Note 90 — Chapter V
Reading edition
It is perhaps useless to debate about this line. Whether one divides thus:
_̷ ◡ | ◡ _̷ | _̷ ◡ | _̷ ◡ | ◡ _̷
and says there is an 'inversion' in the first, third, and fourth feet, or preferably thus:
‸ _̷ | ◡`[A] _̷ | ‸ _̷ | ◡ _̷ | ◡`[A] _̷
the rhythm is extraordinary; and the added complexity of 'own' puts it entirely hors concours. Compare with it, however, Milton's
Which but th' Omnipotent none could have foil'd. Paradise Lost, I, 273. Not merely titular, since by degree. Ibid., V, 774.