Vocabulary and Allusions: "Ode to Psyche"

Stanza I
    Line 1, tuneless: lacking melody, because the poet lacks inspiration.
              numbers: verses. (Hamlet uses this word in referring to his poem to Ophelia, II,
              ii, 120.)
    Line 4, soft-conched: shaped like a soft shell.
              espied: seen.

Stanza II
    Line 2, Tyrian: purple. The people of ancient Tyre were associated with purple dye.
    Line 3, bedded grass: the grass is their bed.
    Line 4, pinnions: wings.
    Line 5, disjointed: separated.
    Line 8, aurorean: of or like the dawn. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn.
    Line 9, winged boy: Cupid

Stanza III
    Line 2, Olympus: a mountain in Greece. The ancient Greeks believed the gods and goddesses lived at its summit. They have "faded" or been displaced by Christianity.
    Line 3, Phoebe: the moon goddess. Her "star" is the moon.
    Line 4, Vesper: the planet Venus seen as the evening star. Venus is the goddess of love, hence, "amorous."
    Line 7, moan: a lamentation or expression of grief.
    Line 8, censer: an ornamented container for burning incense, often used in religious ceremonies.

Stanza IV
    Line 2, believing lyre: religious worship.
                fond: perhaps has the older meaning of "foolish" and the modern one of
                "affectionate."
    Line 3, haunted: filled with spirits.
    Line 6, lucent: shining, giving off light.
                fans: wings.
    Line 7, faint: weak or faded.

Stanza V
    Line 2, fane: temple (or church).
    Line 6, fledge: feather.
    Line 7, zephyrs: breezes.
    Line 8, moss-lain Dryads: wood nymphs lying on mossy banks.
    Line 10, sanctuary: a holy place; also a building or place set aside for religious worship.
    Line 13, Fancy: The fancy or imagination is often portrayed in literature as a gardener who improves nature.
           feign: devise or invent.
    Line 17, casement: window.

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