olves fiercely howling."

534. ~stabled wolves~, wolves in their dens. _Stable_ (= a standing-place)
is used by Milton in the general sense of abode, _e.g._ in _Par. Lost_,
xi. 752, "sea-monsters whelped and _stabled_." Comp. "Stable for
camels," _Ezek._ xxv. 5, and the Latin _stabulum_, _Aen._ vi. 179,
_stabula alta ferarum_.

535. ~Hecate~: see l. 135.

536. ~bowers~: see note, l. 45.

539. ~unweeting~; unwitting, unknowing. This spelling is found in
Spenser's _Faerie Queene_, both in the compounds and in the simple verb
_weet_, a corruption of _wit_ (A.S. _witan_, to know). Compare _Par.
Reg._ i. 126, "_unweeting_, he fulfilled The purposed counsel." _Sams.
Agon._ 1680; Chaucer, _Doctor's Tale_, "Virginius came _to weet_ the
judge's will."

540. ~by then~, _i.e._ by the time when. The demonstrative adverb thus
implies a relative adverb: comp. the Greek, where the demonstrative is
generally omitted, though in Homer occasionally the demonstrative alone
is used. Another rendering is to make line 540 parenthetical.

542. ~knot-grass~. A grass with knotted or jointed stem: some, however,
suppose marjoram to be intended here. ~dew-besprent~, _i.e._ besprinkled
with dew: comp. _Lyc._ 29. _Be_ is an intensive prefix; _sprent_ is
connected with M.E. _sprengen_, to scatter, of which _sprinkle_ is the
frequentative form.

543. ~sat me down~: see note, l. 61.

544. ~canopied, and interwove~. Comp. _M. N. D._ ii. 2. 49, 'I know a
bank,' etc. In sense 'canopied' refers to 'bank,' and 'interwove' to
'ivy.' There are two forms of the past participle of _weave_, viz.
_wove_ and _woven_: see _Arc._ 47.

545. ~flaunting~, showy, garish. In _Lyc._ 146, the poet first wrote
'garish columbine,' then 'well-attired woodbine.'

547. ~meditate ... minstrelsy~, _i.e._ to sing a pastoral song: comp.
_Lyc._ 32. 66. _To meditate the muse_ is a Virgilian phrase: see _Ecl._
i. and vi. The Lat. _meditor_ has the meaning of 'to apply one's self
to,' and does not mean merely to ponder.

548. ~had~, should have: comp. l. 394. ~ere a close~, _i.e._ before he had
finished his song (Masson). _Close_ occurs in the technical sense of
'the final cadence of a piece of music.'

549. ~wonted~: see note, l. 332.

550. ~barbarous~: comp. _Son._ xii. 3, "a _barbarous_ noise environs me Of
owls and cuckoos, etc."

551. ~listened them~. The omission of _to_ after verbs of hearing is
frequent in Shakespeare and others: comp. "To listen our purpose";