Bring Roses, Violets, and the cold Snow-Drop (...)
While working today on one unidentified epigraph of The Italian, Chapter 11 Vol 1 - I may have struck gold. I painstackingly unearthed a popular engraving of yore (ca1590) which does resonate with Radcliffe's flowery prose. It may refer to the following engraving Indeed, exactly like for the "Missa Ferte Rosas" by Menault (1642-1694), the epigraph may be a reference to this exact engraving (one of which was acquired by the British Museum in 1835), and specifically to its inscription "Ferte Rosas [...] Foeno." Engraving comes from masses dating back to Baroque period. Inscription translates exactly to: Bring roses and violets speedily, offer lilies fallen from the celestial orb, the child lies on lowly straw. When read properly, the lilies are fallen from the sky, not the child ! Ann replaces the lilies (here symbols of Prayers) by snowdrops, for purity/innocence + hope, which are now fitting for Ellena, then forced into noviciation. (roses = charity