l. 19. _Ev'ry thy haire._ This, the reading of _1633-39_ and the MSS., is, I think, preferable to the amended 'Thy every hair', &c., of the 1650-69 editions (which Chambers adopts, ascribing it to _1669_ alone), though the difference is slight. 'Every thy hair' has the force of 'Thy every hair' with the additional suggestion of 'even thy least hair' derived from the construction with a superlative adjective. 'Every the least remembrance.' J. King, _Sermons_ 28. 'Every, the most complex, web of thought may be reduced to simple syllogisms.' Sir W. Hamilton. See note to _The Funerall_, l. 3. ll. 23-4. _Then as an Angell face and wings Of aire, not pure as it, yet pure doth weare._ St. Thomas (_Summa Theol._ I. li. 2) discusses the nature of the body assumed by Angels when they appear to men, seeing that naturally they are incorporeal. There being four elements, this body must consist of one of these, but 'Angeli non assumunt corpora de terrâ vel aquâ: quia non subito disparerent. Neque iterum de igne: quia comburerent ea quae contingerent. Neque iterum ex aere: quia aer infigurabilis est et incolorabilis'. To this Aquinas replies, 'Quod licet aer in sua raritate manens non retineat figuram neque colorem: quando tamen condensatur, et figurari et colorari potest: sicut patet in nubibus. Et sic Angeli assumunt corpora ex aere, condensando ipsum virtute divina, quantum necesse est ad corporis assumendi formationem.' Tasso, familiar like Donne with Catholic doctrine, thus clothes his angels: Così parlògli, e Gabriel s' accinse Veloce ad eseguir l' imposte cose. _La sua forma invisibil d'aria cinse, Ed al senso mortal la sottopose_: Umane membra, aspetto uman si finse, Ma di celeste maestà il compose. Tra giovane e fanciullo età confine Prese, ed ornò di raggi il biondo crine. _Gerus. Lib._ I. 13. Fairfax translates the relevant lines: In form of airy members fair imbared, His spirits pure were subject to our sight. Milton's language is vague and inconsistent, but his angels are indubitably corporeal. When Satan is wounded, the ethereal substance closed, Not long divisible; and from the gash A stream of nectarous humour issuing flowed Sanguine, such as celestial Spirits may bleed. . . . . . . . . . . Yet soon he healed; for Spirits that live throughout Vital in every part, (not as frail man In entrails, heart or head, liver or reins,) Cannot but by annihilating die; Nor in their liquid texture mortal wound Receive, _no more than can the fluid air_. All heart they live, all head, all eye, all ear, All intellect, all sense; _and as they please, They limb themselves, and colour, shape, or size Assume, as likes them best, condense or rare_.