Achernar
One of the 20 brightest stars; Alpha in the constellation Eridanus.>Arabic akhir al-nahr end of the river "As hero of a quest Achernar lights" ("The Hashish-Eater")

Acheron
In Greek and Roman mythology, the river of woe, one of the five rivers surrounding Hades. "Acheronian waters" (67)

aconite
A medicinal plant of the genus Aconitum. 2. An extract from this plant, used as a sedative. (94)

aeolian
adj. Caused by the winds; wind-borne. (261)

Aeonian
Pertaining to eons; everlasting. >L. aeon: "Aeonian dooms" (45)

afrit
In Arabic mythology, a powerful evil jinni.

alabraundines
Rare stones, highly valued in the ancient world. (108)

Alcyone
Myth.-The daughter of Aeolus, who, mourning her husband Ceyx, cast herself into the sea and was changed into a kingfisher. 2 Astron.- The brightest star in the Pleiades. (13)

Alecto
Myth. - One of the three Furies who take vengeance on unpunished criminals. The other two are Megaera and Tisiphone.

Alhambra
The medieval palace of the Moorish kings at Granada, Spain. (83)

Altair
The brightest star in the constellation Aquila. (84)

ambulant
Walking or moving about from place to place.

anadem
A wreath for the head; garland. (121)

anodyne
Any drug that relieves pain or soothes.

Antares
A giant red star, Alpha in the constellation Scorpio.

antiphon
A composition consisting of passages for alternate singing or chanting.>Gr. antiphona: "Diverse as Hell's mad antiphone uptossed" (13)

apastrons - Astron. That point in the orbit of either member of a double star when the stars are at maximum distance from each other. (305)

Avernus
A crater lake anciently regarded as the entrance to Hades. (Avernian) (35)

bergamot
A tree of the rue family, the bergamot orange. 2. Its fruit, yielding an oil used as a perfume. "Where bergamot and fumitory breathe" (181)

blenched
To shrink back. Obs.
To turn aside. >OE. blencan (108)

Briarean
Relating to the Hecatoncheires of Greek myth, three hundred -handed, fifty-headed giants, sons of Uranus and Gaea: Briareus, Cottus, and Gyes.

carcanet
An ornamental collar or necklace of gold set with jewels. >F. carcan (237)

celadon
A Chinese porcelain famous for its gray-green glaze. 2. A delicate grayish-green color. >F. celadon

cincture
Something bound about the waist; a belt or girdle. 2. Anything that encircles or encloses. >L. cintura (24)

cirque
(surk) A circular enclosure. Poetical: A circlet; ring. (111)

Cithaeron
A mountain of east central Greece, regarded as sacred to Dionysus. (366)

Cocytus
Myth.- The river of wailing, one of the five rivers surrounding Hades. (112)

conterminous
Having a common boundary line; coextensive. "conterminate"

convolved
Rolled together; wound around something. (107)

corybantic
Pertaining to the worship of Cybele, Phrygian goddess whose rites were celebrated with wild dances and revelry. (384)

crepitating
adj. Making a series of quick, snapping sounds; crackling. >L. crepitatus

Demogorgon
The genius of the earth or underworld: regarded by later classical and medieval writers as a mysterious and dreaded infernal deity.

Dis
Myth.- God of the lower world, identified with Pluto.

Dodona
An ancient town in Epirus, Greece; seat of a temple of Zeus and of the oldest of the Greek oracles. (371)

eburnean
Ivory-white; pertaining to ivory. (264)

Enceladus
In Greek mythology, a giant who revolted against the gods; buried under Mt. Etna. (111)

endued
Provided or endowed with some quality or power. >OF. Enduire-clothe (24)

Erebus
Myth. - The dark region under the earth through which the shades of the dead pass on their way to Hades.

euphrasy
Eyebright; annual herb (Euphrasia officinalis), once used in eye lotions. (345)

favonian
Of or pertaining to Favonious, the west wind, promoter of vegetation. (143)

flaffing
adj. Fluttering; flapping. (Scot. & Brit. Dial.)

foredome
Doomed in advance (foredoomed): "An archetypal, Titan-builded Rome Dread, thunder-named, the seat of gods foredome" (59)

glede
n. The European kite. 2. Any of several similar birds. (128)

gonfalon
An ensign fixed to a revolving frame, generally with two or three streamers.>OHG. Gundfano- war banner: "The sunset-gonfalons are furled" (82)

gorget
An ornament, often crescent-shaped, worn on the neck or breast.

griffin
Myth.-A creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

gyre
Poetic: A gyration; revolution. >L. gyrus-a circle (18)

gyves
A fetter for the limbs of prisoners. (origin uncertain) (12)

Haliotis
A genus of mollusks, the ear shells. "In crystal and in haliotis gleam /Crag-founded, thine aeolian domes of song" ("To George Sterling")

hippogriff
A mythological beast with the wings, head, and claws of a griffin, and the hoofs and tail of a horse.

horologe
A timepiece; a clock tower. >OF. horloge

Hyblaean
Of or pertaining to Hybla (an ancient town in Sicily) or the famous honey produced there. (397)

hydromel
A liquor, usually unfermented, consisting of honey diluted with water; when fermented, it is called mead.

immarcescible
Obs. - Unfading; enduring. ("blossoms immarcescible")

inclustable
(a coinage) . . . "inclustable clasping"

intagliate
Engraved; sunken. "The treasure of intagliate memories" ("Eidolon")

irised
Having colors like the rainbow. >Gr. Iris, goddess of the rainbow, attendant of Zeus and Hera "The moon in irised clouds withdrawn" ("The Butterfly")

irrision
Scorn; criticism. (95)

Ispahan
(former spelling of Isfahan, a city in west central Iran) (340)

kobold
In German folklore, an underground being inhabiting mines and caves; goblin.

Lar
(sing. of Lares-tutelary deities of ancient Rome, adopted from the Etruscans; the spirits of departed ancestors presiding over the households of their descendants).

Leucadian
Romanesque. "the sad Leucadian rock" ("To Nora May French")

liana
A twining or climbing plant of tropical forests, with ropelike, woody stems.

lymph
Obs.-A spring; water. ("The Limniad") (313)

maenad
Myth. -A votaress of Bacchus. >Gk. Mainas- frenzied

maremma
A fertile, marshy, but healthful piedmont region near the sea, as in Tuscany, Italy. 2. The miasmatic exhalations from such a region. (94)

marl
A soft, earthy, crumbling stratum of varying composition.

Melpomene
The muse of tragedy. >Gk. Melpomene, literally, the songstress (341)

moly
n. A mythical plant of magic virtues, with a white flower and a black root: mentioned in the Odyssey.

monody
Any melancholy literary composition; esp. a poem on the death of a friend.

Moresque
n. Decorative work, by means of interlacings, relief, etc., highly colored and gilded. >F. >Ital. moresco

Mytilene
Lesbos, a Greek island of NW Turkey; 623 square miles.

naperies
Articles of household linen.

nenuphars
Water-lilies. ("Triple Aspect" and "The Absence of the Muse"... 80, 84)

Nereid
Myth.- One of the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, sea nymphs who attend Poseidon.

Ophiuchus
A northern constellation, the Serpent-holder. >Gk. ophis + echein-to hold

oriels
Archit. -Bay windows. >OF. Oriol - a porch

Orion
Myth. -A giant hunter who pursued the Pleiades and was killed by Diana: he was placed among the stars by her as a constellation, noted for its group of three stars in a line (the Sword belt or Girdle), and its 2 bright stars. (62)

orpiment
A lemon-yellow, native arsenic trisulfide, used as a pigment. >OF. >L. auripigmentum - gold pigment (130)

orris
Any of the several species of Iris having a scented root. (109)

orts
Worthless leavings, as of food after a meal. > Du. Ooraete "My dreams were nests of horror, whimsy -wrought /  With orts and shreds from old abysses brought" ("Said the Dreamer") (57)

pall
A covering, usually of black cloth, thrown over a coffin or tomb; figuratively,  that which brings deep sorrow; metaphorically, a dark covering. >OE paell (34)

Palmyra
An ancient, ruined city in central Syria. (168)

Paphos
An ancient city in SW Cyprus, considered sacred to Aphrodite."O Paphos, and the moons of Paphos flown!" ("Alienage") (182)

pavonine
Iridescent, like the tail of a peacock. >L. pavoninus -like a peacock (252)

Pentelic
(from Pentelikon, a mountain NW of Athens) "Pentelic marble" (63)

peristyle
Archit.- A system of columns about a building or an internal court. >L. peristylum >Gr. peristylon (48)

Persepolis
An ancient, ruined capital of Persia, NE of Shiraz in SW central Iran. (77)

Phasmidae
A family of orthopterous insects, restricted to warm countries, and remarkable for their very close resemblance to objects in the midst of which they live. Also called walking sticks, specter insects. >Gr. Phasma - specter + eidos - likeness

Phosphorus
(from Phosphor-the morning star, esp. Venus as the harbinger of day) "They heard the ascending eagles hail the sun /  Round the forsaken throne of Phosphorus" ("The Blindness of Orion")

plinth
Archit.-  The slab, block, or stone on which a column, pedestal or stature rests.

