[16] πολιός—hoary, venerable. See uses of the word in Scott and Liddell's Lexicon.
"To hear and to obey had been from birth
The law of all around her; to fulfil
All phantasies which yielded joy or mirth
Had been her slaves' chief pleasure, as her will."
Don Juan, v. 102.
[18] Among the Persians it was held a great mark of honour to send dishes from their tables to those whom they favoured. See Xenophon, Cyro. Book VIII. 2, 3. "Οσα δὲ πάρατεθείη, ταῦτα πάντα πλὴν οἶς αὑτὸς καὶ οἰ σύνδειπνοἰ χρήσαιντο, διεδίδoυ oἷς ἀεὶ βούλοιτο τῶν φίλων μνήμην ἐνδείκνυσθαι ἥ φιλοφροσύνην." The reader will of course remember an instance of the like custom in Scripture, Gen. xliii. 34.
"He stood like Atlas with a world of words
About his ears, and the knees would not bend;
The blood of all his line's Castilian lords
Boil'd in his veins and rather than descend
To stain his pedigree a thousand swords
A thousand time of him had made an end."
Don Juan, v. 104.
[20] ἃρπαγμα; ἓρμαιον—a windfall; a godsend.
"A tigress robb'd of young, a lioness,
Or any interesting beast of prey,
Are similes at hand for the distress
Of ladies who cannot have their own way."
Don Juan, c. v. 132.
[22] Εὑρετὶς ἅρα ἐστὶ λογισμῶν ἡ ἀνάγκη.