Dryden's Palamon and Arcite

by John Dryden; Geoffrey Chaucer

NOTES.

DEDICATION.

Her Grace the Duchess of Ormond was by birth Lady Margaret Somerset. Her husband, to whom Dryden dedicated the volume of the Fables, was one of King William's supporters. He had been with him at the Battle of the Boyne, in the war on the Continent, had received marked evidences of his favor, and stood by his bedside at his death.

1 1. The bard. Chaucer, whose Knight's Tale, paraphrased as Palamon and Arcite, Dryden dedicated in these verses.

1 10. An Alexandrine, i.e., a verse of six accented syllables instead of five.

1 14. Plantagenet. The surname of the royal family of England from Henry II. to Richard III.

1 18. noblest order. The Order of the Garter, which is the highest order of knighthood in Great Britain, was founded by Edward III. about 1348.

2 21, 22, 23. A triplet, i.e., three successive verses with the same rhyme; one device of Dryden's to avoid monotony.

2 29. Platonic year. A great cycle of years, at the end of which it was supposed that the celestial bodies will occupy the same positions as at the creation.

2 42. westward. The Duchess' visit to Ireland.