Repeated readings and the memorizing of important passages are nowhere so important as in the study of lyric poetry. To make repeated readings useful, however, the teacher must convince the class by questions, or the introduction of discussion, that they have overlooked some message of the poet's. A general plan of study might include, first, wise preparatory work on the part of the teacher to bring the class into the atmosphere of the poem; second, a mastery of the details of the poem; third, a study of the content of the poem as a whole and in parts; fourth, a study of form and structure; fifth, a study of the poem as an interpretation of the poet. OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF L'ALLEGRO AND IL PENSEROSO I. Preparation A brief discussion of the meaning of lyric poetry will be helpful, with discriminations between it and other forms of verse. The class will be put in the right attitude for study by an interesting account of Milton's life up to 1632; his home influences; his education; his Puritan ideas; the difference between Puritanism in Milton's youth and Puritanism in the days of the Commonwealth; and, especially, by a vivid picture of the surroundings of the poet at Horton. II. Reading and Study The first reading may be utilized to get a general idea of the poem, and to mark the thought divisions. Other readings will make the student familiar with the details of description, the allusions, the difficult words and constructions, the varieties of meter and rhyme. A comparison, point by point, between the two poems will be helpful. Such a one might be written in the notebooks after the plan suggested by Mr. Chubb in _The Teaching of English_, p. 298. ======+==========================++======+===================== Lines | _L'Allegro_ ||Lines | _Il Penseroso_ ------+--------------------------++------+--------------------- 1-10|Dismissal--of Melancholy || 1-10|of deluding joys 11-46|Invitation to Mirth || 11-54|to Melancholy 47-150|Progress of day of social ||55-174|of night of solitary | delights || | joys 42| (_a_) Lark's Reveille || 56| (_a_) Evening 44| (_b_) "Dappled Dawn," || 67| (_b_) Nightingales | cock, hounds, etc.|| | even-song 60| (_c_) Sunrise || 74| (_c_) Moonrise | (_d_) Sounds of labor || | (_d_) Curfew ======+==========================++======+===================== III. Study of the Poem as a Whole A comprehensive study will naturally follow the detailed study and may, to a certain extent, be a summary of the work already done. CONTENT.--Contrast the two speakers in respect to their choice of companions; descriptions of morning and evening; their attitude toward country life; their recreations and employments in the daytime and in the evening; and their tastes in music, worship, and the theater.