Note 1383 — AN ESSAY ON MAN, IN FOUR EPISTLES (continued 3)
Reading edition
Milton, Par. Lost, i. 392:
First Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifice, and parent's tears, Though for the noise of drums and timbrels loud Their children's cries unheard, that passed through fire To his grim idol.
Many of Pope's writings are strewed with Miltonic phrases, though they need not be pointed out, and certainly do not detract from his general merit. Such interweavings of significant and forcible expressions have often a striking effect.—Bowles.