Milton and the Masque Tradition: The Early Poems, "Arcades," and <title>Comus</title>

“Mask, and antique Pageantry,” John Milton wrote in “L’Allegro,” are among those sights which “youthful Poets dream / On Summer eves by haunted stream.” Despite the frequency with which allusions to the masque have been noted in Milton’s verse, this is the first intensive study of the influence of the genre upon the early poems, “Arcades,” and Comus. Through detailed recreations of the initial performances of “Arcades” and Comus and an investigation of those masques best known to Milton and his collaborator Henry Lawes, John Demaray presents historical and critical arguments establishing Comus as central to the English court masque tradition of the Renaissance. PREFACE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I THE MASQUE AS DANCE II THE EARLY POEMS AND “ARCADES” III MASQUES AT COURT, 1631-1634 IV COMUS IS INVENTED V STAGING COM US AT LUDLOW VI THE LITERARY MASQUE APPENDIX: COMUS AND THE ITALIAN DRAMMA PER MUSICA BIBLIOGRAPHY NOTES INDEX