72 905. doddered oaks. Oaks covered with dodder, that is, with parasitic plants, and therefore dead or dying.
72 908. Vulcanian food. Food for fire, Vulcan being the god of fire.
73 940. master-street. Main street of the town.
74 953. Parthian bow. The Parthians were famous bowmen.
74 955. fathom. A fathom is a measure of six feet.
74 956. strowed. Archaism for strewn.
75 998. wakes. A wake is, literally, an all-night watch by the body of the dead, sometimes attended by unseemly revelry. Here it refers to the celebration of funeral rites for Arcite.
75 1007. Theseus held his parliament. Theseus is reputed to have introduced constitutional government in Attica.
76 1031. The principle of the indestructibility of matter, a result of scientific investigation, which in Dryden's time was attracting much attention.
76 1039. suborn. To procure by indirect means.