THE
WANDRING
WOOD, i.
Spenser - Faerie Queene - 1
78. THE MIRRHE, the Arabian myrtle, which exudes a bitter but fragrant gum.
The allusion is to the wounding of Myrrha by her father and her
metamorphosis into this tree.
79. THE WARLIKE BEECH, because lances and other arms were made of it. THE
ASH FOR NOTHING ILL. "The uses of the ash is one of the most universal: it
serves the souldier, the carpenter, the wheelwright, cartwright, cooper,
turner, and thatcher. "--Evelyn's _Sylva_. The great tree Igdrasil in the
northern mythology was an ash.
81. THE CARVER HOLME, or evergreen oak, was good for carving.
106. SHAME WERE TO REVOKE, etc. , it would be cowardly not to go forward for
fear of some suspected unseen danger.
114.
THE WANDRING WOOD, i. e. which causes men to go astray.
123. MONSTER. The description of the monster Error, or Falsehood, is based
on Hesiod's Echidna, _Theog_. 301, and the locusts in _Revelation_, ix,
7-10. She is half human, half serpent, because error is partly true and
partly false. Dante's Fraud and Milton's Sin are similar monsters.
126. FULL OF VILE DISDAINE, full of vileness that bred disgust in the
beholder.
130. OF HER THERE BRED, etc. , of her were born a thousand young ones. Her
offspring are lies and rumors of many shapes.
141.
