Again,

“—­Sweet Interchange Of Hill and Valley, Rivers, Woods and Plains, Now Land, now Sea, and Shores with Forest crown’d Rocks, Dens and Caves.

Again,

  “The glittering Guard he pass’d, and now is come
  Into the blissful Field, thro’ Groves of Myrrh,
  And flow’ry Odours, Cassia, Nard, and Balm.

V. As to the fifth Remark upon Virgil, which relates to his using the Particles Que and Et in his Verse, there can be nothing of that nature in Milton.  So that I proceed to

VI.  The sixth thing to be observed, which is, The Collocatio Verborum.

Milton often places the Adjective after the Substantive, which very much raises the Stile.

“Strait he commands that at the warlike Sound Of Trumpets loud, and Clarions, be uprear’d His mighty Standard.  That proud Honour claim’d Azazel, as his Right; a Cherub tall.—­

Again,

  “Thy Goodness beyond Thought and Pow’r Divine.—­

And again,

  “Then from the Mountain hewing Timber tall.

But the utmost of his Art in this respect consists in his removing the Adjective, the Substantive, and even the Verb, from the Line or Verse in which the Sense is previously contained, and the grammatical Construction inverted, to the Beginning of the next Line.  This has a wonderful Effect; especially when the Word is a Monosyllable.

  “Here finish’d he, and all that he had made
  View’d—­and behold all was entirely good.

Again,

  “Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart
  Shook—­But refus’d to strike.

This artful Collocation commands the Attention, and makes the Reader feel and see what is offer’d to him.

That this Effect is owing to the Collocation will appear by considering any one of the Instances now produc’d.  For Example: 

  “Over their Heads triumphant Death his Dart
  Shook.—­

This Passage makes the Reader see Death with his Dart in his Hand, making it over the Heads of the unhappy Creatures describ’d in the Lazar-house, as plainly as if the whole was painted upon Canvas.  But let this Line be alter’d thus: 

  “Over their Heads Death shook his dreadful Dart.

How much of the Fire and Spirit of this Passage is lost, will be easily perceiv’d.

I was long of Opinion that Milton had invented this Art himself, for I knew he had it not from Virgil:  The Latin Language is hardly capable of it.  But by Accident I found Milton learn’d it from Homer, though it is plain what is Art in the former was Chance in the latter; which cannot be disputed when it is considered that in so many thousand Lines that we have of Homer’s, there is I believe but one single Instance of this Monosyllable Collocation; but in Milton there are many, both Substantives, Adjectives and Verbs.  The single Instance in Homer is in Odysse 9. in the Story of Polyphemus.