copper lace. Gold lace was commonly used in eighteenth century fashions. Copper lace would be a poor imitation.
277. People who were poor but proud lived sparingly from day to day in order to have one feast in the year to make a show of wealth before the world.
279-80. They continue to follow the changing fashions and do not stop to consider how much better it would be to have the approval of their own better selves.
282. Holland is in parts below the level of the sea, and hence ‘embosomed in the deep.’
284. leans against the land. Presses against the dykes or embankments.
285. sedulous. Industrious, diligent. Both the adjective sedulous and the verb lift relate to sons l. 283.
286. rampire. Rampart; here, the bank or dyke which has been made by man (hence ‘artificial’) and which rises proudly above the sea.
291. pent. Confined, limited, shut out.
rising o’er the pile. Rising up along the sides of the dyke.
292. amphibious. Generally applied to animals which are able to live both on land and in water. Holland is said to be amphibious because it naturally belongs to the sea but has been reclaimed as part of the land.