56. The hooked chariot. War chariots sometimes had scythes, or hooks, attached to their axles. See 2 Maccabees XIII 2. 60. sovran. Milton always uses this form in preference to _sovereign_. 62. the Prince of Light. Note the corresponding epithet applied to Satan, Par. Lost X 383. 64. The winds, with wonder whist. The word _whist_, originally an interjection, becomes an adjective, as here and in The Tempest I 2 378. 66. Make three syllables of Oceaen, and make it rhyme with _began_. 68. birds of calm. The birds referred to are doubtless halcyons. Dr. Murray defines halcyon thus: "A bird of which the ancients fabled that it bred about the time of the winter solstice in a nest floating on the sea, and that it charmed the wind and waves so that the sea was specially calm during the period; usually identified with a species of kingfisher, hence a poetic name of this bird." 71. their precious influence. The word _influence_ is originally a term of astrology,--"a flowing in, or influent course, of the planets; their virtue infused into, or their course working on, inferior creatures" (Skeat, _Etym. Dict._). 73. For all the morning light. As in Burns's "We dare be poor for a' that," _for_ meaning in spite of. 74. Lucifer. See Par. Lost VII 131-133. 81. As, for _as if_. 86. Or ere the point of dawn. The two words _or ere_ mean simply _before_, as in Hamlet I 2 147, "A little month, or ere those shoes were old." _The point of dawn_ imitates the French _le point du jour_. 88. Full little thought they than. _Than_ is an ancient form of _then_, not wholly obsolete in Milton's day. 89. the mighty Pan. The poet takes the point of view of the shepherds and uses the name of their special deity. 95. by mortal finger strook. Milton uses the three participle forms, _strook, struck_, and _strucken_. 98. As all their souls in blissful rapture took. The verb _take_ has here the same meaning as in Hamlet I 1 163, "no fairy takes nor witch hath power to charm." Thus also we say, a vaccination takes. 103. Cynthia's seat. See Penseroso 59, and Romeo and Juliet III 5 20. 108. Make the line rhyme properly, giving to union three syllables. 112. The helmed cherubim. See Genesis III 24. 113. The sworded seraphim. See Isaiah VI 2-6. 116. With unexpressive notes, meaning beyond the power of human expression. So in Lycidas 176; Par. Lost V 595; and in As You Like It, "the fair, the chaste, and inexpressive she." 119. But when of old the Sons of Morning sung. See Job XXXVIII 7. 124. the weltering waves. Compare Lycidas 13. 125. Ring out, ye crystal spheres. See note, line 48. The elder poetry is full of the notion that the spheres in their revolutions made music, which human ears are too gross to hear. See Merchant of Venice V 1 50-65. 136. speckled Vanity. The leopard that confronts Dante in Canto I of _Hell_ is beautiful with its dappled skin, but symbolizes vain glory.