Finny, adj, "Provided with or having fins; finned." The 'Finny Prey' refers to fish, which are also caught with a hair-like line, reiterating the comparison of beauty as a deadly trap.

"finny, adj.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/70490

Variant of 'springe', "A snare for catching small game, esp. birds."

"springe, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/187742

Main, n. "Short for main sea n.; the open sea."

"main, n.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/112514

i.e. thread

"thread, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/201128

A 'styptic' is a kind of medicine used to contract organic tissue (for example, to stop a cut bleeding), frequently made out of 'alum', a type of mineral salt.

"styptic, adj. and n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/192368

"alum, n.1." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015. http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/5869

"An ointment for the skin or hair; = pomade"

"pomatum, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/147470

Bodkin, n. "A needle-like instrument with a blunt knobbed point, having a large (as well as a small) eye, for drawing tape or cord through a hem, loops, etc."

"bodkin, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/20925

Variant spelling of 'Furbelow', "A piece of stuff pleated and puckered on a gown or petticoat; a flounce; the pleated border of a petticoat or gown."

"furbelow, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/75608

"‘An ornamental appendage to the skirt of a lady's dress, consisting of a strip gathered and sewed on by its upper edge around the skirt, and left hanging and waving.’ (Welsh)"

"flounce, n.2." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/71952

Variant spelling of "dyes"

"dye, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/58794

"A colouring matter, dye, pigment; spec. a dye used as a cosmetic."

"tincture, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/202188

"The west wind, esp. as personified, or the god of the west wind."

"zephyr, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/232797

"A strip of wood, whalebone, steel, or other rigid material attached vertically to the front section of a corset so as to stiffen and support it."

"busk, n.3." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/25232

Variant spelling of Phoebus, a common name for Apollo, god of the sun.

"Phoebus, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/142590

Given that Anne was on the throne, this may speak to a masculine anxiety about man's position of power.

"Queen Anne, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 8 December 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/156214

"Crispissa", from 'crisp', has charge of the two precise curls of hair.

"Momentilla", from 'moment', has charge of the pocket-watch.

The nymphs' names are invented, each derived from a word related to the object entrusted to it. "Zephyretta", from 'Zephyr', has care of the breeze-producing fan.

"Brillante", from 'brilliant', is entrusted with the earrings.

Again placing spiritual matters on a par with earthly ones. (interpretive note)

"Of or relating to heaven, God, or the gods; heavenly, celestial."

"ethereal, adj. and n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 30 November 2015.

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/64731

"Bright, shining, luminous, resplendent." (OED)

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/110839

Her indifference is depicted as a virtue, in contrast to the later moment when "an Earthly Lover lurking in her heart" indicates that she's not as virtuous as this line indicated, and therefore loses her the protection of the spirits. (interpretive note)

Using the cross as a non-denominational decoration might refer to the breakdown of Catholic solidarity that these 'petty squabbles' might cause. (interpretive/thematic note)

Compares being trapped in the grinder of a coffee mill to the mythological figure Ixion, who was fixed to a fire wheel spinning in the air of the underworld forever.

Let the perfume lose potency of smell

A stay or stiffening strip for a corset.

This exchange reminds me of the lines in Rochester's Satyr: "Nor can weak truth your reputation save: / The knaves will all agree to call you knave."

The theme of masks again-- and clearly Margery has learned to lie well, if for nothing but fear of her husband.

Sounds a lot like the modern "she was asking for it" rhetoric, or even (since we discussed the reversal of male and female in the "only wants sex" stereotype), the modern rhetoric that men can't be raped because they always want sex anyway.

All horned animals

Not sure what this means

What trade does he mean here?

This is one of the ten triplets (is that the proper word for three rhyming lines, as couplets is to a pair?) in the poem, and the reason why Rochester not only disagrees with but hates traditional mores. If they make slaves of everyone, and his philosophy is to be a libertine (from "liber"=free), than someone not only slave to mores but who oppresses other slaves must be the most loathsome of humanity.

What's the effect of this two-foot line? Simple shock value for how drastically it differs from the five-foot norm?

Is this a reference to a specific game, or is it an archaic phrasing using "square" in the sense of "fair, upfront"?

This seems like a Christian reference-- perhaps to the cry of the Cherubim in Revelations 7:12, "Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!" (ESV version)

I think this is one of Rochester's themes-- that man is inhumane, that is, utterly incapable of living up to the ideals humans supposedly pride themselves on.

i.e., does human nature make up for its failure at pleasure with the benefits of morality? (given what we know of Rochester's perspective on morality, I think we can guess what he's about to say...)

Was Meres a contemporary politician?

"bur" is usually a prickly, clinging seedpod, in my experience, which doesn't make sense to me in context; can someone explain its use here, or was "but" supposed to be the word?

Given how Rochester died, his reason did not succeed well at this task.

"I own right reason" = I acknowledge/respect the right kind of reason, by contrast to "false reason"

Odd, when he's said a beast's life and mind are preferable to a humans, that he still uses a beast metaphor to describe how foolish humans can be.

As in, as soon as the thoughts no longer lead to action, those thoughts are useless. Why is he using the term impertinent, which has the connotation of being out-of-line with an authority figure?

Might this be referring to the story of Archimedes, whose discovery of principles of water-displacement was purportedly discovered in his bathtub (wherefrom he leapt in excitement, neglecting to grab a towel before dashing out the door to tell everyone)

This reminds me of the Academy of Lagado in Gulliver's Travels (Gulliver's given a tour where people are seriously studying things that are blatantly ridiculous and pointless).

a bedlam is an insane asylum; Rochester's saying you'd have to be a lunatic to go to an institutions for learning (anything).

The indiscretion is to condemn reason as well as wit; the latter the arguer is eager to condemn, but the former, to defend.

Not sure what this phrase means-- "band and beard"?

Comparing the possibility of treason (social and/or political?) from someone of wit to that of venereal disease from a prostitute.

This could basically be the thesis of the poem: knowledge is useless, pleasure is our purpose.

is this a reference to card sharks ("venture (money) to be made a wretch (beaten at cards and have his money taken")?

"fatuus" is also the word from which the English "fatuous" comes from, with the meaning of "useless, silly". Legend paints the will-o'-the-wisp as something which misleads travelers by leading them into swamps and away from solid ground (think Frodo and the candles of corpses in the Return of the King), which is the metaphor Rochester is continuing for how reason 'guides' people through life.

Prodigious seems to mean "strange, weird" rather than "massive, big", although depending on when the latter, newer meaning appeared, using it in both senses would be in keeping with Rochester-- though not with the tone of the poem.