[880. ]Right for the polar star. That is, due north. Orgunje. A village on the Oxus some seventy miles below Khiva, and near the head of its delta.
[890.] luminous home. The Aral Sea.
[891.] new bathed stars. As the stars appear on the horizon, they seem to have come up out of the sea.
875-892. Discuss the poet's purpose in introducing the remarkable word-picture of these closing lines of the poem. See also note, ll. [231-250], The Scholar-Gipsy.
[SAINT BRANDAN][°]
[p.164]
In this poem Arnold has vividly presented a quaint legend of Judas Iscariot, popular in the Middle Ages. Saint Brandan (490-577) was a celebrated Irish monk, famous for his voyages. "According to the legendary accounts of his travels, he set sail with others to seek the terrestrial paradise which was supposed to exist in an island of the Atlantic. Various miracles are related of the voyage, but they are always connected with the great island where the monks are said to have landed. The legend was current in the time of Columbus and long after, and many connected St. Brandan's island with the newly discovered America. He is commemorated on May 16."—The Century Cyclopedia of Names.
[7.] Hebrides. A group of islands off the northwestern coast of Scotland.
[11.] hurtling Polar lights. A reference to the rapid, changing movements of the Aurora Borealis.
[18.] Of hair that red. According to tradition, Judas Iscariot's hair was red.