And florish faire above his equal peers.
(The fair young man was fair, fairer even than his equals, who were also his peers.)
In the remaining lines of the stanza the comparison of his hair to the rays of the sun is played with in the same way:--
His snowy front curled with golden heares,
Like Phœbus' face adorned with sunny rayes,
Divinely shone; and two sharp winged sheares,
Decked with diverse plumes, like painted Jayes,
Were fixed at his back to cut his ayery wayes.
The whole stanza is beautiful, and musical with the music of redundance. Nothing could be less like Milton's mature style. His verse, "with frock of mail, Adamantean proof," advances proudly and irresistibly, gaining ground at every step. He brings a situation before us in two lines, every word contributing its share:--
Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat,