[804. Speaks thunder and the chains of Erebus To some of Saturn’s crew:] pronounces sentence upon his foes, condemning them to the punishments named. Erebus—Darkness—is one of the numerous names of the lower world, the kingdom of Pluto.
[808. the canon laws:] the fundamental laws, or the Constitution. Canon law, generally speaking, is ecclesiastical law, or the law governing the church.
[817. And backward mutters of dissevering power.] The “many murmurs” with which his incantations have been mixed must be spoken backward in order to undo their effect. This backward repetition of the charm has the power to break the spell which the charm has wrought.
[822. Melibœus] is yet another of the stock names of pastoral poetry.
[823. The soothest shepherd.] The ancient adjective sooth means essentially nothing more than true.
[826. Sabrina is her name.] The story of Sabrina is told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, whose history is included in the volume of Bohn’s Antiquarian Library, entitled Six Old English Chronicles. The book is easily accessible.
[827. Whilom] is derived from the dative plural hwílum of the Old English noun hwíl, and originally meant at times.
[831.] What does Sabrina do in this line?
[835. aged Nereus] was one of the numerous Greek deities of the water. He and his wife Doris had fifty or a hundred daughters, who are called Nereids.
[838. In nectared lavers strewed with asphodel.] The nectar of the gods, which we usually think of as their drink, was also applied to other purposes, as when Thetis anoints with it the body of Patroclus, to prevent decay. Asphodel is a flower in our actual flora; but in the poets Asphodel is an immortal flower growing abundantly in the meadows of Elysium.