gale n.3 -- ? sense 1.b antedating OED?

[Joel S. Berson]

And another correspondent suggest that

"Where'er you walk, Cool gales shall fan the glade...."

can be found in 'Pope's "Summer" (1704, if you believe Pope).'  I
find it in a 1717 edition (GBooks, full view).

Joel

>Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2012 21:28:18 -0400
>To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at att.net>
>Subject: Fwd: gale n.3 -- ? sense 1.b antedating OED?
>
>A correspondent suggests that the following two quotations, present
>in Johnson's dictionary, fit sense 1.b, "Poet. and in rhetorical
>language often used for: A gentle breeze."  If so, they would
>antedate the OED's earliest quotation, 1728.
>
>Joel
>
>>Winds
>>Of gentlest gale Arabian odours fann'd
>> From their soft wings, and Flora's earliest smells.
>>   - Milton
>>
>>Fresh gales and gentle air
>>   - Milton

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