Slight lines

A reference to the use of horse-hair to make fishing line.


Phoebus

"Phoebus Apollo, the god of archery, prophecy, and music, was the son of Jupiter and Latona, and brother of Diana (Artemis). He was god of the sun...." (Source: Bulfinch's Mythology)


Flounce

flounce "A furbelo is 'A piece of stuff plaited and puckered together...on the petticoats or gowns of women... (Samuel Johnson's Dictionary). In the illustration, which comes from a standard work on dressmaking dated 1869, a furbelo is marked e. A flounce is a piece of gathered material sewn on a gown by its upper edge and left hanging, as on the sleeves of the bodice." (Both quote and illustration come from Clarence Tracy, The RAPE Observ'd, p. 26.)


Bodkin's Eye

Bodkin--"1. Dagger. 2. Instrument with a small blade and sharp point, used to bore holes. 3. Instrument to draw a thread or riband through a loop. 4. Instrument to dress the hair." (Johnson's Dictionary) Bodkin takes on multiple meanings in this poem. Here it refers to a blunt-pointed needle; later it refers to a hair ornament and/or a dagger.