“Iambic pentameter.” A verse of five feet (pentameter), or ten syllables. Each foot is an iambus; that is, is composed of one short and one long syllable.
“Alexandrine,” ălˌex-ănˈdrĭne. A verse composed of twelve syllables, named from a French poem on Alexander.
P. 238.—“Ceres.” The Demeter of the Romans, the goddess who presided over grain and the harvest.
“Fauns.” The rural divinities of the Romans. They were supposed to have introduced the worship of the gods and agriculture. They are represented as possessed of horns, and having the figure of a goat below the waist.
“Courser’s birth.” The reference is to the creation of the horse by Neptune. It is said that Neptune and Minerva (Athene) contested for the honor of naming Attica. The gods decided that it should be the one who should give the most useful gift to man. Neptune struck the ground with his trident and the horse appeared. Athene created the olive tree; the latter received the honor.
“Pallas.” A name frequently given to Athene.
“Cypress.” The cypress was sacred to Pluto, the god of the lower world.
P. 239—“Thule.” The land which in the time of Alexander the Great was believed to be the northernmost part of Europe.
“Fasces,” făsˈsēz. An emblem of authority among the Romans. It was an ax tied up in a bundle of rods.
“Balance.” The constellation Libra, or the Scales. It lies in the Zodiac between the Virgin and the Scorpion.