v. 40. Lest th’ accursed tribe.] Lest the rebellious angels should exult at seeing those who were neutral and therefore less guilty, condemned to the same punishment with themselves.
v. 50. A flag.]
All the grisly legions that troop
Under the sooty flag of Acheron
Milton. Comus.
v. 56. Who to base fear Yielding, abjur’d his high estate.] This is commonly understood of Celestine the Fifth, who abdicated the papal power in 1294. Venturi mentions a work written by Innocenzio Barcellini, of the Celestine order, and printed in Milan in 1701, In which an attempt is made to put a different interpretation on this passage.
v. 70. through the blear light.]
Lo fioco lume
So Filicaja, canz. vi. st. 12.
Qual fioco lume.
v. 77. An old man.]