mien a way of carrying and conducting oneself; manner.
dandyism the condition of being or qualities of a dandy, a man who pays too much attention to his clothes and appearance.
bizarrerie something strange, weird, singular, odd (French).
lineaments the features of the body, usually of the face, esp. with regard to their outlines.
Cyprian image the goddess of love in an ancient world, Venus and Aphrodite, was associated with Cyprus, but the legend mentioned has not been convincingly identified.
“the wrath to come” an echo of Matthew 3:7.
Petite mort shudder or chill; a premonition of death; a “little death” (French).
“The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife …” in 1 Corinthians, 7:13–14, Paul advises wives not to leave husbands who lack belief.
“Sermon on the Mount” from Matthew 5–7.
“from the Dictionnaire Philosophique to Huxley’s Essays” The Dictionnaire is a collection of essays published in the eighteenth century by Voltaire, who was antagonistic to Christianity; Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895), a respected scientist and supporter of Darwinian theory, published many essays, including Essays on Some Controverted Questions (1892).
“I worshipped on the mountains …” from 2 Kings 17–23.
“servants of corruption” from 2 Peter 2:19–20.
“witch of Babylon” from Revelation 17, there are references to the Whore of Babylon.
Primum mobile the outermost sphere of the world in Ptolemaic cosmography, which caused the movement of the heavens (Latin).
pellucid transparent or translucent; clear; easy to understand.
Tophet a place mentioned in the Bible where children were burned; it became identified in Judaism with an underworld where wickedness was punished after death; a synonym for hell that came into Middle English from Hebrew.
“Plutonic master” Pluto, or Hades, god of the underworld, had the power to condemn people to hell.
autochthonous characteristic of any of the earliest known inhabitants of a place.
Stodded waggon (dialect) a wagon that is stuck.
“the seven thunders” from Revelation 10:3–4.
Hagrode (dialect) ridden by witches, troubled by nightmares.
Weltlust desire for worldly things and pleasures (German).
Hymenaeus and Alexander in this sentence Alec is echoing Paul in 1 Timothy 1:18–20, where he mentions these figures as examples of those who have lost faith.
perdition the loss of the soul; damnation; hell.
expostulate to reason with a person earnestly, objecting to that person’s actions or intentions; remonstrate (with).
Bachelor-apostle St. Paul; Alec is echoing Luke 9:62.
“And she shall follow after her lover …” from Hosea 2:7.
nammet-time (dialect) time for a snack at mid-morning or mid-afternoon.
Faeces feces, excrement.
cadaverous of or like a cadaver; esp., pale, ghastly, or gaunt and haggard.
“grapes of Ephraim” from Judges 8:1–3.
