Milton presents a bleak view of fate, suggesting that just as someone is about to achieve greatness, death can strike unexpectedly. This raises an important question: Is Milton merely expressing grief and frustration over Lycidas' untimely death, or is he also revealing a deeper anxiety about his own mortality and poetic legacy?

This suggests that Lycidas and the speaker were shepherds together, but I think this is meant to be metaphorical rather than literal. In pastoral poetry, shepherds often symbolize poets, and "Fed the same flock" can represent nurturing an audience with poetry. This could be a reference to their shared time as students at Cambridge rather than actual shepherding.

Milton expresses sorrow not just for Lycidas but for the loss of a fellow poet. When he asks, "Who would not sing for Lycidas?", it’s not just rhetorical, it shows his own deep sense of obligation to memorialize his friend through poetry. This suggests that writing the elegy is both a duty and a way to process his own grief.

I'm unsure of what Milton is getting at with this question, is he showing his existential dread at the loss of his friend, or is the question more literal and meant to be answered?

This phrase was puzzling at first, but once I understood it's meaning it became one of my favorite lines. "shattering leaves" suggests an abrupt, almost violent disruption of nature’s cycle, much like how Lycidas’ life was cut short before he could reach his full potential. The "mellowing year" likely refers to autumn, a time when things naturally ripen and settle. By breaking the leaves before that stage, Milton emphasizes how unnatural and tragic it is for someone to die young, before they’ve had the chance to fully grow.