Il Penseroso (The Serious Man) is a vision of poetic melancholy by John Milton , first found in the 1645/1646 quarto of verses The Poems of Mr.
The melancholic mood is idealised by the speaker as a means by which to "attain / To something like prophetic strain," and for the central action of Il Penseroso - which, like L\'Allegro, proceeds in couplets of iambic tetrameter..
The speaker of this reflective ode dispels "vain deluding Joys" from his mind in a ten-line prelude, before invoking "divinest Melancholy" to inspire his future verses.
It was presented as a companion piece to L\'Allegro, a vision of poetic mirth.
John Milton , both English and Latin, published by Humphrey Moseley.
Il Penseroso (The Serious Man) is a vision of poetic melancholy by John Milton , first found in the 1645/1646 quarto of verses The Poems of Mr
