Chapter 56

703. It waved. That it waved; an ellipsis very common in Elizabethan and earlier English. Cf. 789 below. 708. Astound. Astounded. This contraction of the participle (here used for the sake of the rhyme) was formerly not uncommon in verbs ending in d and t. Thus in Shakespeare we find the participles bloat (Ham. iii. 4. 182), enshield (M. for M. ii. 4. 80), taint (1 Hen. VI. v. 3. 183), etc. 710. Crossing. Conflicting. 716. Ere. The 1st ed. misprints "e'er." 731. Level. Aim; formerly a technical term. Cf. 2 Hen. IV.…