] Scheld. The Schelde, or Scheldt, empties into the North Sea near
Antwerp.
[2.] Carinthian boor. Carinthia is a province of Austria.
[3.] Campania's plain. Campania includes, among other districts, the
province of Naples.
[4.] My brother. Probably the poet alludes to his elder brother,
Henry, who lived in Ireland. To him he is said to have sent the first
part of his poem, from Switzerland.
[5.] Let school-taught pride, etc. _i.e._ let the philosopher pretend,
if he will, that material things are of small importance.
[6.] Swains, a name used by poets for young men living in the country,
especially lovers.
[7.] The line, the equinoctial line, the equator.
[8.] Idra's cliffs. Idria is a town among the mountains in Camiola,
Austria. Near it are mines of quicksilver.
[9.] Arno's shelvy side. _Shelvy_, or _shelving_, means _sloping
gradually_. Florence is on the Arno.
[10.] Either seems, etc. _Either_ properly signifies _one of two_; it
has occasionally been used for _one of several_, as Goldsmith uses it
here.
[11.] And honor sinks, etc., a sentiment common in the poet's day, but
entertained by few persons in these times. Formerly, in many European
countries, trade, even on a large scale, was considered belittling.
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