Lumen de Lumine, or A New Magicall Light

to her doctrine original: "Doctrine"—here referring to the teachings or the essential nature of the figure being described.. Under this shade and screen resided a number of nightingales, which I discovered by their whitish breasts. Peeping through their leafy cabinets original: "Cabinets"—small, private rooms; here, the thickets or nests of the birds., they rejoiced at this strange light. After first preening original: "plum'd". themselves, they stirred the still air with their music. I thought this was very beautiful; the silence of the night, matching the solitude of the place, made me judge it heavenly.

The ground, both near and far off, presented a pleasing kind of checkerboard pattern original: "Checquer".. This was because the new star met with drops of dew, creating a multitude of bright refractions, as if the earth had been paved with diamonds. These rare and various occurrences original: "Accidents"—a philosophical term for the outward appearances or non-essential qualities of a thing. kept my soul busy. But, as if it had been unlawful to examine what I had seen, another even more admirable object interposed to interrupt my thoughts.

I could see, between me and the light, a most exquisite, divine Beauty. Her frame was neither tall original: "long". nor short, but of a medium, graceful stature. She was attired in thin, loose silks, but of a green so vibrant that I never saw its like, for the color was not earthly. In some places, it was decorated original: "fansied". with white and silver ribbons, which looked like lilies in a field of grass. Her head was covered with a thin, floating gauze original: "Tiffanie"—a very thin, transparent silk or muslin fabric., which she held up with one of her hands, and she looked out, as it were, from under