s it.

607. ~return his purchase back~, _i.e._ 'give up his spoil,' or (as in the
MS.) 'release his new-got prey.' To purchase (Fr. _pour-chasser_)
originally meant to pursue eagerly, hence to acquire by fair means or
foul: it thus came to mean 'to steal' (as frequently in Spenser, Jonson,
and Shakespeare), and 'to buy' (its current sense). See Trench, _Study
of Words_; _Hen. V._ iii. 2. 45, "They will steal anything, and call it
_purchase_"; i. _Hen. IV._ ii. l. 101, "thou shalt have share in our
_purchase_."

609. ~venturous~, ready to venture. See note, l. 79.

610. ~yet~, nevertheless. The meaning is: '_Though_ thy courage is
useless, _yet_ I love it.' ~emprise~: an obsolete form (common in Spenser)
of _enterprise_. It is literally that which is undertaken; hence
'readiness to undertake'; hence 'daring.'

611. ~can do thee little stead~, _i.e._ can help thee little. _Stead_,
both as noun and verb, is obsolete except in certain phrases, _e.g._ 'to
stand in good stead,' and in composition, _e.g._ _stead_fast,
home_stead_, in_stead_, Hamp_stead_, etc. Its strict sense is place or
position: comp. _Il Pens._ 3, "How little you _bested_."

612. ~Far other arms~, _i.e._ very different arms. 'Other' has here its
radical sense of 'different,' and can therefore be modified by an
adverb.

615. ~unthread~, loosen. Comp. _Temp._ iv. l. 259, "Go charge my goblins
that they grind their joints With dry convulsions, shorten up their
sinews With aged cramps."

617. ~As to make this relation~, _i.e._ as to be able to tell this.

619. ~a certain shepherd lad~. This is supposed to refer to Charles
Diodati, Milton's dearest friend, to whom he addressed his 1st and 6th
elegies, and after whose death he wrote the touching poem _Epitaphium
Damonis_, in which he alludes to his friend's medical and botanical
skill:

"There thou shalt cull me simples, and shalt teach
Thy friend the name and healing powers of each."

(_Cowper's translation._)

620. ~Of small regard to see to~: in colloquial English, 'not much to
look at.' This is an old idiom: comp. Greek +kalos idein+: see English
Bible, "goodly to look to," i. _Sam._ xvi. 12; _Ezek._ xxiii. 15; _Jer._
xlvii. 3.

621. ~virtuous~, of healing power: see note, l. 165. Comp. _Il Pens._ 113,
"the virtuous ring and glass."

623. ~beg me sing~: see note, l. 304.

625. ~ecstasy~: see note, l. 261. The Greek _ekstasis_ = standing out of
one's self.

626. ~scrip~, wallet