Note 995 — INDEX TO THE NOTES.
Reading edition
purfled = having an embroidered edge (O.F. pourfiler): the verb to purfle survives in the contracted form to purl, and is cognate with profile = a front line or edge. shew: here rhymes with dew; comp. l. 511, 512. This points to the fact that in Milton’s time the present pronunciation of shew, though familiar, was not the only one recognised.