These fourteen lines are an instance of "stichomythia, or
conversation in alternate lines, which was always popular on the Attic
stage. This scheme of versification is used chiefly in excited
discussions, where the speakers are hurried along by the eagerness of
their feelings."--Haigh, _The Tragic Drama of the Greeks_.

292. An ox in traces would now be a rare sight.

294. a green mantling vine. See Par. Lost IV 258.

299. gay creatures of the element: creatures of the air,--supernatural
beings.

301. And play i' the plighted clouds. Probably the poet means the
_plaited_, or _pleated_, clouds, conceiving the clouds as appearing
folded together. I was awe-strook. See Hymn on the Nativity 95.

316. Or shroud within these limits. _Shroud_ as a noun we saw above, line
147.

318. From her thatched pallet rouse. The lark builds on the ground,
seeking a spot protected by overarching stems of grass or grain, which
may be called a natural thatch; and if this protection is destroyed by
mowers or reapers, the bird will at once take pains to build a roof or
thatch over the nest, completely covering it, and for a door will make an
opening on the side.

325. where it first was named. The derivation of the words _courteous_
and _courtesy_ from _court_ is obvious.

327. Less warranted than this, or less secure. The lady says that she
cannot be in any place less guaranteed than this against evil, and that
she cannot anywhere be less free from anxiety. Her situation she
conceives to be as bad as it can be.

329. square my trial To my proportioned strength: make my trial
proportionate to my strength.

332. That wont'st to love. _Wont'st_, in the present tense, means, as we
say, art wont.

333. Stoop thy pale visage. Stoop is thus used, transitively, Richard II.
III 1 19, "myself ... have stooped my neck."

334. And disinherit Chaos, that reigns here. _Chaos_, "the formless void
of primordial matter," is personified by Milton here and, much more
conspicuously, in Par. Lost III.

338. a rush-candle: a candle made with a rush for a wick,--the cheapest
kind of light. from the wicker hole Of some clay habitation. Imagine a
hut whose walls are made of wattled twigs plastered with clay. This clay
when dry is apt to fall off in spots, leaving holes through which the
light within can be seen from without. A wicker hole is a hole in the
wicker-work, perhaps made intentionally, to serve as a window.

341-342. The star of Arcady is