Comus (Rackham)/Part 3
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
That wise Minerva wore, unconquer’d Virgin,
Wherwith she freez’d her foes to congeal’d stone,
But rigid looks of Chast austerity,
And noble grace that dash’t brute violence
With sudden adoration, and blank aw?
So dear to Heav’n is Saintly chastity,
That, when a soul is found sincerely so,
A thousand liveried Angels lacky her,
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt,
And in cleer dream, and solemn vision,
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear,
Till oft convers with heav’nly habitants
Begin to cast a beam on th’outward shape,
The unpolluted temple of the mind,
And turns it by degrees to the souls essence,
Till all be made immortal. But, when lust
By unchaste looks, loose gestures, and foul talk,
But most by leud and lavish act of sin,
Lets in defilement to the inward parts,
The soul grows clotted by contagion,
Imbodies, and imbrutes, till she quite loose
The divine property of her first being.
Such are those thick and gloomy shadows damp
Oft seen in Charnell vaults and Sepulchers
Lingering, and sitting by a new made grave,
As loath to leave the body that it lov’d,
And link’t it self by carnal sensualty
To a degenerate and degraded state.
And O poor hapless Nightingale, thought I,
How sweet thou sing’st, how neer the deadly snare!
Then down the Lawns I ran with headlong hast,
Through paths and turnings oft’n trod by day,
Till, guided by mine ear, I found the place
Where that damn’d wisard, hid in sly disguise
(For so by certain signes I knew), had met
Already, ere my best speed could prevent,
The aidless innocent Lady, his wish’t prey;
Who gently ask’t if he had seen such two,
Supposing him som neighbour villager;
Longer I durst not stay, but soon I guess’t
Ye were the two she mean’t; with that I sprung
Into swift flight, till I had found you here,
But furder know I not.
XI
Enter the Two Brothers.
Enter the Two Brothers
Elder Brother
Unmuffie, ye faint stars; and thou, fair Moon,
That wontst to love the travailers benizon,
Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud,
And disinherit Chaos, that raigns here
In double night of darknes, and of shades;
Or, if your influence be quite damm’d up
With black usurping mists, som gentle taper,
Though a rush Candle from the wicker hole
Of som clay habitation, visit us
With thy long levell’d rule of streaming light,
And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,
Or Tyrian Cynosure.
That wontst to love the travailers benizon,
Stoop thy pale visage through an amber cloud,
And disinherit Chaos, that raigns here
In double night of darknes, and of shades;
Or, if your influence be quite damm’d up
With black usurping mists, som gentle taper,
Though a rush Candle from the wicker hole
Of som clay habitation, visit us
With thy long levell’d rule of streaming light,
And thou shalt be our star of Arcady,
Or Tyrian Cynosure.
Second Brother
Or, if our eyes
Be barr’d that happines, might we but hear
The folded flocks, pen’d in their watled cotes,
Or sound of pastoral reed with oaten stops,
Or whistle from the Lodge, or village cock
Count the night watches to his feathery Dames,
’Twould be som solace yet, som little chearing,
In this close dungeon of innumerous bowes.
But O, that haples virgin, our lost sister!
Where may she wander now, whether betake her
From the chill dew, amongst rude burrs and thistles
Perhaps som cold bank is her boulster now,
Or ’gainst the rugged bark of som broad Elm
Leans her unpillow’d head, fraught with sad fears:
What if in wild amazement and affright,
Or while we speak, within the direfull grasp
Of Savage hunger, or of Savage heat?
Be barr’d that happines, might we but hear
The folded flocks, pen’d in their watled cotes,
Or sound of pastoral reed with oaten stops,
Or whistle from the Lodge, or village cock
Count the night watches to his feathery Dames,
’Twould be som solace yet, som little chearing,
In this close dungeon of innumerous bowes.
But O, that haples virgin, our lost sister!
Where may she wander now, whether betake her
From the chill dew, amongst rude burrs and thistles
Perhaps som cold bank is her boulster now,
Or ’gainst the rugged bark of som broad Elm
Leans her unpillow’d head, fraught with sad fears:
What if in wild amazement and affright,
Or while we speak, within the direfull grasp
Of Savage hunger, or of Savage heat?
Elder Brother
Peace, brother, be not over-exquisite
To cast the fashion of uncertain evils;
For grant they be so, while they rest unknown,
What need a man forestall his date of grief,
And run to meet what he would most avoid?
Or, if they be but false alarms of Fear,
How bitter is such self-delusion!
I do not think my sister so to seek,
Or so unprincipl’d in vertues book,
And the sweet peace that goodnes boosoms ever,
As that the single want of light and noise
(Not being in danger, as I trust she is not)
Could stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts,
And put them into mis-becoming plight.
