[1]‘Ercles’ vein:’ a rousing, somewhat bombastic manner of public speaking or writing.—ee
[2]‘Thrice:’ alluding to the death of his wife, his daughter Mrs Temple, and Mr Temple.—See
Life.
[3]‘Philander:’ Mr Temple, his son-in-law.
[4]‘Lorenzo:’ not Young’s son, but probably the Earl of Wharton.
[5]‘Veils:’ a gain, profit.—ee
[7]‘His, who made:’ Pope.
[8]‘Cytherea:’ Venus, from Cythera, one of the Ionian Islands, where she was worshipped.
[9]‘As some tall tower:’ Goldsmith has borrowed this fine image in his description of the good pastor’s death, in the ‘Deserted Village.’
[11]‘Didst lately borrow:’ at the Duke of Norfolk’s masquerade.
[12]‘Narcissa:’ Mrs Temple.
[13]‘Nearer to the sun:’ Mrs Temple died at Lyons, on her way to Nice, accompanied by her father.
[14]Lines 270-289 paraphrase Psalms 24. Lines 270-300 provided an ‘Easter Ode’ popular in early 19th-Century American musical settings.-ee
[15]‘Manumit:’ to free from slavery or bondage; emancipate.
[16]‘Pæan:’ healing song; hymn.—ee
[17]‘Athenian:’ Socrates.
[18]‘Fable fledged:’ Icarus.
[19]‘Glebe:’ The soil or earth; land. (Archaic.)—ee
[20]‘Narcissa:’ Elizabeth Lee, Dr. Young’s step-daughter.—ee
[21]‘Lorenzo’ was modelled on Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton (b. 21 December 1698; d. Poblet, Spain, 31 May 1731, aged 32), powerful Jacobite politician, notorious libertine and rake, profligate, and alcoholic.—ee
[22]‘Charles:’ Charles V.
[23]‘Quotidian:’ everyday; commonplace.—ee
[24]‘Oracle of gems:’ the Urim and Thummim.
[25]‘Cockade:’ an ornament, such as a rosette or knot of ribbon, usually worn on the hat as a badge.—ee
[26]‘Votary:’ person bound by vows to a life of religious worship or service.—ee
[27]‘Ne’er to meet, or ne’er to part:’ hence Burns’s famous line in his verses to Clarinda:—
‘Never met, or never parted,
We had ne’er been broken-hearted.’
[28]‘She:’ his wife, it is supposed.
[29]‘Most Christian:’ Louis XIV., King of France.
[30]‘Ours is the cloth,’ &c.: how like the lines of Coleridge!—
‘O Lady, we receive but what we give,’ &c.
[31]‘Towering flame,’ &c.: these lines are
reproduced in the close of Campbell’s ‘Pleasures of Hope.’
[32]‘Already:’ Night Sixth.
[33]‘Bellerophon:’ who carried letters from Proctus to Jobates, King of Lycia, which contained an order in cipher for his execution after nine days. He contrived, however, to escape.
[34]‘To Pyrrhus:’ by a philosopher who told him he would have been as happy had he stayed at home, instead of pursuing a career of conquest.
[35]‘Proud Eastern:’ Nebuchadnezzar.
[37]‘Lately proved:’ in the Sixth Night.
[38]‘Presumption’s sacrilegious sons:’ Korah, &c.
[39]‘Lucia:’ probably his wife.
[41]‘Title:’ The Infidel Reclaimed.
[42]‘Bible:’ the poetical parts of it.
[43]‘Albion’s cost:’ Admiral Balchen, &c.
[44]‘Like a flag floating,’ &c.: hence Wilson’s line in his ‘Address to a Wild-Deer:’—
‘Like a flag burning bright when the vessel is gone.’
[45]‘Fucus:’ an old type of makeup.—ee
[46]‘Snuff:’ a candle-end or wick.—ee
[47]‘Murray:’ Lord Mansfield.
[48]‘Fabled boy:’ Narcissus.
[49]‘Yorke:’ Lord Chancellor Hardwick.
[50]‘Above:’ in a former Night.
[51]‘Prussia:’ under Frederick the Great.
[52]‘One departed world:’ the world before the flood.
[53]‘Being lost:’ referring to the First Night.
[55]‘Favonian:’ of or relating to the west wind. Mild; benign.—ee
[56]‘Prometheus:’ Night Eighth.
[57]‘Intestine:’ adj., internal; civil.—ee
[58]‘Elance:’ to throw as a lance; to hurl; to dart.—ee
[59]‘Lately fought:’ Night Eighth.
[60]‘Orrery:’ a mechanical model of the solar system.—ee
[62]‘Tenebrious:’ Dark and gloomy; ominous.—ee
[63]‘He who drank:’ Socrates.
[64]‘He of Tusculum:’ Cicero.
[65]‘Him of Corduba:’ Seneca.
[66]‘Defecate:’ to remove (impurities, as in a chemical solution); clarify.—ee
[67]‘Ajalon’s:’ “Sun, stand thou still on Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon” (Josh. 10:12).—ee
[68]‘Fane:’ place dedicated to some deity, a sanctuary, fr. fari to speak.—ed.
[69]‘Jakes:’ latrine or privy.—ee
[70]‘Heliopolis:’ meaning the
City of the Sun.
[71]‘Him of Uz:’ referring to Job’s language, ‘Oh that I knew where I might find him!’ &c.
[72]‘Eridanus,’ or Phaeton: famous for his fall from the chariot of the sun.
[73]‘Great Vine:’ John xv. 1.
[74]‘Lately:’ Nights Sixth and Seventh.
[75]‘Philip’s ear:’ ‘Remember, Philip, thou art mortal.’
[77]‘Titled:’ The Consolation.
[78]‘Him of Gaza:’ Samson.