_. The word does not occur in English at all until
the end of the sixteenth century, the possessive case of the neuter
pronoun _it_ and of the masculine _he_ being _his_. This gave rise to
confusion when the old gender system decayed, and the form _its_
gradually came into use, until, by the end of the seventeenth century,
it was in general use. Milton, however, scarcely recognised it, its
place in his involved syntax being taken by the relative pronouns and
other connectives, or by _his_, _her_, _thereof_, etc.

97. ~steep Atlantic stream~. To the ancients the Ocean was the great
_stream_ that encompassed the earth: _Iliad_, xiv., "the deep-flowing
Okeanos (+bathyrroos+)." With this use of 'steep' compare the phrase
'the high seas.'

98. ~slope sun~, sun sunk beneath the horizon, so that the only rays
visible shoot up into the sky. _Slope_ = sloped; also used by Milton as
an adverb = aslope (_Par. Lost_, iv. 591), and as a verb (_Lyc._ 31).

99. ~dusky~. Milton first wrote 'northern.'

100. ~Pacing toward the other goal~, etc. Comp. _Psalm_ xix. 5: "The sun
as a bridegroom cometh out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man
to run a race."

102. The spirit of lines 102-144 may be contrasted with that of
_L'Allegro_, 25-40. Both pieces are calls upon Mirth and Pleasure, and
both are therefore suitably expressed in the same tripping measure and
with many similarities of language. But the pleasures of _L'Allegro_
begin with the sun-rise and yet are "unreproved"; those of _Comus_ and
his crew begin with the darkness and are "unreproved" only if "these dun
shades will ne'er report" them. The "light fantastic toe" of the one is
not the "tipsy dance" of the other; and the laughter and liberty that
betoken the absence of "wrinkled Care" have nothing in common with the
"midnight shout and revelry" that can be enjoyed only when Rigour,
Advice, strict Age, and sour Severity have "gone to bed." The "quips and
cranks" of _L'Allegro_ have given way to the magic rites of _Comus_, and
the wreathed smiles and dimples that adorn the face of innocent Mirth
are ill replaced by the wine-dropping "rosy twine" of revelry.

104. ~jollity~: has here its modern sense of boisterous mirth. In Milton
occasionally the adjective 'jolly' (Fr. _joli_, pretty) has its primary
sense of pleasing or festive.

105. ~Braid your locks with rosy twine~; 'entwine your hair with wreaths
of roses.'

106. ~dropping odours~: comp. l. 862-3.

108. ~