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

XXIV. THOMAS SACKVILLE. 4595. The Iryshe Sea means the sea on the west of England, still so called.6. Phaethon, the sun. Was prest, &c., was ready to enter his restingplace; i. e. the solstitiiim or winter solstice. It was therefore very nearlymidwinter.Erythhis is clearly the name of the foremost horse in the sun'schariot, and is probably named from the redness of the dawn (Greekepvdpos, red). Titan is al o the sun ; but probably Titan is imagined asreclining in the hinder part of the chariot, whilst Phaethon, his son orcharioteer, stands in front to drive. The purple bed is of course the glowof sunset.7. Cinthea, the moon.Noouesteede, place of noon, i. e. the southern meridian.Syxe degrees; since fifteen degrees make an hour, six degrees aretwenty-four minutes.Chare, car.The moon had southed twenty-four minutes before.Ear, ere.8. 'The altered scene of things, the flowers and verdure of summerdeformed by the frosts and storms of winter, and the day suddenlyoverspread with darkness, remind the poet of the uncertainties of humanlife, the transient state of honour, and the instability of prosperity.'Warton.9. Leantes, gleams, glowing lights.Redticed, brought back, which is the original sense of the Latinredticere. Cf. note to Sect. XIX (B), 14; p. 439.10. Pieres, peers. He alludes to Lydgate's • Fall of Princes.'11. ' Immediately the figure of Sorrow suddenly appears, which showsthe poet in a new and bolder mode of composition.'—Warton.12. Forwilhered mid forespent, utterly withered and utterly worn out.The proper spelling 1% forspent.Wealked, withered ; better spelt welked, as in Spenser, Sheph. Cal.November, 1. 13. Nares is wrong in connecting it with the word uhelhedin King Lear, iv. 6. 71, which means, covered with whelks or protuberances.13. jDoome, opinion, judgment.14. Dewle, mourning; Fr. deuil. Now spelt dole.15. Stint, cease. Spill, destroy.Of sorrowe, with sorrow.16. Letheus, the water of Lethe or oblivion.17. Those, the characters whose tragedies are related in the Mirrorfor Magistrates.Whom, &c., ' whom, in this maze of misery, Fortune chose as mostwoeful mirrors of wretched chance.' Flere 7nirrors is put instead ofexa77iples, in order to make a more direct allusion to the name of thework for which the Induction was intended.