86. ~smooth-dittied~: sweetly-worded. 'Ditty' (Lat. _dictatum_) strictly denotes the words of a song as distinct from the musical accompaniment; it is now applied to any little piece intended to be sung: comp. _Lyc._ 32. For a similar panegyric on Lawes' musical genius compare _Son._ xiii. The musical alliteration in lines 86-88 should be noted. 87. ~knows to still~, etc.: comp. _Lyc._ 10, "he knew Himself to sing." 88. ~nor of less faith~, etc.; _i.e._ he is not less faithful than he is skilful in music; and from the nature of his occupation he is most likely to be at hand should any emergency arise. 92. ~viewless~, invisible: comp. _The Passion_, 50, "_viewless_ wing"; _Par. Lost_, iii. 518. Masson calls this a peculiarly Shakespearian word: see _M. for M._ iii. 1. 124, "To be imprisoned in the viewless winds." The word is obsolete, but poets use great liberty in the formation of adjectives in _-less_: comp. Shelley's _Sensitive Plant_, 'windless clouds.' See note, l. 574. ~charming-rod~: see note, l. 52: also l. 653. ~rout~, a disorderly crowd. The word is also used in the sense of 'defeat,' and is cognate with _route_, _rote_, and _rut_. All come from Lat. _ruptus_, broken: a 'rout' is the breaking up of a crowd, or a crowd broken up; a 'route' is a way broken through a forest; 'rote' is a beaten track; and a 'rut' is a track left by a wheel. See _Lyc._ 61, "by the _rout_ that made the hideous roar." 93. ~star ... fold~, the evening star, Hesperus, an appellation of the planet Venus: comp. _Lyc._ 30. As the morning star (called by Shakespeare the 'unfolding star'), it is called Phosphorus or Lucifer, the light-bringer. Hence Tennyson's allusion: "Bright Phosphor, fresher for the night,... Sweet _Hesper-Phosphor_, double name."-- _In Memoriam_, cxxi. Lines 93-144 are in rhymed couplets, and consist for the most part of eight syllables each. The prevailing accentuation is iambic. 94. ~top of heaven~, etc., _i.e._ is far above the horizon. So in _Lyc._ 31, it is said to slope "toward heaven's _descent_," _i.e._ to sink towards the horizon. Comp. Virgil, _Aen._ ii. 250, "Round rolls the sky, and on comes Night from the ocean." 95. ~gilded car~: Apollo, as the god of the Sun, rode in a golden chariot. Comp. Chaucer, _Test. of Creseide_, 208, "Phoebus' golden cart"; and "Phoebus' wain," line 190.