abridgement (39) pastime.
aby (335) to pay the penalty for.
Acheron (357) a river in Hades: often identified as the river across which Charon ferries the dead.
adamant (195) lodestone, a hard stone or substance that was supposedly unbreakable.
Aegles (79) the woman for whom Theseus abandoned Ariadne.
Antiopa (80) Queen of the Amazons, often identified with Hippolyta, but here they are viewed as separate women.
Antipodes (55) the opposite side of the earth.
Apollo (231) the god of music, poetry, prophecy, and medicine, represented as exemplifying manly youth and beauty.
Ariadne (80) King Minos' daughter, who gives Theseus the thread by which he finds his way out of the labyrinth after killing the Minotaur.
Aurora's harbinger (380) the morning star, precursor of the dawn.
Bacchanals (48) worshippers of Bacchus, the god of wine and revelry.
barm (38) the yeast foam that appears on the surface of malt liquors as they ferment.
Bergomask dance (332) a rustic dance, named for Bergamo (a province ridiculed for its rusticity).
beshrew (60) to curse, usually mildly.
Beteem (131) grant.
bootless (37) in vain.
bottle of hay (28) bundle of hay.
brow of Egypt (11) face of a gypsy.
buskin'd (71) wearing boots reaching to the calf or knee.
Byrlakin (11) by your ladykin (i.e., the Virgin Mary).
Cadmus (107) a Phoenician prince and founder of Thebes: he killed a dragon and sowed its teeth, from which many armed men rose, fighting each other, until only five were left to help him build the city.
cankerblossom (282) a worm that destroys the flower bud.
Carthage queen (173) Dido; founder and queen of Carthage: in the Aeneid she falls in love with Aeneas and kills herself when he leaves her.
childing (112) pregnant.
coil (339) commotion; turmoil.
collied (145) blackened, as with coal dust.
conn'd (80) to peruse carefully; to study; fix in the memory.
Corin, Phillida (66, 68) conventional names of pastoral lovers.
coy (2) caress.
