Note 677 — THE ARGUMENT.
Reading edition
The idea of the "wings of seraphs shedding perfumes" is from Milton, Par. Lost, v. 286, where Raphael "shakes heavenly fragrance" from "his plumes," and Dryden in his Tyrannic Love, Act v., mentions the perfumes, the spousals, and the celestial music as accompaniments of the death of St. Catherine:
Æthereal music did her death prepare, Like joyful sounds of spousals in the air; A radiant light did her crowned temple gild, And all the place with fragrant scents was filled; Of charming notes we heard the last rebounds, And music dying in remoter sounds.