Mirèio/Notes to Canto V
NOTES TO CANTO V.
1 Oulympe, or Oulimpe, is a lofty mountain on the boundary-line of the Var and Bouches-du-Rhone.
2 Queiras, a valley of the Upper Alps.
3 Penduline, Motacilla pendulina.
4 Eel-grass, Valisneria spiralis of Linnæus.
5 "Pretty moon-wheat," poulit blad de luno. Faire de blad de luno signifies, literally, to rob parents of their wheat by moonlight. Figuratively, it is used for love-making on the sly.
6 Goose-foot, Chenopodium fructicum of Linnæus.
7 Jan de l'Ourse is a story-book hero, a kind of Provençal Hercules, to whom many exploits are attributed. He was the son of a shepherdess and a bear, and had for companions in his exploits two adventurers of marvellous strength. The name of the one was Arrache Montagne; that of the other, Pierre de Moulin.
8 This bridge is the Roman antiquity known as the "Pont du Gard."
9 Green heron, Ardea virides.
10 Sainte Baume, a grotto in the midst of a virgin forest near St. Maximim, to which Ste. Magdalene used to repair, to do penance.
11 12 Trincataio is a suburb of Arles, in Camargue, united to the town by a bridge of boats. The water-sprites, or trevi, were said to dance on the tips of the waves by the light of the sun or moon.