[980.] suck the liquid air, inhale the pure air. ‘Liquid’ (lit. flowing) is used figuratively and generally in the sense of pure and sweet: comp. Son. i. 5, “thy liquid notes.”
[981.] All amidst. For this adverbial use of all (here modifying the following prepositional phrase), compare Il Pens. 33, “all in a robe of darkest grain.”
[982.] Hesperus: see [note], l. 393. Hesperus, the brother of Atlas, had three daughters—Aegle, Cynthia, and Hesperia. They were famed for their sweet song. In Milton’s MS. Hesperus is written over Atlas: Spenser makes them daughters of Atlas, as does Jonson in Pleasure reconciled to Virtue.
[984.] crispéd shades. ‘Crisped,’ like ‘curled’ (comp. “curl the grove,” Arc. 46) is a common expression in the poetry of the time, and has the same meaning. The original form is the adjective ‘crisp’ (Lat. crispus = curled), from which comes the verb to crisp and the participle crisped. Compare “the crisped brooks ... ran nectar,” Par. Lost, iv. 237, where the word is best rendered ‘rippled’; also Tennyson’s Claribel, 19, “the babbling runnel crispeth.” In the present case the reference is to the foliage of the trees.
[985.] spruce, gay. This word, now applied to persons with a touch of levity, was formerly used both of things and persons in the sense of gay or neat. Compare the present and earlier uses of the word jolly, on which Pattison says:—“This is an instance of the disadvantage under which poetry in a living language labours. No knowledge of the meaning which a word bore in 1631 can wholly banish the later and vulgar associations which may have gathered round it since. Apart from direct parody and burlesque, the tendency of living speech is gradually to degrade the noble; so that as time goes on the range of poetical expression grows from generation to generation more and more restricted.” The origin of the word spruce is disputed: Skeat holds that it is a corruption of Pruce (old Fr. Pruce, mod. Fr. Prusse) = Prussia; we read in the 14th century of persons dressed after the fashion of Prussia or Spruce, and Prussia was called Sprussia by some English writers up to the beginning of the 17th century. See also Trench, Select Glossary.
[986.] The Graces. The three Graces of classical mythology were Euphrosyne (the light-hearted one), Aglaia (the bright one), and Thalia (the blooming one). See L’Alleg. 12: “Euphrosyne ... Whom lovely Venus, at a birth, With two sister Graces more, To ivy-crownèd Bacchus bore.” They were sometimes represented as daughters of Zeus, and as the goddesses who purified and enhanced all the innocent pleasures of life. rosy-bosomed Hours. The Hours (Horæ) of classical mythology were the goddesses of the Seasons, whose course was described as the dance of the Horæ. The Hora of Spring accompanied Persephone every year on her ascent from the lower world, and the expression “The chamber of the Horæ opens” is equivalent to “The Spring is coming.” ‘Rosy-bosomed’; the Gk. ῥοδόκολπος: compare the epithets ‘rosy-fingered’ (applied by Homer to the dawn), ‘rosy-armed,’ etc.
[989.] musky ... fling. Compare Par. Lost, viii. 515: “Fresh gales and gentle airs Whispered it to the woods, and from their wings Flung rose, flung odours from the spicy shrub.” In this passage the verb fling is similarly used. ‘Musky’ = fragrant: comp. ‘musk-rose,’ l. [496].
[990.] cedarn alleys, i.e. alleys of cedar trees. For ‘alley,’ comp. l. [311]. For the form of ‘cedarn,’ see [note] on ‘azurn,’ l. 893. Tennyson uses the word ‘cedarn’ in Recoll. of Arab. Nights, 115.
[991.] Nard and cassia; two aromatic plants. Cassia is a name sometimes applied to the wild cinnamon: nard is also called spike-nard; see allusion in the Bible, Mark, xiv. 3; Exod. xxx. 24, etc.
[992.] Iris ... humid bow: see [note], l. 83. The allusion is, of course, to the rainbow.