Page 17. and erst "rose noble" bore thy grace.—The "rose noble," an ancient English gold coin, first minted by Edward III., was stamped with the figure of the rose.

19. The phantom of the buried tide.—This phenomenon is not infrequently seen in the evenings of the last of August or early September. It is caused by the condensation of the invisible vapor of the air resting on the dyked lands—the former sea-bed. As the condensed vapor lies close upon the ground, the illusion of a full sea is complete in the moonlight, the shore line and creeks being perfectly traced.

28. The title deeds of these rich shores are thine.—Geologists affirm that Partridge Island is older than the mainland, or than the other islands mentioned.

29. Tennyson Rock.—This rock is the pinnacle of Pinnacle Island (one of the Five Islands, Basin of Minas). The rock is solitary, and nearly two hundred feet high at low water,—a seated figure strongly resembling, as seen from the Basin, Lord Tennyson in his old age—with his cloak about him.

32. Glooscap.—The divine man of the Micmac Indians. His home was on the shores of the Basin of Minas, particularly at Partridge Island, the Five Islands, and Blomidon. He sailed away "into the west," because of the wickedness of men and beasts, not to return till they should heed his voice. (See "Legends of the Micmacs," gathered by the late Rev. Silas Tertius Rand, D.D., LL.D, of Hantsport, Nova Scotia, and published by Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.)

40. Day and Night.—The last three lines of the sonnet refer to the "afterglow," which often appears (at Minas Basin) from half an hour to an hour or more after the first sunset colors have entirely faded into dusk.

45. Mayflower.—The Trailing Arbutus.

48. The Ghost Flower.—The monotropa uniflora,—a true flower, not a fungus. It grows in the deep shadows, the entire flower and stalk being colorless and wax-like. It has white, wax-like bracts in place of green leaves. The cup nods, and stalk and flower together often form an interrogation point (which fact, it will be observed, determines the cast of the sonnet). The flower is widely known as the Ghost Flower, but is often called Indian Pipe.

52. McMaster University.—Founded as a distinctively Christian university, by the late William McMaster, of Toronto, merchant, founder of the Bank of Commerce, and a member of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada.

54. Areopagus ... Furies.—The sessions of the Areopagus, the highest judicial court at Athens, were held on Mars' Hill. The Cave of the Furies was beneath the same rock.

66. And shewed the prints of palfrey's shoe.—These tiny horse-shoe prints, many of them sharp and perfect even to the nail-heads, may be seen in abundance on the branches of any horse-chestnut tree.

82. Had I two loaves of bread,—Mohammed. Or let me die—Wordsworth,—uttered in view of his emotion at the sight of the rainbow.

84. The Dragonfly.—The species of neuropterous insects referred to in the poem deposit their eggs in water. The grub lives at the bottom of the lake or pond, creeping on the submerged parts of aquatic plants and feeding on aquatic insects. When the final transformation is about to take place, the body of the insect becomes swollen until, lighter than the water, it rises to the surface. As its skin dries, it splits at the back, and the perfect insect comes forth, with body and wings quite soft and moist. When dry, the wings expand, until presently the insect spreads them, and soaring upwards, begins to dart to and fro in the full enjoyment of its new and wondrous life.

115. The moon at her utmost poised.—The moon is in meridian at high water in the Bay of Fundy.

159. "By the Love": An Easter Idyll.—The story on which this poem is founded was published in the Congregationalist, by Helen Strong Thompson, as a true incident of the Easter of 1894.