728. ~Who~. The pronoun here relates not to the word immediately preceding it, but to the substantive implied in the possessive pronoun _her_, _i.e._ the sons of her who. His, her, etc., in such constructions have their full force as genitives: comp. _L'Alleg._ 124, "her grace whom" = the grace of her whom. ~surcharged~: overloaded, 'overfraught' (l. 732). ~waste fertility~, wasted or unused abundance. This participial use of 'waste' seems to be due to the similarity in sound to such participles as 'elevate' (= elevated), 'instruct' (= instructed), etc., which occur in Milton (comp. _English Past and Present_, vi.). 729. ~strangled~, suffocated. 730. ~winged air darked with plumes~, _i.e._ the air being darkened by the flight of innumerable birds. Spenser also has _dark_ as a verb. Both clauses in this line are absolute. 731. ~over-multitude~, outnumber. This line and the preceding one illustrate the freedom with which, in earlier English, one part of speech was used for another. 732. ~o'erfraught~: see note, l. 355. 733. ~emblaze~, make to blaze, make splendid. There is perhaps a reference to the sense of _emblazon_, which is from M.E. _blazen_, to blaze abroad, to proclaim. 734. ~bestud with stars~. In Milton's MS. it is 'bestud the centre with their star-light,' _centre_ being the 'centre of the earth.' 735. ~inured~, accustomed, by custom rendered less sensitive. _Inure_ is from the old phrase 'in ure' = in operation (Fr. _œuvre_, work). 737. ~coy~: shy or reserved. ~cozened~: cheated, beguiled. The origin of this word is interesting: a cozener is one who, for selfish ends, claims kindred or _cousinship_ with another, and hence a flatterer or cheat. 739-755. ~Beauty is Nature's coin~, etc. "The idea that runs through these seventeen lines is a favourite one with the old poets; and Warton and Todd cite parallel passages from Shakespeare, Daniel, Fletcher, and Drayton. Thus, from Shakespeare (_M. N. D._ i. 1. 76-8): "Earthlier happy is the rose distilled Than that which, withering on the virgin thorn, Grows, lives, and dies, in single blessedness." See also Shakespeare's first six sonnets, which are pervaded by the idea in all its subtleties" (Masson). 743. ~let slip time~, _i.e._ allow time _to_ slip: see note, l. 304. Comp. _Par. Lost_, i. 178. "Let us not _slip_ the occasion." 744. ~It~ = beauty. ~languished~, languid or languishing: comp. _Par. Lost_, vi. 496, "their languished hope revived"; _Epitaph on M. of W._ 33. The suffix _-ed_ is frequent in Elizabethan English where we now have _-ing_ (Abbott, § 374). 747. ~most~, as many as possible. 748. ~homely ... home~. There is here a play upon words as in _Two Gent._ i. 1. 2: "_Home-keeping_ youth have ever _homely_ wits." _Homely_ is derived from _home_. 749. Women with coarse complexions and dull cheeks are good enough for household occupations.