Other related topics at: Literary Topics 1,054. Poetry; Structure "Dryden remarks that Milton has some flats among his elevations. This is only to say that all the parts are not equal. In every work one part must be for the sake of others; a palace must have passages, a poem must have transitions. It is no more to be required that wit should always be blazing than that the sun should always stand at noon. In a great work there is a vicissitude of luminous and opaque parts, as there is in the world a succession of day and night. Milton, when he has expiated the sky, may be allowed sometimes to visit the earth; for what other author ever soared so high or sustained his flight so long?" Johnson: Milton (Lives of the Poets) Link