827. ~Whilom~, of old. An obsolete word, lit. 'at time'; A.S. _hwílum_, instr. or dat. plur. of _hwil_, time.
830. ~step-dame~. For the actual relationship, see note, l. 826. The prefix _step_ (A.S. _steóp-_) means 'orphaned,' and applies properly to a child whose parent has re-married: it was afterwards used in the words 'step-father,' etc. _Dame_ (Fr. _dame_, a lady) retains the sense of mother in the form _dam_.
834. ~pearled wrists~, wrists adorned with pearls. An appropriate epithet, as pearls were said to exist in the waters of the Severn.
835. ~aged Nereus' hall~, the abode of old Nereus, _i.e._ the bottom of the sea. Nereus, the father of the Nereids, or sea nymphs, is described as the wise and unerring old man of the sea; in Virgil, _grandaevus Nereus_. See also, l. 871, and compare Jonson's _Neptune's Triumph_, last song: "Old Nereus, with his fifty girls, From aged Indus laden home with pearls."
836. ~piteous of~, _i.e._ full of pity for; comp. Lat. _miseret te aliorum_ (genitive). Milton occasionally uses the word in this passive sense; its active sense is 'causing pity,' _i.e._ pitiful. Comp. Abbott, § 3. ~reared her lank head~, _i.e._ raised up her drooping head: comp. _Par. Lost_, viii.: "In adoration at his feet I fell Submiss: he _reared_ me." 'Lank,' lit. slender; hence weak. The adjective _lanky_ is in common use = tall and thin.
837. ~imbathe~, to bathe in: the force of the preposition being reduplicated, as in Lat. _incidere in_.
838. ~nectared lavers~, etc., baths sweetened with nectar and scented with asphodel flowers. On 'nectar,' see note, l. 479. ~asphodel~; the same, both name and thing, as 'daffodil' (see _Lyc._ 150, where it takes the form 'daffadillies'): Gk. +asphodelos+, M.E. _affodille_. The initial _d_ in daffodil has not been satisfactorily explained: see l. 851.
839. ~the porch~. So Quintilian calls the ear the vestibule of the mind: comp. _Haml._ i. 5. 63: "the porches of mine ear"; also the phrase, "the five gateways of knowledge."
840. ~ambrosial oils~, oils of heavenly fragrance: see note, l. 16, and compare Virgil's use of _ambrosia_ in _Georg._ iv. 415, _liquidum ambrosiae diffundit odorem_.
841. ~quick immortal change~: comp. l. 10.