153. ~Thus I hurl~, etc. "Conceive that at this moment of the performance the actor who personates Comus flings into the air, or makes a gesture as if flinging into the air, some powder, which, by a stage-device, is kindled so as to produce a flash of blue light. In the original draft among the Cambridge MSS. the phrase is _powdered spells_; but Milton, by a judicious change, concealing the mechanism of the stage-trick, substituted _dazzling_" (Masson). 154. ~dazzling~. This implies both brightness and illusion. ~spells~. A _spell_ is properly a magical form of words (A.S. _spel_, a saying): here it refers to the whole enchantment employed. ~spongy air~: so called because it holds in suspension the magic powder. 155. ~Of power to cheat ... and (to) give~, etc. These lines are attributive to 'spells.' The preposition 'of' is thus used to denote a characteristic; thus 'of power' = powerful; comp. l. 677. ~blear illusion~; deception, that which deceives by _blurring_ the vision. Shakespeare has 'bleared thine eye' = dimmed thy vision, deceived (_Tam. Shrew_, v. 1. 120). Comp. "This may stand for a pretty superficial argument, to _blear_ our eyes, and lull us asleep in security" (Sir W. Raleigh). _Blur_ is another form of _blear_. 156. ~presentments~, appearances. This word is to be distinguished from _presentiment_. A presentiment is a "fore-feeling" (Lat. _praesentire_): while a presentment is something presented (Lat. _praesens_, being before). Shakespeare, _Ham._ iii. 4. 54, has 'presentment' in the sense of picture. ~quaint habits~, unfamiliar dress. Quaint is from Lat. _cognitus_, so that its primary sense is 'known' or 'remarkable.' In French it became _coint_, which was treated as if from Lat. _comptus_, neat; hence the word is frequent in the sense of neat, exact, or delicate. Its modern sense is 'unusual' or 'odd.' 158. ~suspicious flight~: flight due to suspicion of danger. 160. ~I, under fair pretence~, etc.: 'Under the mask of friendly intentions and with the plausible language of wheedling courtesy, I insinuate myself into the unsuspecting mind and ensnare it.' 161. ~glozing~, flattering, wheedling. Compare _Par. Lost_, ix. 549, "So _glozed_ the temper, and his proem tuned: Into the heart of Eve his words made way." _Gloze_ is from the old word _glose_, a gloss or explanation (Gr. _glossa_, the tongue): hence also glossary, glossology, etc. Trench, in his lecture on the Morality of Words, points out how often fair names are given to ugly things: it is in this way that a word which merely denoted an explanation has come to denote a false explanation, an endeavour to deceive. The word has no connection with _gloss_ = brightness. 162. ~Baited~, rendered attractive. Radically _bait_ is the causative of _bite_; hence a trap is said to be baited. Comp. _Sams. Ag._ 1066, "The _bait_ of honied words."