Miko: annotations

lessen

Linked together. The First Folio changed this word to “interchanged”, but modern texts use the original “interchained”.

“Beetle” was applied to any insect of black color.

spiders

a leopard

A medium sized wild cat. Today the word specifically means a snow leopard, but in Shakespeare's day it could mean other cats such as a puma or a cheetah.

because

These two lines (and others with rhymes based on short 'a' and short 'o') have prompted speculation about how Shakespeare pronounced words like “man” and “on”. These lines don't rhyme as we pronounce them today. Did Shakespeare pronounce “man” like “mon”, or did he pronounce “on” like “ann”? Or perhaps there is some other explanation for this rhyme.

a female deer of at least three years of age

In addition to meaning the type of dog, spaniel referred to someone who was excessively submissive.