NOTES TO CANTO VIII.
Nor this by help of spirits from below,
Nor observation of the stars is done.
Stanza ii. lines 5 and 6.
Fallitur Ammonias siquis decurrit ad artes,
Datque quod a teneri fronte revellit equi.
Non facient ut vivat amor, Medeïdis herbæ
Mixtaque cum magicis Marsa venena sonis.
Ovid.
The servant on his fist a falcon bore,
Which he made fly for pastime every day;
Now on the champaign, now upon the shore
Of neighbouring pool, which teemed with certain prey;
And rode a hack which simple housings wore,
His faithful dog, companion of his way.
Stanza iv. lines 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Hawking, previously to the importation or diffusion of that species of game, which are the creatures of cultivation, was almost confined to the pursuit of aquatic birds, and hence this and the sister art of hunting were, during the middle ages, termed the mysteries of woods and rivers. The importance
