Dryden's Palamon and Arcite Part 14

31 182. hopes. Hopes for, syncope.

32 196. foin. To thrust with a weapon, a term used in fencing.

32 228. lively. Bright, like the living green of vegetation.

32 329. the tuneful cry. Compare _Midsummer Night's Dream,_ Act IV., Sc. I.

33 232. G.o.ddess of the silver bow. Diana, G.o.ddess of the chase,--her symbol, the crescent moon; hence the silver bow.

33 237. forth-right. Straight forward; an archaism.

33 245. strook. Archaic for struck.

33 258. listed field. A field properly arranged for a tournament.

35 313. quire. Group. This is the proper spelling, not choir; see Bk. I., v. 41.

35 314. contended maid. The maid contended for.

36 344, 347. In these verses Dryden follows Chaucer, but states the thought more forcibly. He was undoubtedly glad of the chance to slap the powers that were.

38 400. share a single bed. Two lovers cannot marry the same woman.

38 414. From out the bars. Beyond the barriers,i.e., out of the lists.

38 415. recreant. Acknowledging defeat.

39 445. degrees. With the seats raised in tiers.

39 461. myrtle wand. The myrtle was sacred to Venus.

39 465. Queen of Wight. Diana, because she was G.o.ddess of the moon.

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 wors.h.i.+p. 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 sh.o.r.es, 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 b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

41534. scurf. Scaly matter on the surface,--sc.u.m.

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 a.s.sa.s.sination. The month was named from the G.o.d.

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-G.o.d Peneus.

Loved by Apollo and pursued by him, she prayed for a.s.sistance, 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 G.o.ddesses 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 _jambe_, leg.

47 39. Lycurgus. King of Thrace; he persecuted Bacchus, and was made mad by that G.o.d. 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.