And giv'n his rolling eyes a sparkling grace,
And breath'd a youthful vigour on his face.
Dryden.
Or that Milton did not intend to exemplify the harmony which he mentions:
Fountains! and ye that warble as ye flow,
Melodious murmurs! warbling tune his praise.
That Milton understood the force of sounds well adjusted, and knew the compass and variety of the ancient measures, cannot be doubted; since he was both a musician and a critick; but he seems to have considered these conformities of cadence, as either not often attainable in our language, or as petty excellencies unworthy of his ambition: for it will not be found that he has always assigned the same cast of numbers to the same objects. He has given in two passages very minute descriptions of angelic beauty; but though the images are nearly the same, the numbers will be found, upon comparison, very different:
And now a stripling cherub he appears,
Not of the prime, yet such as in his face
Youth smil'd celestial, and to every limb