It seems that Milton intentionally crafted Lycidas to have parallels with Orpheus. He identified that in spite Orpheus' pastoral practice and virtue, he met a tragic fate. This essay seems to assert that Milton was grappling with the purpose of practicing pastoral virtue as a poet at the time and intended to express his plight in Lycidas while dedicating it to a fellow poet who also suffered a tragic fate that was of no moral consequence. I imagine these thoughts were pondered even more after Milton became blind.

I feel that judging the sincerity of the Lycidas based on Milton's insignificant relationship to King is a bit unfair. I believe this knowledge of their relationship may have tainted Johnson's critical reception. I don't believe fictitious writing in a work of poetry dedicated to a deceased person is automatically grounds for insincerity. I've read about memorials for deceased musicians where those who attended and contributed compositions or material items in the deceased's honor had no personal interaction or close relationship to them. The legacy of the deceased drew other highly-regarded musicians to pay their respects and show their appreciation for the culture that the deceased influenced and contributed to that united them intellectually and emotionally. I feel that the case with Milton's contribution to Justa Edouardo King naufrago is a similar situation.