The Works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 12

– compertum est veracibus ut mihi signis,Queis Amythaonius nequeat certare Melampus.

As a physician, he discovered the use of hellebore; thence called Melampodium.

62

This and the three following Idylliums were first published in the Second Miscellany.

63

Wentworth Dillon, Earl of Roscommon, an elegant poet and accomplished nobleman, was created captain of the band of pensioners after the Restoration, and made a considerable figure at the court of Charles II. But, having injured his fortune by gaming, and being engaged in a lawsuit with the Lord Privy Seal concerning a considerable part of his estate, he found himself obliged to retire to Ireland, and resigned his post at the English court. After having resided some years in that kingdom, where he enjoyed the post of captain of the guards to the Duke of Ormond, he returned to England, where he died in 1684. Besides the ode which follows, there are several traces through Dryden's works of his intimacy with Roscommon.

64

The poem seems to have been written during the political conflicts in the city of London.

65

Baffled is here used for insulted.

66

Deft for dexterous.