Vertue could see to do what vertue would
By her own radiant light, though Sun and Moon
Were in the flat Sea sunk: and Wisdoms self
Oft seeks to sweet retired Solitude,
Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation,
She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings,
That in the various bussle of resort
Were all to ruffl’d, and somtimes impair’d.
He that has light within his own cleer brest
May sit i’th center and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts,
Benighted walks under the mid-day Sun;
Himself is his own dungeon.
To cast the fashion of uncertain evils;
For grant they be so, while they rest unknown,
What need a man forestall his date of grief,
And run to meet what he would most avoid?
Or, if they be but false alarms of Fear,
How bitter is such self-delusion!
I do not think my sister so to seek,
Or so unprincipl’d in vertues book,
And the sweet peace that goodnes boosoms ever,
As that the single want of light and noise
(Not being in danger, as I trust she is not)
Could stir the constant mood of her calm thoughts,
And put them into mis-becoming plight.
Vertue could see to do what vertue would
By her own radiant light, though Sun and Moon
Were in the flat Sea sunk: and Wisdoms self
Oft seeks to sweet retired Solitude,
Where, with her best nurse, Contemplation,
She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings,
That in the various bussle of resort
Were all to ruffl’d, and somtimes impair’d.
He that has light within his own cleer brest
May sit i’th center and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts,
Benighted walks under the mid-day Sun;
Himself is his own dungeon.
Second Brother
Tis most true
That musing meditation most affects
The pensive secrecy of desert cell,
Far from the cheerfull haunt of men and herds,
And sits as safe as in a Senat House:
For who would rob a Hermit of his Weeds,
His few Books, or his Beads, or Maple Dish,
Or do his gray hairs any violence?
But beauty, like the fair Hesperian Tree
Laden with blooming gold, had need the guard
Of dragon watch with uninchanted eye,
To save her blossoms and defend her fruit
From the rash hand of bold Incontinence.
You may as well spred out the unsun’d heaps
Of Misers treasure by an out-laws den,
And tell me it is safe, as bid me hope
Danger will wink on Opportunity,
And let a single helpless maiden pass
Uninjur’d in this wilde surrounding wast.
Of night or lonelines it recks me not;
I fear the dred events that dog them both,
Lest som ill greeting touch attempt the person
Of our unowned sister.
That musing meditation most affects
The pensive secrecy of desert cell,
Far from the cheerfull haunt of men and herds,
And sits as safe as in a Senat House:
For who would rob a Hermit of his Weeds,
His few Books, or his Beads, or Maple Dish,
Or do his gray hairs any violence?
But beauty, like the fair Hesperian Tree
Laden with blooming gold, had need the guard
Of dragon watch with uninchanted eye,
To save her blossoms and defend her fruit
From the rash hand of bold Incontinence.
You may as well spred out the unsun’d heaps
Of Misers treasure by an out-laws den,
And tell me it is safe, as bid me hope
Danger will wink on Opportunity,
And let a single helpless maiden pass
Uninjur’d in this wilde surrounding wast.
Of night or lonelines it recks me not;
I fear the dred events that dog them both,
Lest som ill greeting touch attempt the person
Of our unowned sister.
Elder Brother
I do not, brother,
Inferr as if I thought my sisters state
Secure without all doubt or controversie:
Yet, where an equall poise of hope and fear
Does arbitrate th’event, my nature is
That I encline to hope rather then fear,
And gladly banish squint suspicion.
My sister is not so defenceless left
As you imagine; she has a hidden strength
Which you remember not.
Inferr as if I thought my sisters state
Secure without all doubt or controversie:
Yet, where an equall poise of hope and fear
Does arbitrate th’event, my nature is
That I encline to hope rather then fear,
And gladly banish squint suspicion.
My sister is not so defenceless left
As you imagine; she has a hidden strength
Which you remember not.
Second Brother
What hidden strength,
Unless the strength of Heav’n, if you mean that ?
Unless the strength of Heav’n, if you mean that ?
Elder Brother
I mean that too, but yet a hidden strength
Which, if Heav’n gave it, may be term’d her own:
’Tis chastity, my brother, chastity:
She that has that is clad in compleat steel,
And, like a quiver’d Nymph with Arrows keen,
May trace huge Forests, and unharbour’d Heaths,
Infamous Hills, and sandy perilous wildes;
Where, through the sacred rayes of Chastity,
No savage fierce, Bandite, or mountaineer
Will dare to soyl her Virgin purity;
Yea, there where very desolation dwels,
By grots and caverns shag’d with horrid shades,
She may pass on with unblench’t majesty,
Be it not don in pride, or in presumption.
Som say, no evil thing that walks by night
In fog, or fire, by lake or moorish fen,
Blew meagre Hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost
That breaks his magick chains at curfeu time,
No goblin, or swart faery of the mine,
Hath hurtfull power o’re true virginity.
