Comus (A Masque Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634) is a masque in honour of chastity written by John Milton. It was first presented on Michaelmas 1634 before John Egerton, 1st Earl of Bridgewater at Ludlow Castle in celebration of the Earl's new post as Lord President of Wales.
The masque is known colloquially as Comus, but the full title in its first publication[1] is A Maske presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: on Michaelmasse night, before the Right Honorable, John Earle of Bridgewater, Viscount Brackly, Lord President of Wales, and one of His Majesties most honorable privie counsell.[1] It was performed for the Earl of Bridgewater on 29 September 1634. The performance also featured Egerton's two sons as the Elder Brother and Second Brother, and his daughter Alice as the Lady.[2]
Comus was printed anonymously in 1637 in a quarto issued by bookseller Humphrey Robinson. Milton included the work in his Poems of 1645 and 1673. His text was used for a highly successful masque by musician Thomas Arne in 1738, which ran for more than 70 years in London.