primogeniture
The state of being the first-born child. 2. The right of the eldest son to inherit the property, title, etc. of a parent, to the exclusion of others. > Med. L. primogenitura: "Directly as a king who mounts the throne / Of some Cimmerian primogeniture" ("In the Desert")

prore
Obs. - a prow; the forward part of a ship (78)

Proserpine
In Roman mythology, the daughter of Ceres and wife of Pluto.

purblind
Affected with dimness of vision; near-sighted. ME. pur blind Obs. totally blind

queach
An area covered with bushes; a thicket. (95)

reptant
Zool. - Creeping; crawling. "reptant Death" ("The Medusa of the Skies")

rondure
A curve or swell; anything circular or spherical >F. rondeur - roundness (67)

Sabean
Of or pertaining to ancient Sheba, in SW Arabia (257)

sanguinolent
Tinged or mixed with blood. (365)

Sappho
Greek poetess of Lesbos; lived about 600 B.C.

scolopendria
One of a family of chilopods, including the centipedes. (114)

semilune
A half-moon; crescent. (from semilunar-shaped like a half-moon) (68)

septuple
Consisting of seven; sevenfold. >L. septuplus

staling
v.t. Lacking in interest from age or familiarity. "staling asters" ("Satiety")

stylite
One of a class of religious ascetics who lived most of the time on the tops of pillars, without shelter. Originated by Simeon Stilites in A.D. 420.  "From my stylitean throne / The crag turned to cloud / The cloud returned to stone" (314)

suborn
v.t. To bribe someone to commit perjury. >L. sub-secretly + ornare - equip

superannuate
v.t. To set aside or discard as obsolete or too old. (188)

suspiration
Sighing. "a voice of infinite suspiration"

teraphim
Images, small idols, or household gods consulted as oracles by some of the ancient Hebrews. (305)

threnody
An ode or song of lamentation; a dirge. >Gr. threnoidia (19)

Thule
In ancient geography, the northernmost limit of the habitable world.

thurifer
A censer-bearer; an acolyte. (121)

thyrse
A thyrsus: a staff wreathed in ivory and crowned with pine cones or a bunch of ivy leaves with grapes. An attribute of Dionysus and the satyrs.

Typhon
In Greek mythology, a monster overcome and buried by Zeus under Mount Etna. "Typhonian maelstroms caught in fiery storms" ("Saturn")

Tyrian
1. Pertaining to Tyre, capital of ancient Phoenecia. 2. of Tyrian purple (119)

upas
A tall evergreen tree of the island of Java, with an acrid, milky, poisonous juice.

Uriel
One of the seven archangels of Christian legend: in Paradise Lost, represented as "regent of the sun." (68)

vair
Her. - One of the furs represented by rows of small shield-shaped figures. Obs - A fur used for the garments of the nobility. (14th Century)

venefic
Yielding poison. (from venenific).. "A serpent rises, whiter than the root / Of some venefic bloom in darkness grown" (109)

vermeil
n. Silver or bronze gilt. >OF. >L. vermiculus  - "Harnessed with vermeil and with vair" (72)

Vertumnus
Myth. - Roman deity who presided over gardens and orchards, also worshipped as the god of spring or of the seasons in general. "Under your beauty's heaven, warm and fair / And the green suns of your vertumnal eyes" ("Wizard's Love")

vespertine
Occurring in the evening. 2. Flying, opening, etc. in the evening. (256)

weald
An exposed forest area; waste woodland. (306)

whiffled
Blown with puffs or gusts; shifted about. (110)

windlestraw
Scot. & Brit. Dial. - A withered stalk of any one of several grasses, used in plaiting or ropemaking. Also windlestrae: "rootless windlestrae"

xanthic
yellow or yellowish in color >F. xanthique

ziggurat
Among the Assyrians and Babylonians, a terraced temple tower, pyramidal in form. (66)

(page references are to the 1971 Arkham House edition of Smith's Selected Poems)
Abbreviations:  Archit.- Architecture  Astron.- Astronomy   Biol.- Biology   Brit.- British
Dial.- Dialect   Du.- Dutch   F.- French   Geol. - Geology   Gk.- Greek   Her.- Heraldry   Ital.-Italian   L.-Latin   ME.-Middle English   Med. L.-Medieval Latin   Myth.- Mythology
Obs.- Obsolete   OE. - Old English   OF. - Old French   OHG. - Old High German
Phar. - Pharmaceutical   Psychol. - Psychology    Scot. - Scottish   Zool. - Zoology