Critical Reception
During the eighteenth century, both Il Penseroso and L'Allegro were popular and were widely imitated by poets. The poet and engraver William Blake, who was deeply influenced by Milton's poetry and personality, made illustrations to both L'Allegro and Il Penseroso.
Stella Revard believes that Milton, in his first publication of poems, "takes care to showcase himself as a poet in these first and last selections and at the same time to build his poetic reputation along the way by skillful positioning of poems such as 'L'Allegro' and 'Il Penseroso.'"
Read more about this topic: Il Penseroso
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