[273]. extreme shift: last resort; Fr. dernier ressort.
[279]. near ushering: attending near at hand.
[285]. forestalling night: preventing, or hindering, night came before them; 'forestall' has here the present sense of 'prevent,' and 'prevent' its old, literal sense of come before.
[287]. imports their loss: does their loss signify other than your present need of them?
[290]. Hebe: the goddess of youth; cupbearer to the gods before Ganymedes.
[293]. Swinked: hard-worked. Spenser frequently uses the verb 'swink,' and several times in connection with 'sweat'; severe toil is always implied in his use of the word: 'For which men swinck and sweat incessantly.'—F. Q., 2. 7, 8; 'And every one did swincke, and every one did sweat.'—2. 7, 36; 'For which he long in vaine did sweate and swinke,' 6. 4, 32; 'Of mortal men, that swincke and sweate for nought.'—The Sheapherd's Calender, November, 154; 'For they doo swinke and sweate to feed the other.'—Mother Hubbard's Tale, 163.
[301]. plighted: folded, involved.
[313]. bosky bourn: Masson explains 'shrubby boundary or watercourse.' Warton's explanation seems better supported by the context: 'A bourn . . . properly signifies here, a winding, deep, and narrow valley, with a rivulet at the bottom. In the present instance, the declivities are interspersed with trees and bushes. This sort of valley Comus knew from side to side. He knew both the opposite sides or ridges, and had consequently traversed the intermediate space.'
[315]. attendance: attendants.
[329]. square: adapt.