237. ~likest thy Narcissus~. Narcissus, who failed to return the love of Echo, was punished by being made to fall in love with his own image reflected in a fountain: this he could never approach, and he accordingly pined away and was changed into the flower which bears his name. See the dialogue between Mercury and Echo in _Cynthia's Revels_, i. 1. Grammatically, _likest_ is an adjective qualified adverbially by "(to) thy Narcissus": comp. _Il Pens._ 9, "likest hovering dreams." 238. ~have hid~. This is not a grammatical inaccuracy (as Warton thinks), but the subjunctive mood. 240. ~Tell me but where~, _i.e._ 'Only tell me where.' 241. ~Sweet Queen of Parley~, etc. 'Parley is conversation (Fr. _parler_, to speak): _parlour_, _parole_, _palaver_, _parliament_, _parlance_. etc., are cognate. ~Daughter of the Sphere~, _i.e._ of the sphere which is her "airy shell" (l. 231): comp. "Sphere-born harmonious sisters, Voice and Verse" (_At a Solemn Music_, 2). 243. ~give resounding grace~, etc., _i.e._ add the charm of echo to the music of the spheres. The metrical structure of this song should be noted: the lines vary in length from two to six feet. The rhymes are few, and the effect is more striking owing to the consonance of _shell_, _well_ with _vale_, _nightingale_; also of _pair_, _where_ with _are_ and _sphere_; and of _have_ with _cave_. Masson regards this song as a striking illustration of Milton's free use of imperfect rhymes, even in his most musical passages. 244. ~mortal mixture ... divine enchanting ravishment~. The words _mortal_ and _divine_ are in antithesis: comp. _Il Pens._ 91, 92, "The immortal mind that hath forsook Her mansion in this fleshly nook." The lines embody a compliment to the Lady Alice: read in this connection lines 555 and 564. 'Ravishment,' rapture (a cognate word) or ecstasy: comp. _Il Pens._ 40, "Thy rapt soul sitting in thine eyes"; also l. 794. 246. ~Sure~, used adverbially: comp. line 493, and 'certain,' l. 266. 247. ~vocal~, used proleptically. 248. ~his~ = its: see note, l. 96. The pronoun refers to 'something holy.' 251. ~smoothing the raven down~. As the nightingale's song smooths the rugged brow of Night (_Il Pens._ 58), so here the song of the lady smooths the raven plumage of darkness. In classical mythology Night is a winged goddess. 252. ~it~, _i.e._ darkness. 253. ~Circe ... Sirens three~. In the _Odyssey_ the Sirens are two in number and have no connection with Circe. They lived on a rocky island off the coast of Sicily and near the rock of Scylla (l. 257), and lured sailors to destruction by the charm of their song. Circe was also a sweet singer and had the power of enchanting men; hence the combined allusion: see also Horace's _Epist._ i. 2, 23, _Sirenum voces, et Circes pocula nôsti_. Besides, the Sirens were daughters of the river-god Achelous, and Circe had Naiads or fountain-nymphs among her maids.