of the god of the seas, is used for _sea_ or
_ocean_.

[451-6] "Fairy rings" are green circles in the grass. They were supposed
to be caused by fairies dancing in a circle, but are now known to be
caused by mushrooms which grow in circles and which enrich the ground as
they decay. Because it contained some peculiar quality which Shakespeare
calls sourness, the sheep would not eat the grass of the rings.

[452-7] Because mushrooms and toadstools spring up so quickly in the
night, they were supposed to be the work of fairies.

[452-8] The curfew rings at night, and the fairies rejoice to hear it,
for it is the signal for them to begin their frolics.

[452-9] The fairies are weak masters, that is, they can accomplish
little if left to themselves, but under the direction of a human mind
like Prospero's they could work such wonders as he describes.

[452-10] The oak was sacred to Jove (Jupiter), and lightning and
thunder-bolts were his chief weapons.

[452-11] The spurs are the long _roots_ of the pines and cedars.

[453-12] _Boil'd_ is used for _boiling_ or _seething_.

[453-13] _Sociable to_ means _sympathizing with_.

[453-14] _Fall fellowly drops_ means _shed tears in sympathy_.

[453-15] _Rising senses_ means _clearing mental faculties_.

[453-16] _Ignorant fumes that mantle_ alludes to the confusion that the
charm has caused in their ideas. The whole passage means simply that
they are recovering their senses.

[453-17] This sentence means, _I will reward thee to the utmost_.

[453-18] _Remorse_ here means _pity_.

[453-19] _Nature_ here means _brotherly love_.

[454-20] _The reasonable shore_ means _the shore of reason_. As the tide
rises to the shore of the sea, so their clearing thoughts fill their
minds.

[454-21] _Discase me_ means _remove my disguise_.

[454-22] _As I was sometime Milan_ means _as I was once, the Duke of
Milan_.

[454-23] The meaning of the three lines preceding has been much
disputed. No one knows exactly what the poet meant. Perhaps Ariel sings
with this meaning: "When the owls cry and foretell the approach of
winter, I fly on the back of a bat in a merry search for summer."

[456-24] Ariel uses this fanciful way of saying that he will go as fast
as human thought.

[456-25] _Wher_ is a contraction of _whether_.

[456-26] _Trifle_ here means _phantom_ or _spirit_.

[456-27] This clause means, _if this be at all true_.

[456-28] _My wrongs_ means _the wrongs I have don