55. hist, primarily an interjection commanding silence, becomes here a verb. 56. With the introduction of the nightingale comes the first intimation of the time of day at which Il Penseroso conceives the course of his satisfactions to begin. 57. Everywhere else in Milton plight is used with its modern connotations. 59. The moon stops to hear the nightingale's song. 65. Remember L'Allegro's _not unseen_. 77. Up to this point Il Penseroso has been walking in the open air. 78. removed,--remote, retired. 87. As the Bear never sets, to outwatch him must mean to sit up all night. 88. With thrice great Hermes. "Hermes Trismegistos--Hermes thrice-greatest--is the name given by the Neo-Platonists and the devotees of mysticism and alchemy to the Egyptian god Thoth, regarded as more or less identified with the Grecian Hermes, and as the author of all mysterious doctrines, and especially of the secrets of alchemy." (The _New Eng. Dicty._) To such studies the serious mediaeval scholars devoted themselves. To unsphere the spirit of Plato is to call him from the sphere in which he abides in the other world, or, simply, to take in hand for study his writings on immortality. 93-96. On the four classes of demons,--Salamanders, Sylphs, Nymphs, Gnomes,--see Pope's Rape of the Lock. These demons are in complicity with the planets and other heavenly bodies to influence mortals. 97-102. Thebes, Pelops' line, and the tale of Troy are the staple subjects of the great Attic tragedians. It seems strange that the poet finds no occasion to name Shakespeare here, as well as in L'Allegro. 104-105. Musaeus and Orpheus are semi-mythical bards, to whom is ascribed a greatness proportioned to their obscurity. 105-108. See note on L'Allegro, 149. 109-115. Or call up him that left half-told. This refers to Chaucer and to his Squieres Tale in the Canterbury Tales. It is left unfinished. Note that Milton changes not only the spelling but the accent of the chief character's name. Chaucer writes, "This noble king was cleped Cambinskan." 120. Stories in which more is meant than meets the ear refer to allegories, like the Fairy Queen. 121. Having thus filled the night with the occupations that he loves, Il Penseroso now greets the morning, which he hopes to find stormy with wind and rain. 122. civil-suited Morn: _i.e._ Morn in the everyday habiliments of business. 123-124. Eos--Aurora, the Dawn--carried off several youths distinguished for their beauty. the Attic boy is probably Cephalus, whom she stole from his wife Procris. 125. kerchieft in a comely cloud. _Kerchief_ is here used in its original and proper sense. Look up its origin. 126. The winds may be called rocking because they visibly rock the trees, or because they shake houses. 127. Or ushered with a shower still. The shower falls gently, without wind.