39 467. oratories. Places for prayer.

40483. Sigils. Literally, a seal or sign; here an occult sign or mark in astrology, another evidence of Dryden's leaning toward that so-called science, for Chaucer makes no such statement here.

40 498. Idalian mount. Idalium, a town in Cyprus sacred to Venus; here, as often, confused with Mount Ida.

40 498. Citheron. Cythera, not Citheron, is the island near which Venus rose from the sea, and a famous seat of her worship. Cithaeron is a mountain in Boeotia sacred to Zeus.

41 505. Medea's charms. Medea, daughter of Aetes, king of Colchis, was a famous sorceress of antiquity. She aided Jason to get the golden fleece, and fled with him. Deserted by him, she subsequently became involved with Theseus and Hercules, eventually going to Asia. From her sprung the Medes.

41 505. Circean feasts. A mythical sorceress, who feasted mariners landed on her shores, and by charmed drinks changed them to swine. Ulysses spent a year with her, and frustrated her arts.

41 515. bare below the breast. Bare from the shoulders to a point below the breasts.

41534. scurf. Scaly matter on the surface,—scum.

42 536. knares. Knots on, a tree; an archaism.

42 544. bent. A declivity or slope.

42 558. tun. A huge cask for holding wine, ale, etc.

43 590. overlaid. Lain upon by the nurse to smother it.

44 604. Mars his ides. The Ides of March, the date of Caesar's assassination. The month was named from the god.

44 607. Antony, Infatuated with Cleopatra, he lost his empire. Dryden had previously told the story in his best play,All for Love.

44 614. geomantic. Pertaining to geomancy, the art of divining future events by means of signs connected with the earth. The figure here represents two constellations, Rubeus, which signifies Mars direct, Puella, Mars retrograde.

44 616. direct... retrograde. The motion of a planet is direct when it seems to move from west to east in the zodiac, and retrograde when its apparent motion is reversed.

44 623. Calisto. Properly Callisto, one of Diana's nymphs. Jupiter loved her and changed her to a bear to escape the notice of Juno; but the latter discovered the ruse, and caused Diana to kill the bear. Thereupon Jupiter transferred her to heaven as the constellation of Arctos, in which is the pole-star.

44 631. Peneian Daphne. Daughter of the river-god Peneus. Loved by Apollo and pursued by him, she prayed for assistance, and was changed into a laurel tree. Thenceforth the laurel became Apollo's favorite tree.

44 634. Calydonian beast. A huge boar sent by Diana to devastate the territory of Aeneus, king of Calydon in Atolia, because he had not paid her due honor. Theseus, Jason, Peleus, Telamon, Nestor, all the famous heroes gathered to destroy the beast, and with them the swift-footed maiden Atalanta. Her arrow gave the first wound. The story is exquisitely told by Swinburne in Atalanta in Calydon.

44 635. Aenides. Meleager, son of Aeneus, who actually killed the boar. He loved Atalanta and gave to her the head and hide of the animal as a trophy. Jealously attacked by his uncles, he slew them. At his birth, the fates had prophesied his death when a certain brand upon the hearth should have burned. Thereupon his mother plucked it from the fire, quenched it, and put it away. Angered by the death of her brothers, she throws this brand upon the fire. It is consumed, and Meleager dies.

45 639. The Volscian queen. Camilla, an Amazon, allied with Turnus in his strife with Aeneas in Italy. She was treacherously killed by Aruns, while pursuing a fleeing enemy. As Aruns was stealthily withdrawing, he was slain by an arrow, fired by one of Diana's nymphs.

45 654. Lucina. The name given to Diana as one of the goddesses who presides at childbirth.

45 661, 662. Inserted by Dryden, a satirical reference to the wretched Whig poets then in favor, and to his own removal from royal patronage.

BOOK III.

47 28. juppon. A light coat worn over armor, reaching to mid-thigh and finished in points at the bottom.

47 31. Pruce. Prussia.

