1. =The quiet-coloured end of evening.= The late twilight when the bright colours have faded from the sky.
7. =a city.= The poet had in mind probably the Campagna,—the level stretch of country outside the city of Rome. This district was once very thickly populated.
9. Supply the conjunctive pronoun, _that_ or _which_.
13. Notice that throughout the poem, the description of the scenery as it now appears, is alternated with the pictures of its former splendour.
15-8. If there had been trees it would have been an easy matter to distinguish certain slopes from others by the single trees or groups of trees growing on them. Now these slopes are separated only by streams and they take their names from the names of these streams which flow through the valleys.
20. =like fires.= Glittering in the sunlight.
23. =nor be pressed.= Without being crowded.
29-30. =guessed alone, stock or stone.= You can only guess that the sticks and stones are there; the grass covers them.
=gourd.= A trailing or climbing plant, such for example, as our wild cucumber. =overscored.= By the stems of the vines, which form lines on the wall.
41-2. =houseleek.= A plant commonly found on old walls and ruins. patching. covering up the holes; or, perhaps, forming patches on the walls. =winks.= When moved by the breeze.
45. =burning.= Because they were made of gold.
50-2. Smiles because she is leaving the flocks to return in peace to their folds.
55. =yellow hair.= A suggestion that she belonged to a northern race.
57. =caught soul.= They were inspired to do their best by seeing the king and courtiers watching from the tower.
63-4. =the glades’ colonnades.= The rows of columns in the valleys.
65. =causeys.= Causeways. A causeway is a raised road passing over wet or marshy ground.
79. He appeals to the feelings of his readers, who are moved by the same passions now as in the past.
80-4. These ruins are Earth’s returns, the only result of centuries of folly, noise and sin. In contrast with this is Love, which endures.
This poem appears in Byron’s _Don Juan_. It is supposed to be sung by a wandering Greek minstrel during the marriage feast of the hero and heroine of the story; but it is a direct expression of Byron’s own feelings on the subject of Greek freedom.