"Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise
To scorn delights and live laborious days."
32. Half-virtues: Is Lowell disparaging the virtues of peace and
home in comparison with the heroic virtues of war? Or are these
"half-virtues" contrasted with the loftier virtue, the devotion to
Truth?
34. That stern device: The seal of Harvard College, chosen by its
early founders, bears the device of a shield with the word _Ve-ri-tas_
(truth) upon three open books.
46. Sad faith: Deep, serious faith, or there may be a slight touch
of irony in the word, with a glance at the gloomy faith of early
puritanism and its "lifeless creed" (l. 62).