[90]. Likeliest: the best suited for impersonation by the Attendant Spirit, by reason of his office of mountain watch over the flocks. He would therefore be supposed to be near at hand if aid were needed.
[92]. viewless: invisible.
[93]. The star that bids the shepherd fold: the evening star cannot be said to hold the top of heaven, i.e. be in the meridian; any star, the earliest to appear, must be meant.
[101]. his chamber in the east: an allusion to Psalm xix. 5.
[110]. saws: sayings, maxims; 'grave' is used contemptuously by Comus.
[116]. to the moon in wavering morrice move: the sounds and seas beneath the moon reflect dancing lights; 'morrice,' a rapid Moorish dance, once common in England.
[129]. Cotytto: the goddess of shameless and licentious orgies. Her priests were called Baptæ.
'involved in thickest gloom,
Cotytto's priests her secret torch illume;
And to such orgies give the lustful night,