"L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso" by John Milton

PRIMARY SOURCE: "L'Allegro" and "Il Penseroso" (comp. 1632, pub. 1646)
Context

• Publication: Composed around the time that Milton completed his MA at Cambridge, July 1632.  In 1646. Printed by Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Moseley. EEBO link.
• Scholarship: Scholars are interested in the parallel constructions of both poems, in Milton's reconfiguration of the classics, and in the thought of early Milton.
• Why I'm reading it: The Canon, the pastoral.

Content

• Form: 
• "L'Allegro." Mixed: first alternating trimeter and pentameter couplets; mostly tetrameter couplets.
• "Il Penseroso." Mixed: first alternating trimeter and pentameter couplets; mostly tetrameter couplets.
• Genre:
• "L'Allegro." Pastoral (alacritous).
• "Il Penseroso." Pastoral (pensive).
• Conceit:
• "L'Allegro." A cheerful man invokes Mirth against Melancholy, a creature regarded as madness. The speaker follows Mirth ("sweet Liberty") as one of her followers. He observes a lark rising, a hunt, and a cock crowing. He observes the country people at work, animals, and shepherds. This observation is entirely speculative, since he observes so many things in one place. The day turns into a rustic holiday characterized by country tales and ale. The cheerful man imagines a tournament at a castled village, a wedding feast, and a performance of comedies by Jonson and Shakespeare. He calls for soft music that would awake Orpheus, and vows to follow Mirth if she can provide that.
• "Il Penseroso." A man walks alone at evening in pensive melancholy. He welcomes the goddess Melancholy, who is both black and bright as a constellation, since she is the daughter of Vesta. We also invites Peace and Quiet, though they are interrupted by a nightingale's song. The speaker would prefer silent walks under the moonlight through the land or by the shore. He takes inspiration and transport from ancient Greek and recent tragedy. The morning comes in clouds and showers. The speaker considers retiring to a cloister and submitting to the music of an organ. He wishes to be a prophetic figure in his study of beauty, and vows to follow Melancholy if she can provide that.
• Other notes: 
• Both poems follow a similar structure. Both speakers begin with a parodic invocation, respond to birdsong, journey abroad, respond to music, and vow to follow their muse.
• There's something in the Neoplatonic response to organ music that connects "Il Penseroso" to "Upon Appleton House," though that may just be the figure of the nightingale.
• Quoted and illustrated by Blake--

"There let Hymen oft appear
In Saffron Robe with Taper clear
With Mask & Antique Pageantry
Such sights as Youthful Poets dream
On Summers Eve by haunted Stream
Then lo the well trod Stage anon
If Johnsons learned Sock be on
Or Sweetest Shakespeare Fancys Child
Warble his native wood notes wild"

(NB: written with notes.)