48 88. Upon his fist he bore. It was customary in the time of Chaucer to hunt with tame falcons, which were carried perched upon the wrist when not after quarry.
49 99. So Bacchus through the conquered Indies rode. Bacchus, a son of Jupiter, was the G.o.d of wine. His birth and up-bringing were attended with dangers bred by the jealousy of Juno. When full grown, Juno drove him mad, and in this state he journeyed over the earth.
He spent several years in India, introducing the vine and elements of civilization. It was on his return that he was expelled from Thrace by Lycurgus.
49 103. prime. Early morning, the first hour after sunrise.
49 109. harbinger. One who provides or secures lodgings for another, from the Old French herbegtsr, whence harbor.
49 120. Phosphor. Light bringer, from phos and phero.
49 124. preventing. With the literal significance of the word, coming before, i.e., he rose before day.
50 134. Thy month. May referred to as the month of Venus, since it is, in the poets, particularly a season for love-making.
50 145. gladder. Thou who makest glad.
50 146. Increase. Offspring of Jove.
50 147. Adonis. A beautiful youth, loved by Venus, with whom he spent eight months of the year. When he was killed by a boar, so great was the sorrow of the G.o.ddess, that the deities of the nether world allowed her to possess him for half of each year.
51 164. Notice the force of Palamon"s request. He cares not so much for glory of conquest as for the delights of possession. His prayer is answered, for, though conquered, he eventually weds Emilia.
51 168. your fifth orb. The heavens werel supposed to consist of concentric hollow spheres called orbs, and the sun, moon, stars, and planets moved in their respective orbs, the planet Venus in the fifth.
51 169. clue. Thread.
51 172. And let the Sisters cut below your line. The sisters are the three Fates. Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis held it, and Atropos cut it. Palamon is willing that the Fates end his life, if they will first allow him to enjoy love.
51 191. Cynthia. Another name for Diana, from Mount Cynthus, her birthplace.
51 193. Vests. Vestments, robes.
52 200. Uncouth. Literally, unknown, hence strange.
52 205. Well-meaners think no harm. Compare the famous epigram adopted by the Order of the Garter: "_honi soit qui mal y pense_"
(shamed be he who thinks evil of it). This order was founded during Chaucer"s life, and this sentiment may have been in his mind.
52 208. mastless oak. Oak leaves without acorns, i.e., without the fruit, hence an appropriate garland for a maid.
52 212. Statius. A Latin author who died 96 A.D. Among his works was an heroic poem in twelve books, embodying the legends touching the expedition of the Seven against Thebes.
52 231. Niobe. She was the mother of seven sons and seven daughters, and so thought herself superior to Latona, who had given birth to only two, Apollo and Diana. To avenge their mother, they slew all of Niobe"s children with their darts. Hence the "devoted"
children, i.e., devoted to death.
53 231. gust. The sense or pleasure of tasting, hence relish; more common form, gusto.
53 232. thy triple shape. Diana is often confused with Hecate, a most mysterious divinity. Hecate is represented with three heads and three bodies, and possessed the attributes of Luna in heaven, of Diana on earth, and of Proserpina in the lower world.
53 238. frowning stars. If the stars at her birth were such and so placed that they boded ill, they might be said to frown.
53 250-260. The omen foretells the event. One altar seems extinguished and then relights when the other goes out entirely. So Palamon seems to fail, but eventually wins Emilia after the death of Arcite.
54 290. planetary hour. This was the fourth hour of the day.
54 291. heptarchy. A rule by seven. It refers here to the seven great G.o.ds, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Mars, Vulcan, Apollo, Mercury.
55 297. Hyperborean. Beyond the North. Applied originally to a blessed people who dwelt beyond the north wind.
55 320. Vulcan had thee in his net enthralled. Vulcan, the husband of Venus, once discovered improper relations between her and Mars, and he entrapped the guilty pair in the meshes of an invisible net and exposed them to the laughter of the G.o.ds. This pa.s.sage would appeal to the taste of Dryden"s Restoration readers, and is developed with a light grace, characteristic of the period.
55 325-332. In these verses the poet brings out the character of Arcite, a more mannish man than Palamon.
56 355, 356. Arcite prays for victory; nothing else will satisfy. He obtains his prayer, but loses Emily.
57 389. trined. An astrological term, meaning that the planets Saturn and Venus were distant from each other 120, or one-third of the zodiac, a benign aspect.
57 390. with stern Mars in Capricorn was joined. Both Mars and Saturn were in the sign of the zodiac, Capricorn.
58 401. watery sign. The so-called watery signs of the zodiac were Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. When Saturn is in one of these signs, look out for shipwreck.
58 402. earthy. The so-called earthy signs were Taurus, Virgo, and Capricornus. When Saturn is in one of these signs, look out for the dungeon.
58 408, 409. Though these verses are taken from Chaucer, they fitted Dryden"s times and sentiment; for he had seen his own king, James II., ousted from his throne and supplanted by William and Mary. He was not in sympathy with the Revolution.
58 410. housing in the lion"s hateful sign. Saturn in the sign Leo was regarded as baleful.
58 411. This verse is Dryden"s own, and contains satirical reference to Whig disloyalty at the time of the Revolution of "88.
58 418. pestilence. Both Chaucer and Dryden had experienced great plagues in London, the Black Death in the fourteenth century and the Great Plague of 1665.
58 432. gladded. Made glad.
59 452. morions with their plumy pride. A helmet with a crest of feathers.
59 453. retinue. Here accented on the penult.
59 459. palfrey. A small horse in contrast with the mighty war horse.
59 463. clowns. The peasants, the common people.
60 480. double-biting axe. Two-edged battle-ax.
60 489. Armed cap-a-pe. From head to foot. From the old French, _de cap a pie_.
60 497. king-at-arms. The chief of the heralds, an important office in the Middle Ages.
61 512. The turney is allowed but one career. The two bands of knights shall rush together on horseback but once.