epistle is read by the priest acting as celebrant, the gospel being
read from the other side by the priest acting as assistant.

25. Basalt: trap-rock, leaden or black in color.

31. Onion stone: for the Italian , a kind of
greenish-white marble splitting into coats like an onion, ;
hence so called.

41. Olive-frail: a basket made of rushes, used for packing olives.

42. Lapis lazuli: a bright blue stone.

46. Frascati: near Rome, on the Alban hills.

48. God the Father's globe: in the group of the Trinity adorning the
altar of Saint Ignatius at the church of Il Gesu in Rome.

51. Weaver's shuttle: Job 7.6.

54. Antique-black: Nero antico. Browning gives the English
equivalent for the name of this stone.

58. Tripod: the seat with three feet on which the priestess of
Apollo sat to prophesy, an emblem of the Delphic oracle.

Thyrsus: the ivy-coiled staffer spear stuck in a pine-cone, symbol
of Bacchic orgy. These, with the other Pagan tokens and pictures,
mingle oddly but significantly with the references to the Saviour,
Saint Praxed, and Moses. See also line 92, where Saint Praxed is