# Endnotes explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by Thomas Gray. ## What happens This chapter provides a collection of endnotes referencing classical, biblical, and literary sources, as well as historical figures and events from British and Norse mythology. It includes citations from Virgil, Dante, Petrarch, Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, and others, along with notes on the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor line, and the Gothic mythology of Odin, Lok, and the Valkyriur. ## Themes in this chapter ### Poetry and Artistic Legacy Extensive references to poets and poetic traditions from Homer, Pindar, Dante, Petrarch, Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, and Cowley, with commentary on the progress of poetry from Greece to England. ### Suffering and Adversity Notes on the cruel deaths of Edward II, Richard II, and the secret murders of Henry VI, Clarence, Edward V, and Richard Duke of York. ### Melancholy and Reflection Quotations and notes on mortality, transience, and the power of harmony to calm the soul, including Petrarch's sonnets and the image of the day's departure. ### Nature and the Sublime Descriptions of Snowdon, eagles' nests, and the natural imagery in Virgil, Milton, and the Gothic mythology of Niflheimr and the Valkyriur. ## Character check-ins ### Edward I Referenced in notes on Snowdon and the castle of Conway built by King Edward the First. ### Margaret of Anjou Noted as a woman of heroic spirit who struggled to save her husband and crown. ### Richard III Mentioned with the silver boar as his badge, known as 'the Boar'. ### Helen Referenced as Eleanor of Castile, who died a few years after the conquest of Wales. ### Taliessin Chief of the Bards, flourished in the VI Century, his works still preserved. ### Prophetess Odin is mentioned in the context of Gothic mythology and the Valkyriur. ### Lok Described as the evil Being in chains until the Twilight of the Gods. ### The Valkyriur Female Divinities, servants of Odin, who select the slain in battle. ## Key lines > And bees their honey redolent of spring. Bees produce honey that smells of spring. _Dryden's Fable on the Pythagorean System._ > Madness laughing in his ireful mood. Madness laughs in an angry mood. _Dryden's Fable of Palamon and Arcite._ > Nare per sestatem liquidam. To swim through the clear summer. _Virgil, Georgic IV 59._ > squilla di lontano Che paia 'l giorno pianger, che si muore. A bell from afar that seems to mourn the dying day. _Dante, Purgatorio l. 8._ > Ch' i veggio nel pensier, dolce mio fuoco, Fredda una lingua, e due begli occhi chiusi Rimaner doppo noi pien di faville. I see in thought, my sweet fire, a cold tongue and two beautiful closed eyes remaining after us full of sparks. _Petrarch, Sonnet 169._ > paventosa speme. Fearful hope. _Petrarch, Sonnet 114._ > Mocking the air with colours idly spread. Making fun of the air with colors spread aimlessly. _Shakespeare's King John V 1._ > The crested adder's pride. The pride of the crested adder. _Dryden, Indian Queen._ > Shone, like a meteor, streaming to the wind. Shone like a meteor streaming in the wind. _Milton's Paradise Lost I 537._ > As dear to me as are the ruddy drops That visit my sad heart. As precious to me as the red drops that visit my sad heart. _Julius Caesar II 1._ > How quick they wheeled, and, flying, behind them shot Sharp sleet of arrowy showers. How quickly they turned and, while flying, shot sharp sleet of arrow-like showers behind them. _Milton's Paradise Regained III 323-324._ > The noise of battle hurtled in the air. The sound of battle rushed through the air. _Shakespeare, Julius Caesar II 2._ > Fierce wars and faithful loves shall moralize my song. Fierce wars and faithful loves will give moral meaning to my song. _Spenser, Proeme to the Fairy Queen._ > Awake, my glory; awake, lute and harp. Awaken, my glory; awaken, lute and harp. _David's Psalms._ > Or seen the Morning's well-appointed Star Come marching up the eastern hills afar. Or seen the well-appointed morning star come marching up the distant eastern hills. _Cowley._ > Extra anni solisque vias. Beyond the paths of the year and the sun. _Virgil, Aeneid VI 795._ > Tutta lontana dal camin del sole. All far from the path of the sun. _Petrarch, Canzon 2._ > Flammantia moenia mundi. The flaming walls of the world. _Lucretius I 74._ > For the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels... And above the firmament... was the likeness of a throne... This was the appearance of the glory of the Lord. The spirit of the living creature was in the wheels, and above the firmament was the likeness of a throne, which was the appearance of the glory of the Lord. _Ezekiel 1:20, 26, 28._ > Οφθαλμών μεν άμερσε· δίδου δ' ήδείαν άοιδήν. He deprived them of their eyes, but gave them sweet song. _Homer, Odyssey Θ 64._ > Hast thou clothed his neck with thunder? Have you clothed his neck with thunder? _Job 39:19._ > Words, that weep, and tears, that speak. Words that weep, and tears that speak. _Cowley._ > Διὸς πρὸς ὄρνιχα θεῖον Towards the divine bird of Zeus. _Pindar, Olympian II._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_23_se/chapters/endnotes - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_23_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_23_se/chapters