626. Like the spirit of God. Reference to Genesis i: 2.
657. Dissolves the spell of its silence. Old superstition. So in Hamlet, (Act I, sc. 1, l. 44,) where Bernardo says, “It [the ghost] would be spoke to.”
665. Havilah. Genesis ii: 10-14.
755. Goliath of Gath. 1 Sam. xvii: 14.
Og, king of Bashan. Numbers xxi: 33.
815. The details of this expedition and the resulting encounter are taken from Winslow’s Relation of Standish’s Expedition as given in Dr. Young’s Chronicles. Here we are informed that such an expedition took place in 1623, under command of Captain Standish. Other details worked into the poem are also mentioned here: the defiance of Wattawmat (771-781); Pecksuot (783-787); the observation of Hobomak (813-815); and the grim trophy placed by the Captain on the roof of the fort when he returned to the colony.
828. Merestead. “Meer” and “mear” are old terms, meaning boundary. Hence, the plot of ground inclosed by boundaries.
829. Glebe. Sod or turf.
846. The original homestead is still owned by the descendants of John Alden. It is in Duxbury, on the coast, a short distance southeast from Boston.
858-864. An almost literal rendering of verses 11, 12, 13, and 21 of Proverbs xxxi.