Note 986 — INDEX TO THE NOTES.

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.