ace.

213. Corbel: A bracket-like support projecting from a wall from
which an arch springs or on which a beam rests. The poet has in mind
an ancient hall in which the ceiling is the exposed woodwork of the
roof.

214. This line at first read: "With the lightsome," etc. Why did
Lowell's refining taste strike out "the"?

216. Yule-log: The great log, sometimes the root of a tree, burned in
the huge fireplace on Christmas eve, with special ceremonies and
merrymakings. It was lighted with a brand preserved from the last
year's log, and connected with its burning were many quaint
superstitions and customs. The celebration is a survival through our
Scandinavian ancestors of the winter festival in honor of the god
Thor. Herrick describes it trippingly in one of his songs:

"Come, bring with a noise,
My merrie, merrie boys,
The Christmas log to the firing;
While my good dame, she
Bids ye all be free,
And drink to your heart's desiring."

219. Like a locust, etc.: Only one who has heard both sounds
frequently can appreciate the close truth of this simile. The
metaphors and similes in this stanza are deserving of special study.

226. Harp: Prof. William Vaughn Moody questions whether "the use of
Sir Launfal's hair as a 'harp' for the wind to play a Christmas carol
on" is not "a bit grotesque." Does the picture of Sir Launfal in these
two stanzas belong in the Prelude or in the story in Part Second?

230. Carol of its own: Contrasted with the carols that are being
sung inside the castle.

231. Burden: The burden or refrain is the part repeated at the end
of each stanza of a ballad or song, expressing the main theme or
sentiment. _Still_ is in the sense of always, ever.

233. Seneschal: An officer of the castle who had charge of feasts
and ceremonies, like the modern Lord Chamberlain of the King's palace.
Note the effect of the striking figure in this line.

237. Window-slits: Narrow perpendicular openings in the wall,
serving both as windows and as loopholes from which to fire at an
enemy.

238. Build out its piers: The beams of light are like the piers or
jetties that extend out from shore into the water to protect ships.
Such piers are also built out to protect the shore from the violent
wash of the ocean. The poet may possibly, however, have had in mind
the piers of a bridge that support the arches and stand against the
sweep of the stream.

243. In this line inste