8. As from a nether fire, the plain gave back
9. The swelter of the noon-glare to the gloom.
The heat of the prairie is often very noticeable after sunset.
12. Why seek some further nowhere on the plain?
What “nowhere”?
14. So spoke some loose-lipped spirit of despair;
Why “loose-lipped”?
15. And still Hugh moved, volitionless—a weight, etc.
Volitionless—The power of habit is compared to that of the moon over the tides.
18. Now when the night wore on in middle swoon,