5. Embattell’d: indented on the upper edge like the battlements
of a castle.
6. My lefe is fare in land: This seems to have been the refrain of
some old song, and its precise meaning is uncertain. It
corresponds in cadence with the morning salutation of the cock;
and may be taken as a greeting to the sun, which is beloved of
Chanticleer, and has just come upon the earth — or in the sense
of a more local boast, as vaunting the fairness of his favourite
hen above all others in the country round.
Transcriber’s note: Later commentators explain “fare in land” as
“gone abroad” and have identified the song:
My lefe is fare in lond
Alas! Why is she so?
And I am so sore bound
I may not come her to.
She hath my heart in hold
Where ever she ride or go
With true love a thousand-fold.
(Printed in The Athenaeum, 1896, Vol II, p. 566).
7. “Avoi!” is the word here rendered “away!” It was frequently
used in the French fabliaux, and the Italians employ the word
“via!” in the same sense.
8. “Ne do no force of dreams:” “Somnia ne cares;” — Cato
“De Moribus,” 1 ii, dist. 32
9. Centaury: the herb so called because by its virtue the centaur
Chiron was healed when the poisoned arrow of Hercules had
accidentally wounded his foot.