"So Buxom, Blithe, And Debonair"
Context: After telling Melancholy to depart, John Milton calls upon Mirth, called Euphrosyne in heaven, to come to him. As Euphrosyne, she is one of the three Graces, Aglaia, or festive beauty, and Thalia, or festive joy, being the other two. Milton first speculates whether Mirth is the daughter of Venus and Bacchus, as some contend, or of the west wind, Zephyr, and Aurora, the dawn, conceived in May among violets and roses; Milton himself invents this parentage. The poet says that she is buxom, or lively and merry; blithe, or lighthearted and joyous; and debonair, or affable, courteous, and pleasant. He invokes her to hasten to him with a wide assortment of merry characters:
Or whether (as some sager sing)
The frolic wind that breathes the spring,
Zephyr with Aurora playing,
As he met her once a-Maying,
There on beds of violets blue,
And fresh-blown roses washed in dew,
Filled her with thee, a daughter fair,
So buxom, blithe, and debonair.
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