rker (_Glossary of Architecture_) derives the word
from the Latin _fretum_, a strait; and Hales from _ferrum_, iron,
through the Italian _ferrata_, an iron grating. It is more likely
(see Stratmann and Wb.) from the A. S. _fraetu_, an ornament.
Cf. _Hamlet_, ii. 2:
"This majestical roof fretted with golden fire;"
and _Cymbeline_, ii. 4:
"The roof o' the chamber
With golden cherubins is fretted."
40. _The pealing anthem_. Cf. _Il Penseroso_, 161:
"There let the pealing organ blow
To the full-voiced quire below,
In service high, and anthem clear," etc.
41. _Storied urn_. Cf. _Il Pens._ 159: "storied windows richly
dight." On _animated bust_, cf. Pope, _Temple of Fame_, 73: "Heroes
in animated marble frown;" and Virgil, _Aen._ vi. 847: "spirantia
aera."
43. _Provoke_. Mitford considers this use of the word "unusually
bold, to say the least." It is simply the etymological meaning, _to
call forth_ (Latin, _provocare_). See Wb. Cf. Pope, _Ode_:
"But when our country's cause provokes to arms."
44. _Dull cold ear_. Cf. Shakes. _Hen. VIII._ iii. 2: "And sleep in
dull, cold marble."
46. _Pregnant with celestial fire_. This phrase has been copied by
Cowper in his _Boadicea_, which is said (see notes of "Globe" ed.) to
have been written after reading Hume's History, in 1780:
"Such the bard's prophetic words,
Pregnant with celestial fire,
Bending as he swept the chords
Of his sweet but awful lyre."
47. Mitford quotes Ovid, _Ep._ v. 86:
"Sunt mihi quas possint sceptra decere manus."
48. _Living lyre_. Cf. Cowley:
"Begin the song, and strike the living lyre;"
and Pope, _Windsor Forest_, 281:
"Who now shall charm the shades where Cowley strung
His living harp, and lofty Denham sung?"
50. Cf. Browne, _Religio Medici_: "Rich with the spoils of nature."
51. "_Rage_ is often used in the post-Elizabethan writers of the 17th
century, and in the 18th century writers, for inspiration,
enthusiasm" (Hales). Cf. Cowley:
"Who brought green poesy to her perfect age,
And made that art which was a rage?"
and Tickell, _Prol._:
"How hard the task! How rare the godlike rage!"
Cf. also the use of the Latin _rabies_ for the "divine afflatus," as
in _Aeneid_, vi. 49.
53. _Full many a gem_, etc. Cf. Bishop Hall, _Contemplations_: "There
is many a rich stone laid up in the bowells of the earth, many a fair
pearle in the bosome of the sea, that never
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