Arcadia. Sir Philip Sidney
plaining] mourning.
clouted] patched. The 1593 edition reads “doubted.”
Epirus lies north-west of the Peloponnesus and south of Macedonia, while the island of Aeolus (Aeles’ land) is further west, between Sicily and Sardinia (Ringler 495).
keels or “kayles, a game similar to ninepins”; green “was the color of lovers, and May games were decried for the acts of immorality that often accompanied them”; quintain refers to “tilting at a post, formerly an exclusively knightly exercise, had by Elizabethan times become a village game” (Ringler 495).
lease of] contract that gave them rights to.
maid refers to Urania; a micher is a truant; the bias is the nipple, an image drawn from bowling balls, which were give an irregularity “that they might move in a particular curve”; and peeper means “chirper and looker” (Ringler 495).
a sprat new stomach brings] a small sea-fish renews one’s appetite.
think] No one, including himself, suspected he loved Urania.
“The sun enters the zodiacal sign of Leo about 21 July, so about two months have passed since Strephon first saw Urania” (Ringler 495).
Barley-Break] a game, like tag, for mixed couples. “In the country game of barley-break the two couples at either end of the field attempt to change partners without being caught by the couple in the middle (called hell). The couple in the middle must hold hands while chasing the others, and if they catch any one member of an opposing couple before they meet as partners, that pair must take their place in hell” (Ringler 495).
fremd] stranger. Each of the three men and women hold hands at first. The moral suggests that most couples part in order to reach their future partner, but they might do better remaining with their friends.
Here by the luck of the draw (lot) Geron (old man) is paired with Cosma (ornament). Nous (mind or heart) is paired with Pas (the whole, or “all men” in New Testament Greek), who is more interested in Cosma but believes he can only win her by capturing old Geron first. Strephon is at first happily matched with Urania, before she is obliged by the game to pursue old Geron and he to pursue worldly Cosma. Although Sidney’s Astrophil denounces “allegory’s curious frame,” Sidney often animated personifications (one definition of allegory) and knew how to hint at the supernatural (the function of another kind of allegory).
“In the first game Pas and Nous catch old Geron as he attempts to reach Urania, but tumble over him in the process” (Ringler 496).
“In the second game Geron and Urania take their place in hell and Strephon is supposed to run to Nous; but instead he follows Urania and is caught [by her], and Nous [whom he should have chased] has to go to hell with him” (Ringler 496).
pursuivants] “official messengers” (Ringler 496).
“Strephon breaks away from Nous, which is, of course, against the rules, and runs after Urania by himself. At the same time Claius, who is only a spectator, also runs after Urania. The two friends catch her, and completely disrupt the game” (Ringler 496).
Strephon would have been “victor” had he caught Geron.
darts] beams from Urania’s backcast eyes.
nearer] Strephon’s approach moves Urania to speed, enhancing her beauty, as the Phoenix is reborn brighter than before, making the day shine doubly, attracting Claius, who also pursues her.
Boreas] the stormy north wind.
treble baas] says “baa” three times.
murrain] pestilence. I don’t care what plague kills you.
Book 2
Chapter 1
Gynecia Woos Zelmane
Gynecia cannot sleep, worried that her love (for the man disguised as Zelmane) will undo her. She overhears Zelmane sing about “her” love for Philoclea and sees her throw down her lute. She begs for mercy, but Zelmane denies his disguise. Basilius sings about the advantages of old age, dismisses Gynecia, and attends to Zelmane. Zelmane refuses to talk about anything that would compromise her honor. (1593 ed. 50.1)
In these pastoral pastimes a great number of days were sent to follow their flying predecessors, while the cup of poison that was tasted deeply