metrist and much too consummate a master of rhythm to do anything carelessly or without good reason. If he found his inspiration stumbling or becoming slipshod in its rhythmical effects, he would have corrected it.Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
CWSA 27
Fragment ID: 7001
Milton
And they bowed down to the Gods of their wives...1
Burnt after them to the bottomless pit ...
Certainly, Milton in the passages you quote had a rhythmical effect in mind; he was much too careful and conscientious a metrist and much too consummate a master of rhythm to do anything carelessly or without good reason. If he found his inspiration stumbling or becoming slipshod in its rhythmical effects, he would have corrected it.
22 April 1947
1 This is apparently a misquotation of Milton’s line: “And made him bow, to the gods of his wives”. – Ed.