One cannot but be curious about the glove referred to in line 21 (‘Fits probing hand to glove’) Was Philomel holding a glove when Strephon arrived? Was she wearing gloves which she then lent to Strephon later that night? Or was Strephon the one with the gloves? The poem itself is ambiguous: there is clearly at least one glove involved, but it is by no means clear to whom this belongs. It could equally well be that Strephon supplies the glove which Philomel inserts her hand in. If it was a cold night — and there is much to suggest that it was — ‘...cooling earth’, ‘...trembling hope’, ‘The brown-limbed fretwork of the trees is still, benumbed...’, ‘...Strephon’s cold caress’ then it would seem possible that both of them were wearing gloves. Indeed, the fourth stanza seems to suggest that both of them have frozen to death, so it must have been cold.
And what does the poet mean by ‘Move an anguished marble squall’? It has been suggested that this phrase would make more sense if the word ‘squat’ was substituted for ‘squall’ (in fact, ‘Discharge upon the anguished marble squat’ would be most intelligible of all) (CH).