The Adelphian, 1914, vol. 11, no. 03

              ®lj£   AitelpJjfan
Volume XI.
OCTOBER, 19U.
Number 3
Published three times a year by the students of St. Bonaventure's College.
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Address all communications to The Adelphian,  St. Bonaventure's College, St. John's,  N.F.
Board of Editors:—J. W.  McGrath,  W. Browne,  A. Thorne,  P. Kennedy,  R.  Organ,  M
Kennedy, F. Edens, C. Fox, C. McGrath, A. Neary.
A   College Friendship?
By BONDAL.
IF one reads the words printed at
the head of Miltons Xycidas' there
will be discovered the following, "In
this monody the author bewails a
learned friend, unfortunately drowned
in his passage from Chester on the
Irish seas, 1637." After going through
the) poem the reader is confronted
with the question whether Milton
was really bewailing the loss of a
college chum or whether he was
making a religious attack under cover.
Viewed cursorily, "Lycidas" is a
lamentation on the death of a fellow
student; but when examined somewhat more closely one is tempted to
ask if it is really so. Did Milton truly
mourn the loss of one with whom he
had passed his college days. The
average man expresses his grief by
using the simplest phrases; for true
grief, to express itself requires not
high sounding words but unaffected
simplicity. If this be the case Milton
is but a pedant for whom words
have more force than deeds.
To view this subject rightly, the
character of Milton must be understood.     Milton   was   not  an   ordinary
youth. For years he had delved in
the pages of classical antiquity; he
had revelled in the sayings and doings
of mythical gods of old. He was,
consequently, far more intimate with
these ancient heroes than he was with
the spirit of his own age. Need there
be surprises, then, that he should express himself in language which was,
at it were, second nature to him ?
This phase of the question has been
well summed up in the following
words: "It has been said that (Milton's style) is not the natural mode
of expressing passion; that where it
is real, its language is less figurative;
and that where there is leisure, there
is little grief. The mind of Milton
was a perfect fairyland, and every
thought which entered there, whether
grave or gay, magnificent or mean
quickly partook of a fairy form." In
fine this method of expression was
natural to and not affected by Milton.
If Milton had bewailed in classical
language his sorrow for King and
King alone, all would have been
well; but though the death of his
friend   is   the   primary   source   of  the