Like many Protestants, Marvell can’t describe Catholics without mentioning the Rosary (always called “beads” – how hard is it to learn the proper name?).

He does, of course, have a point: many religious (monks, nuns, friars) have a daily rosary among their prescribed prayers.

In ordinary cases, the offeree has to accept an offer for the contract to come into existence. So some might argue that Mrs. Carlill ought to have, say, sent a letter to the Carbolic Smoke Ball Co. informing them that she was beginning treatment, and would be expecting either protection from the ‘flu, or if she did contract it, the promised payment instead.

Charles I never sat firmly on his throne after this date, and was executed in 1649, but his son DID return, to popular acclaim.

And the idea expressed here – that, with the restoration of the rightful king, all evil will be vanquished, all good triumphant – is almost archetypal. In this context, one can’t forget the tales that King Arthur never died, but will return to save England in her hour of greatest need. Similar stories are told of Charlemagne, Constantine XI, and Frederick Barbarossa.

This is certainly also present in the Christian idea that Jesus, divine and anointed ruler of all, will return at the end of time and establish an eternal, joyous, kingdom.

In fiction, Tolkien’s “The Return of the King” takes this as a central theme.

The Palace of Whitehall (since destroyed by fire) was then the main residence of the British monarchs.

The only remaining room of Whitehall Palace – note the lavish gilding

This passage, however, signifies more than the mere fact that the seat of rightful authority was empty. It also emphasizes the puritanical views of the Roundheads. Gold, silver, rich perfume, and other sensory delights, were anathema to that grim sect.

Both the Cavalier and Jacobite strands of Royalism were Legitimist, believing not only that the king ruled by divine authority, but that this authority only devolved upon lawful heirs. So in the Great Rebellion, Cromwell’s authority could have no basis, even if he could rule much better than King Charles (which is debatable). And in the so-called “Glorious Revolution,” James II’s son-in-law and daughter had no right to the throne, even though she was blood-related and both, at least in their Protestantism, were more congenial to the majority of Britishers.

Barn Swallow

Doves

Swallow, Dove, and Dade were all 17th century astrologers. The narrator is suggesting that his predictions are more accurate than theirs, while punning on the bird names shared by the former two.

The idea of the “man in the moon” refers to the face-like shapes that may be discerned on that celestial body.

As the moon moves through the night sky, it might seem to be pursuing a constellation such as the Big Dipper, also known as “Charles’s Wain.”

This is a natural allegory for the English situation at the time of the Great Rebellion, when Cromwell’s Roundheads pursued Charles I and his son, Charles II.

When the song was employed by Jacobites, the hunted Charles would have been Bonnie Prince Charlie, rightful heir to the English/Scottish/Irish throne.

Wain = Wagon.

Shoon is an old plural form meaning “shoes”

Many Greeks did not condemn euthanasia or abortion. In fact, the old were sometimes commended on relieving society of their care by deciding to kill themselves.

Hippocrates, then, opposes the views of many contemporary moralists; but his rejection of these deadly “remedies” is consonant with his general eschewing of harmful actions. It may reflect the ideas of contemporary doctors, whose empirical knowledge might well contrast with the metaphysical thought of the ethicists.

It has also been suggested (cf. Phillips’s Aspects of Greek Medicine, etc.) that these prohibitions were later inserted by Christians, whose morality they certainly reflect.

Wilde, like many a Romantic artist, deplores the conventionality of ordinary people. And he himself was something of a distinctive character, what with his rampant Æstheticism, open homosexuality (in Victorian England!), and bohemian way of life.

Yet is Wilde not situating himself in a tradition of artistically motivated rebellion (think of Shelley, for instance)?

And is participation in tradition, referring to great writers of the past, modelling oneself after great men, so blithely to be eschewed?