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Works of John Milton: Comus (1634)

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From: Monarch Notes
Date: 19630101
Author:Milton, John

Milton, John
Monarch Notes
01-01-1963
Comus (1634):

When Milton wrote this work at the request of Henry Lawes, a noted
musician of the day, he entitled it "A Mask." In 1738, long after Milton's
death, it was given the name by which it is now known by one of its printers,
Dr. John Dalton.

A mask was a sort of Renaissance musical comedy. Masks were written
to be presented in the homes of wealthy patrons of the arts. They were
usually pastoral in nature. That is, they imitated the pastoral poetry of
the Greeks. They had rural settings and often had as their characters
shepherds or ...

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