[Footnote I.56: My dearest foe] i.e., my direst or most important foe. This epithet was commonly used to denote the strongest and liveliest interest in any thing or person, for or against.
[Footnote I.57: Goodly king.] i.e., a good king.]
[Footnote I.58:
Season your admiration for a while
with an attent ear;]
i.e., suppress your astonishment for a short
time, that you may be the better able to give your attention to what we will relate.
[Footnote I.59: In the dead waste and middle of the night,] i.e., in the dark and desolate vast, or vacant space and middle of the night. It was supposed that spirits had permission to range the earth by night alone.