Journeys Through Bookland Volume Viii Part 52

[434-16] _Dowle_ means _down_, and the comparison means, _as cut off a single thread of down from my plumes_.

[434-17] _Requit_ means here _revenged_.

[434-18] _Whose_ refers to the word _powers_ six lines before. The meaning of the remainder of Ariel's speech is as follows: "Nothing but repentance and a clear life hereafter can guard you from the wrath that otherwise will fall upon your heads in this desolate isle."

[435-19] The meaning of the preceding clause is: "Thus with the skill of life and keen observance of the ways of men, my humbler servants have done their work, each according to his nature or kind."

[435-20] _It_ refers to his sin against Prospero.

[435-21] That is: "It sang my misdeed in a terrible ba.s.s."

[435-22] This clause means: "My son sleeps in the ooze on the bottom of the ocean."

[435-23] _Mudded_ means _buried in mud_. Alonso threatens to drown himself.

[436-24] There are said to be poisons which will not work until a long time after a person takes them.

[436-25] For _ecstasy_, read _fit of madness_.

[437-1] _Vanity_ probably means _fine display_.

[437-2] _With a twink_ means _in the twinkling of an eye_.

[437-3] _Mop_ means _chattering_.

[437-4] _Mow_ means _making faces_. _Mop and mow_ were words applied to such chattering and grinning as a monkey makes.

[437-5] A _corollary_ here means _more than enough_.

[437-6] _Pertly_ means _alertly_.

[437-7] Iris was the fleet messenger of the Greek G.o.ds. She had beautiful golden wings, and as she flew across the heavens, she left the many-colored rainbow as her trail.

[437-8] Ceres was the Greek G.o.ddess of the earth, who especially watched over the growth of grain and fruits. She it is who brings rich harvests, or when her attention is called away, permits drought to kill the vegetation.

[438-9] _Stover_ is fodder. A mead thatched with stover is a meadow covered with rich gra.s.s and hay.

[438-10] The common marsh-marigold was called _peony_ in some localities.

[438-11] Reeds were called _twills_ in some localities.

[438-12] The frequent rains of April make the ground like a water-soaked sponge.

[438-13] This pa.s.sage means: "Thy banks with edges bordered with marsh-marigolds and reeds which rainy April trims to make cold crowns for chaste nymphs."

[438-14] _La.s.s-lorn_ means _forsaken by his la.s.s_.

[438-15] The poles in a vineyard are _clipt_ or _embraced_ by the vines.

[438-16] Juno was Queen of the sky and Iris was her special messenger.

[438-17] Rainbow.

[438-18] Peac.o.c.ks were sacred to Juno and are represented as accompanying her.

[438-19] Jupiter was the chief G.o.d of the ancient Greeks, and Juno was his wife.

[440-20] _Bosky_ means _wooded_.

[440-21] _Unshrubbed downs_ are tracts of land on which no bushes grow.

[440-22] Venus was the Greek G.o.ddess of love and beauty.

[440-23] _Dis_ is another name for Pluto, who according to the Greek mythology ruled in the dismal lower world.

[440-24] By the aid of Venus, Pluto stole Proserpina, the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, and carried her away to be his queen in Hades.

[440-25] Her _blind boy_ is Cupid, the mischievous little G.o.d of love.

[440-26] Paphos was a city in Cyprus, where Venus loved to live.

[440-27] Juno's walk was very stately and dignified.

[440-28] Juno was a large, n.o.ble, motherly-looking woman, who is represented in art as attended by the nymphs and the hours, as well as by Iris. The goose and the cuckoo were as much Juno's birds as the peac.o.c.k. She was the protectress of young married people and infants, and so was worshipped especially by women.

[441-29] _Foison_ and _plenty_ mean about the same thing. The phrase might be read, _overflowing plenty_, a great plenty.

[441-30] This means, may a new spring come as soon as you have gathered the harvest of the old one. May there be no winter in your lives.

[441-31] Ferdinand is still amazed, and inquires if they are really spirits that he sees.

[442-32] _So rare a wonder'd father_ means, _so rarely wonderful a father_.

[442-33] _Crisp_ means _curled_, alluding to the wavelets that the breezes make on the surface of the water.

[442-34] The _sicklemen_ are reapers called from the harvest fields to make merry.

[443-35] _Avoid_ means _begone_.

[443-36] The thin fleecy clouds, highest in the sky, were called _rack_.

[443-37] _On_ is here used for _of_.

[443-38] We would say _rounded off_ or _finished_.

[444-39] _I thank ye_ is spoken to Ferdinand and Miranda, and is Prospero's reply to their good wishes.

[444-40] _Meet with_ means _oppose_ or _counteract_.