47 35. jambeux. Armor for the legs, from the French jamb, leg.

47 39. Lycurgus. King of Thrace; he persecuted Bacchus, and was made mad by that god. In his madness he slew his son under the impression that he was cutting down vines. The country now produced no fruit, and the inhabitants carried the impious king to Mount Pangaeus, where he was torn to pieces by horses.

48 63. Emetrius. A creation of Chaucer's whom Dryden follows. Notice the poet's unusual representation of an Indian prince with fair complexion and yellow hair.

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 god 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 goddess, 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 gods, 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 gods. This passage 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.

61 516. at mischief taken. Caught at a disadvantage.

63 569. equipage. So well equipped.

63 590. justling. An archaism for jostling.

64 603. Hauberks. A part of mail armor, originally intended to protect neck and shoulders; later it reached to the knees.

65 669. the rightful Titan failed. The Titans were the six sons and six daughters of Ccelus and Terra. One of them, Saturn, indignant at the tyranny of his father, dethroned him with the others' aid. The Titans then ruled in heaven with Saturn at their head. A prophecy to the effect that one of his children would dethrone him caused him to swallow each one as it was born; but Jupiter was concealed at his birth and grew to manhood. He compelled Saturn to disgorge his brothers and sisters, and in company with them waged a ten years' war against the Titans. They were overcome and hurled to the depths below Tartarus, while Jupiter usurped the throne of heaven.

66 697, 698. A touch of light satire in Chaucer which Dryden repeats with gusto, for it tallied well with the sentiments of his day.

67 709. lanced a vein. The sovereign remedy in the olden time was blood-letting.

67 726. charms. They played an important part in medical practice, not only in Chaucer's time, but later even than Dryden.

68 750. leech's cares. Leech was a common name for doctor.

68 755. breathing veins nor cupping. Two different methods of bleeding. To breathe a vein was to open the vein directly. To cup was to apply the cupping glass, which, being a partial vacuum, caused the flesh to puff up in it, and then the lancet was used.

68 772. against right. Arcite is said to have gained Emily against right, because Palamon, having seen and loved her first, had priority of claim.

72 877 Aegeus. According to the generally accepted legend, Aegeus, Theseus' father, had died when Theseus returned from Crete, years before.

72 889, 890. These verses are an insertion by Dryden, and are another reference to the change of dynasty at the Revolution of 1688, when James II. was dethroned, and William, Prince of Orange, succeeded him.

72 898. conscious laund. Knowing lawn or glade, i.e., the spot that had been familiar with their first encounter. Laund is, of course, an archaism.

72 905. Sere-wood. Modern form, searwood, wood dry enough to burn well.

72 905. doddered oaks. Oaks covered with dodder, that is, with parasitic plants, and therefore dead or dying.

72 908. Vulcanian food. Food for fire, Vulcan being the god of fire.

73 940. master-street. Main street of the town.

74 953. Parthian bow. The Parthians were famous bowmen.

74 955. fathom. A fathom is a measure of six feet.

74 956. strowed. Archaism for strewn.

75 998. wakes. A wake is, literally, an all-night watch by the body of the dead, sometimes attended by unseemly revelry. Here it refers to the celebration of funeral rites for Arcite.

75 1007. Theseus held his parliament. Theseus is reputed to have introduced constitutional government in Attica.

76 1031. The principle of the indestructibility of matter, a result of scientific investigation, which in Dryden's time was attracting much attention.

76 1039. suborn. To procure by indirect means.

77 1076. vegetive. Growing, having the power of growth.

78 nil. annoy. Annoyance.

79 1114. while we live, to live. To live happily while life lasts.

79 1144. Eros and Anteros. Both different names for the god of love, Eros signifying direct, sensual love, and Anteros, return love.

79 1146. long-attending Hymen. Hymen, the god of marriage, had waited long to consummate this match.

80 1154, 1155. This couplet is original with Dryden, and forms a

THE END