An Introduction to the Prose and Poetical Works of John Milton / Comprising All the Autobiographic Passages in His Works, the More Explicit Presentations of His Ideas of True Liberty.

by John Milton

[20]. high and nether Jove: by metonymy for the realms of Jove and Pluto.

[23]. unadornèd: i.e. but for 'the sea-girt isles.'

[25]. several: separate; by course: in due order.

[29]. quarters: not literally, but simply, divides, distributes.

[30]. this tract that fronts the falling sun: Wales.

[31]. a noble Peer: the Earl of Bridgewater, Lord President of Wales, before whom 'Comus' was presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634.

[32]. tempered awe: i.e. tempered with mercy; 'mercy seasons justice.'

[34]. nursed in princely lore: nurtured in high learning.

[38]. horror: ruggedness, shagginess. See v. 429. . . . 'densis hastilibus horrida myrtus.'—Virgil's Æneid, iii. 23. brows: overarching branches.

[39]. forlorn and wandering: entirely lost and, consequently, straying at random.