ii. 4. 12: "Between two dogs, which hath the deeper mouth;" and T. of S. ind. 1. 18: "the deep–mouthed brach" (that is, hound).
The MS. reads:
"The bloodhound's notes of heavy bass
Resounded hoarsely up the pass."
35. Resounded… rocky. The poet often avails himself of "apt alliteration's artful aid," as here, and in the next two lines; most frequently in pairs of words.
38. As Chief, etc. Note here, as often, the simile put BEFORE that which it illustrates,—an effective rhetorical, though not the logical, arrangement.
45. Beamed frontlet. Antlered forehead.
46. Adown. An instance of a purely poetical word, not admissible in prose.
49. Chase. Here put for those engaged in the chase; as in 101 and 171, below. One of its regular meanings is the OBJECT of the chase, or the animal pursued.
53. Uam–Var. "Ua–Var, as the name is pronounced, or more properly Uaigh–mor, is a mountain to the north–east of the village of Callander, in Menteith, deriving its name, which signifies the great den, or cavern, from a sort of retreat among the rocks on the south side, said, by tradition, to have been the abode of a giant. In latter times, it was the refuge of robbers and banditti, who have been only extirpated within these forty or fifty years. Strictly speaking, this stronghold is not a cave, as the name would imply, but a sort of small enclosure, or recess, surrounded with large rocks and open above head. It may have been originally designed as a toil for deer, who might get in from the outside, but would find it difficult to return. This opinion prevails among the old sportsmen and deer–stalkers in the neighborhood" (Scott).
54. Yelled. Note the emphatic force of the inversion, as in 59 below. Cf. 38 above.
Opening. That is, barking on view or scent of the game; a hunting term.
1 comment