367. ~unprincipled in virtue's book~, _i.e._ ignorant of the elements of virtue. A principle (Lat. _principium_, beginning) is a fundamental truth; hence the current sense of 'unprincipled,' implying that the man who has no fixed rules of life is the one who will readily fall into evil. Comp. _Sams. Agon._ 760, "wisest and best men ... with goodness _principled_." 368. ~bosoms~, holds within itself. The nom. is 'goodness.' 'Peace' is governed by 'in,' l. 367. 369. ~As that~, etc. This is an adverbial clause of consequence to 'unprincipled'; in modern English such a clause would be introduced by 'that,' and in Elizabethan English either by 'as' or 'that.' Here we have both connectives together. ~single~: see note, l. 204. noise, sound. 370. ~Not being in danger~, _i.e._ she not being in danger: absolute construction. This parenthetical line is equivalent to a conditional clause--'if she be not in danger, the mere want of light and noise need not disquiet her.' 371. ~constant~, steadfast. 372. ~misbecoming~: see note on 'misused,' l. 47. ~plight~, condition. Skeat derives this word from A.S. _pliht_, danger; others connect it with _pledge_. It is distinct from _plight_, l. 301. 373. ~Virtue could see~, etc. The best commentary on this line is in lines 381-5: comp. Spenser: "Virtue gives herself light through darkness for to wade," _F. Q._ i. 1. 12. 375. ~flat sea~: comp. _Lyc._ 98, "level brine": Lat. _aequor_, a flat surface, used of the sea. 376. ~seeks to~, applies herself to. This use of seek is common in the English Bible: see _Deut._ xii. 5, "_unto_ his habitation shall ye _seek_"; _Isaiah_, viii. 19, xi. 10, xix. 3; i. _Kings_, x. 24. 377. ~her best nurse, Contemplation~. The wise man loves contemplation and solitude: comp. _Il Penseroso_, 51, where "the Cherub Contemplation" is the "first and chiefest" of Melancholy's companions. In Sidney's _Arcadia_, "Solitariness" is "the nurse of these contemplations." 378. ~plumes~. Some would read _prunes_, both words being used of a bird's smoothing or trimming its feathers--or (more strictly) picking out damaged feathers. See Skeat's _Dictionary_, and compare Pope's line, "Where Contemplation _prunes_ her ruffled wings." 379. ~various~, varied: comp. l. 22. The 'bustle of resort' is in _L'Allegro_ the 'busy hum of men.'