Pastoral elegy
An elegy (mourning poem) set in an idealised pastoral landscape inhabited by shepherds and nature. The pastoral setting becomes a venue for grief and questioning about loss, mortality, and meaning. Pastoral elegies conventionally mourn poets or other figures of cultural importance.
Real World
Milton's 'Lycidas' mourns his Cambridge contemporary Edward King by placing his death in an Arcadian shepherd world — the idealised landscape makes the loss feel both universal and unbearable.
Exam Focus
Always analyse how the pastoral setting creates ironic contrast with death; the tension between beauty and loss is central to the form's meaning and mark-scheme.
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