No More Learning

See Spenser's letter to Sir W. Raleigh, p.
6.

250. HER KINDLY SKILL, her natural power.

276. FIERCE ORIONS HOUND, Sirius, the Dog-star, the brightest of the fixed
stars. The constellation Orion was named from a giant hunter who was
beloved by Aurora and slain by Diana.

279. AND NEREUS CROWNES WITH CUPS, and Nereus drinks bumpers in his honor.
Nereus was a sea-god, son of Ocean and Earth.

282. FROM GROUND, from the land.

297. SANS LOY symbolizes the pagan lawlessness in Ireland.
There is also a
wider reference to the struggles between the Turks and the allied Christian
powers, which had been going on since the siege of Vienna in 1529.

309. VAINLY CROSSED SHIELD, Archimago's false cross lacked the protecting
power of St. George's charmed true cross.

321. LETHE LAKE, a lake or river of Hades, whose water brought oblivion or
forgetfulness to all who drank of it.

322. Refers to the ancient custom of sacrificing an enemy on the funeral
altar to appease the shade of the dead.

323. THE BLACKE INFERNALL FURIES, the Erinyes, or goddesses of vengeance,
who dwelt in Erebus. They were robed in black, bloody garments befitting
their gloomy character.

325. In romance it was customary for the victor to unlace the helmet of the
knight whom he had unhorsed before slaying him. Friends and relatives were
sometimes discovered by this precaution.

342. NE EVER WONT IN FIELD, etc.