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.