163. ~wind me~, etc. The verbs _wind_ (_i.e._ coil) and _hug_ suggest the cunning of the serpent. The easy-hearted man is the person whose heart or mind is easily overcome: 'man' is here used generically. Burton, in _Anat. of Mel._, says: "The devil, being a slender incomprehensible spirit, can easily insinuate and _wind_ himself into human bodies." _Me_ is here used reflexively: see note, l. 61. This is not the ethic dative. 165. ~virtue~, _i.e._ power or influence (Lat. _virtus_). This radical sense is still found in the phrase 'by virtue of' = by the power of. The adjective _virtuous_ is now used only of moral excellence: in line 621 it has its older meaning. 166. The reading of the text is that of the editions of 1637 and 1645. In the edition of 1673 the reading was: "I shall appear some harmless villager, And hearken, if I may, her business here. But here she comes, I fairly step aside." But in the errata there was a direction to omit the comma after _may_, and to change _here_ into _hear_. In Masson's text, accordingly, he reads: "And hearken, if I may her business hear." 167. ~keeps up~, etc., _i.e._ keeps occupied with his country affairs even up to a late hour. _Gear_: its original sense is 'preparation' (A.S. _gearu_, ready); hence 'business' or 'property.' Comp. Spenser, _F. Q._ vi. 3. 6, "That to Sir Calidore was _easy gear_," _i.e._ an easy matter, fairly, softly. _Fair_ and _softly_ were two words which went together, signifying _gently_ (Warton). 170. ~mine ear ... My best guide~. Observe the juxtaposition of _mine_ and _my_ in these lines. _Mine_ is frequent before a vowel, especially when the possessive adjective is not emphatic. In Shakespeare 'mine' is almost always found before "eye," "ear," etc., where no emphasis is intended (Abbott, § 237). 171. ~Methought~, _i.e._ it seemed to me. In the verb 'methinks' _me_ is the dative, and _thinks_ is an impersonal verb (A.S. _thincan_, to appear), quite distinct from the causal verb 'I think,' which is from A.S. _thencan_, to make to appear. 173. ~jocund~, merry. Comp. _L'Allegro_, 94, "the _jocund_ rebecks sound." ~gamesome~, lively. This word, like many other adjectives in _-some_, is now less common than it was in Elizabethan English: many such adjectives are obsolete, _e.g._ laboursome, joysome, quietsome, etc. (see Trench's _English, Past and Present_, v.). 174. ~unlettered hinds~, ignorant rustics (A.S. _hina_, a domestic). 175. ~granges~, granaries, barns (Lat. _granum_, grain). The word is now applied to a farm-house with its outhouses. 176. ~Pan~, the god of everything connected with pastoral life: see _Arc._ 106, "Though Syrinx your Pan's mistress were." 177. ~thank the gods amiss~. _Amiss_ stands for M.E. _on misse_ = in error. "Perhaps there is a touch of Puritan rigour in this. The gods should be thanked in solemn acts of devotion, and not by merry-making" (Keightley). See Introduction.