Castalides puellae : the ‘ Castalian Maids ’ are the Muses , so called from the Castalian Spring , a fountain at Delphi regarded as a source of poetic inspiration .
2 . Helicon : a mountain in Boeotia in Greece , the location of the spring Hippocrene . Both mountain and spring were regarded as sources of poetic inspiration .
4 . Aoniam : Aonia is an alternative name for the Greek district of Boeotia .
7-8 . Hyblaeam : since the Hyblaean mountains in eastern Sicily are known for their olive trees , the ‘ Hyblaea tyara ’ is an olive crown or olive wreath .
11 . Perusinae … urbis : this is the ‘ city of Perugia ’, Perusia in Latin .
11-12 . cui nomen … dedit : this suggests that Comitoli had an equally famous grandfather , but details remain obscure .
5 . Axe ( Richard Willes ), p . 30 As Willes indicates , this poem ’ s form imitates the Greek Pelekus (‘ Axe ’) of Simmias , which is likewise formed of two six-line blades , read from the outsides to the centre in a similar oscillating fashion . The title forms the handle . Willes ’ s own scholium mentions Horace , Odes 1.3 , a propemptikon , or poem wishing a friend a safe journey . As Willes ’ s patron has returned safely , this is rather a poem celebrating a journey completed . We do not know who Willes ’ s patron returning from France was , but one intriguing possibility is Sir Francis Walsingham , the resident ambassador , who was finally recalled in May 1573 . There is a connection to Walsingham ’ s son-inlaw Sir Philip Sidney too ( see no . 6 below ), as Walsingham shielded him and other Protestants in his ambassadorial residence in the aftermath of the St Bartholomew ’ s Day Massacre . The poem ' s first line contains a likely reminiscence of Lucretius De Rerum Natura 2.1 . This is Willes ’ s own scholium :
Et primum navis molitorem & Securim qua usus in exaedificanda illa fuerat , celebro ; quoniam quidem navigio sanus & incolumis e Gallia Mœcenas meus rediit . Secus male imprecatur Horatius [ Lib . 1 Od . 3 ], quia navigio dimidium animae suae Virgilius abierat . Versus Choriambici , ut in aliis prorsus , nisi quod quintum & sextum non ∪ - - sed ∪ - ∪ ∪ clauserim , item ultimo loco ipsum illud fecerim . Quod parum in huiusmodi poematibus refert , quoniam quidem quocumque
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