Specimens of English literature from the 'Ploughmans crede' to the ...

.;414 NOTES.mansion or house of Mercury, which, according to the old astrolog>-,the sign Gemini. It is clear that Douglas has here hnitated Chaucer.7. Saturn was a jroward or inauspicious planet in the old astrology.The words fro7n hys mor.'all speir seem to indicate the reason of hisbeing called /razi-ar/, viz. because he was supposed to portend death.10. Circtdat world, orbit. The orbit of Saturn was behind, i.e. beyondthat of Jupiter.1 1Nyctheviyne, Nyctimene, i. e. the owl. It refers to the owl seekingher daily hiding-place.Lesbos, or, according to others, of Nycteus.Nyctimene was daughter of Epopeus, king ofPursued by her amorousfather, she concealed herself, and was changed by Athene into an owl.13. A considerable portion of 11. 13-242 of this Prologue is writtenout by Warton into modem English prose, somewhat paraphrastically,and with a few omissions ; nor is it free from mistakes. I thereforetake the liberty to rewrite a part of it here, correcting Warton's mistakesby words in italics, and filling up the omissions between squarebrackets.'Fresh Aurora, the wife of [mighty] Tithonus, issued from her saffron bedand ivory house.She was clothed in a robe of crimson and ^•iolet-colour[dyed in grain] ; the cape vermilion, and the border purple : she openedthe windows of her ample hall, overspread with roses, and filled with[royal] balm or nard. At the same time, (20) she draws up the ciystalgates of heaven, to illumine the world. The glittering streamers of theorient diffused purple streaks mingled with gold and azure, [piercing thesable nocturnal rampart, and beat do%\Ti the sky's cloudy mantle-wall.]Eous the steed, in red harness of rubies, of colovu" [like sorrel, and somewhat]brown as the beriy, lifts bis head above the sea, to [enlighten and]glad our hernisphere : the fiame bT.rsting out from his nostrils ; (30) [soquickly Phaethon by means of his whip makes him whirlhis father Apollo's golden chariot, thatisround, to rollshrouds all the heavens and theair.] Till shortly, apparelled in his limiinous [fresh] array, Phoebus,bearing the blazing torch of day, issued from his royal palace ; with agolden crown, glorious visage, curled locks bright as the chrysolite ortopaz, and with a radiance intolerable. The fiery sparks bursting fromhis eyes, (40) to purge the air, and gild the new verdure ;[sheddingdown from his ethereal seat fortunately-influential aspects of the heavensthe misty vapour springing up, sweet as incense, before his kingly highmagnificence, in smoky moisture of dank and humid dews, whilst moistwholesome mists conceal the hollow.] The golden vanes of his[sovereign] throne covered the ocean with a glittering glance, and thebroad waters were all in a blaze, (50) at the first glimpse of his appearance.It was glorious to see the winds appeased, the sea becalmed,