn’t have enough patience to analyze the details. The poet then glorifies the attributes of goddess Mirth that she brings with her such as happiness, Jest, Jollity, Sport, Laughter, and Liberty. The poet then personifies each of these feelings and emotions and imagines that all these are dancing with him to celebrate the arrival of goddess Mirth.

The poet then imagines how wonderful his life would be if he is allowed to live with goddess Mirth and Liberty, her attribute. He describes the way his day will begin with Mirth and Liberty. He first describes the village life and imagines a morning hunt taking place in the woods as peasants come out of their homes, talking while starting work in their fields. As the poet enjoys the beautiful landscape, he sees a cottage of a peasant couple named Corydon and Thyrsis as they enjoy their meal.

The poet again imagines enjoying and dancing with peasants, Mirth, and Liberty as they enjoy the evening. The poet then slips into slumber and enjoys some beautiful dreams of knights, castles, fairies, and goblins. In his dream, he, Mirth, and Liberty visit a city to enjoy an evening. The three enjoy the active life of the city as they go to watch some fine plays by playwrights like William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.

The poet ends the poem by saying that the poetry of Mirth can beat the finest song of Orpheus. In the last line, the poet again says that he wishes to spend his life with the goddess Mirth.

Il Penseroso Summary

L’Allegro and Il Penseroso were published in 1645 when John Milton was at the age of 37. However, it is believed that both these poems were written in 1632, during the last year of Milton at Cambridge University, or just after he completed his post-graduation. Il Penseroso offers the second segment of the debate that began in the poem L’Allegro. L’Allegro suggests that one of the extremes of life, that is carefree joyous life is the best, in contrast, Il Penseroso suggests that Melancholy is very important to live. Both poem together suggests that it is impossible to lead a life with either of the one extremes, and there needs to be some balance. These two companion poems offer an argument against arguing.

L’Allegro began with the poet banishing Melancholy as he invites Mirth as his guide to life. Il Penseroso begins as the poet offers his argument to banish goddess Mirth and her attributes, the vain deluding joys. The poet then chooses and invites goddess Melancholy as his guide to life. He then offers an account of the birth of the goddess Melancholy. He says that Melancholy is the daughter of Vesta and Saturn. This story is an aberration to Greek mythology as Milton himself invented it. Vesta is the Greek goddess known for her virginity and chastity. Saturn, the father of Vesta, is a god of justice. The poet says that Melancholy is the result of an incestuous relationship between Vesta and Saturn. It is Milton’s own invention and an abrupt profane note about the life of contemplation.

The poet then invites the attributes of goddess Melancholy to join him. Her attributes are Peace, Quiet, Fast, Leisure, Contemplation, and Silence. He then personifies these attributes.

The poet then describes how he walks along with Melancholy, peace, contemplation, and silence to a lonely cottage or solitary tower in a dark silent forest.

In the peaceful surroundings, the poet thinks about philosophy and gradually wanders towards the thoughts of Tragedy and imagines the fall of big, strong ancient cities. He then thinks about modern cities and how people of modern cities find tragic dramas satisfactory. The poet then alludes to the story of Orpheus. Orpheus is a classical mythical figure, a shepherd who tried to bring his wife back from the darkness of the underworld. The poet then brings up the story of Canace, a character from Chaucer’s Canterbury tale (The Squire's Tale). Canace gets a magical ring that allows her to translate the songs of birds. Canace uses the ring to hear the tragic love story of a hawk.

The poet spends the whole night with the goddess Melancholy and Contemplation. As the morning arrives, he asks Melancholy to take him to a shadowed part of the deep wood where he could dream a little more. Finally, the poet wakes up John Milton | L'Allegro and Il Penseroso | Summary and Analysiswhile hearing an organ being played in a nearby church. In the end, the poet decides to retire to a hermitage and spend the rest of his life while studying and contemplating. In the end, he again stresses that he wants to live his whole life with Melancholy.

L’Allegro and Il Penseroso are two extremes of life, the first is full of joys, and the second is full of contemplation. In each of the poems, the poet begins while rejecting the idea presented in the other poem. The main idea of the two poems is to suggest that none of the two extremes is a proper way to lead a life and there needs to be a balance. There are sexual innuendos in both of the poems.

In Il Penseroso, the poet suggests an incestuous relationship between Vesta and her father Saturn while he addresses Melancholy as a pure devout nun.

So this is about L’Allegro and Il Penseroso, the two companion poems by John Milton. We will continue to discuss other important works of John Milton. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.