[24.] lazars. Leprosy was a common disease in England even as late as the sixteenth century.
[49.] Malvenù, ill-come, as opposed to Bienvenu, welcome.
[73.] like Phœbus fairest childe, Phaethon, the son of Helios. He was killed by a thunderbolt from the hand of Zeus, as a result of his reckless driving of the chariot of the sun.
[86.] A dreadfull Dragon, Fallen Pride.
[94.] This genealogy of Pride is invented by the poet in accord with the Christian doctrine concerning this sin.
[107.] six wizards old, the remaining six of the Seven Deadly Sins, Wrath, Envy, Lechery, Gluttony, Avarice, and Idleness. See Chaucer's Parson's Tale for a sermon on these mortal sins, Gower's Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins, and Laugland's Piers Plowman.
[145.] coche. Spenser imitates Ovid and Homer in this description of Juno's chariot. The peacock was sacred to the goddess, who transferred to its tail the hundred eyes of the monster Argus. See Ovid's Metamorphoses, i, 625 seq.
[157.] With like conditions, etc. The behests were of a kind similar to the nature of the six Sins.
[174.] he chalenged essoyne, he claimed exemption.
[185.] like a Crane. This refers to Aristotle's story of a man who wished that his neck were as long as a crane's, that he might the longer enjoy the swallowing of his food. Nic. Ethics, iii, 13.