Do ye beleeve me yet, or shall I call
Antiquity from the old Schools of Greece
To testifie the arms of Chastity?
Hence had the huntress Dian her dred bow,
Fair silver-shafted Queen for ever chaste,
Wherwith she tam’d the brinded lioness
And spotted mountain pard, but set at nought
The frivolous bolt of Cupid; gods and men
Fear’d her stern frown, and she was queen oth’
What was that snaky-headed Gorgon sheild
Which, if Heav’n gave it, may be term’d her own:
’Tis chastity, my brother, chastity:
She that has that is clad in compleat steel,
And, like a quiver’d Nymph with Arrows keen,
May trace huge Forests, and unharbour’d Heaths,
Infamous Hills, and sandy perilous wildes;
Where, through the sacred rayes of Chastity,
No savage fierce, Bandite, or mountaineer
Will dare to soyl her Virgin purity;
Yea, there where very desolation dwels,
By grots and caverns shag’d with horrid shades,
She may pass on with unblench’t majesty,
Be it not don in pride, or in presumption.
Som say, no evil thing that walks by night
In fog, or fire, by lake or moorish fen,
Blew meagre Hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost
That breaks his magick chains at curfeu time,
No goblin, or swart faery of the mine,
Hath hurtfull power o’re true virginity.
Do ye beleeve me yet, or shall I call
Antiquity from the old Schools of Greece
To testifie the arms of Chastity?
Hence had the huntress Dian her dred bow,
Fair silver-shafted Queen for ever chaste,
Wherwith she tam’d the brinded lioness
And spotted mountain pard, but set at nought
The frivolous bolt of Cupid; gods and men
Fear’d her stern frown, and she was queen oth’
What was that snaky-headed Gorgon sheild
XII
Som say, no evil thing that walks by night
In fog, or fire, by lake or moorish fen,
Blew meager Hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost
That breaks his magick chains at curfeu time;
No goblin, or swart faery of the mine,
Hath hurtfull power o’re true virginity.
In fog, or fire, by lake or moorish fen,
Blew meager Hag, or stubborn unlaid ghost
That breaks his magick chains at curfeu time;
No goblin, or swart faery of the mine,
Hath hurtfull power o’re true virginity.
XIII
XIV
XIV
The huntress Dian.
Wherwith she freez’d her foes to congeal’d stone,
But rigid looks of Chast austerity,
And noble grace that dash’t brute violence
With sudden adoration, and blank aw?
So dear to Heav’n is Saintly chastity,
That, when a soul is found sincerely so,
A thousand liveried Angels lacky her,
Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt,
And in cleer dream, and solemn vision,
Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear,
Till oft convers with heav’nly habitants
Begin to cast a beam on th’outward shape,
The unpolluted temple of the mind,
And turns it by degrees to the souls essence,
Till all be made immortal. But, when lust
By unchaste looks, loose gestures, and foul talk,
But most by leud and lavish act of sin,
Lets in defilement to the inward parts,
The soul grows clotted by contagion,
Imbodies, and imbrutes, till she quite loose
The divine property of her first being.
Such are those thick and gloomy shadows damp
Oft seen in Charnell vaults and Sepulchers
Lingering, and sitting by a new made grave,
As loath to leave the body that it lov’d,
And link’t it self by carnal sensualty
To a degenerate and degraded state.
Second brother
How charming is divine Philosophy!
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo’s lute,
And a perpetual feast of nectar’d sweets,
Where no crude surfet raigns.
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo’s lute,
And a perpetual feast of nectar’d sweets,
Where no crude surfet raigns.
Elder Brother
List, list, I hear
Som far off hallow break the silent Air.
Som far off hallow break the silent Air.
Second Brother
Me thought so too; what should it be?
Elder Brother
For certain
Either som one like us night-founder’d here,
Or els som neighbour Wood-man, or at worst,
Som roaving Robber calling to his fellows.
Either som one like us night-founder’d here,
Or els som neighbour Wood-man, or at worst,
Som roaving Robber calling to his fellows.
Second Brother
Heav’n keep my sister! Agen, agen, and neer;
Best draw, and stand upon our guard.
Elder Brother
Best draw, and stand upon our guard.
Elder Brother
Ile hallow;
If he be friendly, he comes well; if not,
Defence is a good cause, and Heav’n be for us!
If he be friendly, he comes well; if not,
Defence is a good cause, and Heav’n be for us!
Enter the attendant Spirit, habited like a Shepherd.
That hallow I should know. What are you? speak;
Com not too neer, you fall on iron stakes else.
Com not too neer, you fall on iron stakes else.
Spirit
What voice is that? my young Lord? speak agen.
Second Brother
O brother, ’tis my father Shepherd, sure.
Elder Brother
Thyrsis? Whose artful strains have oft delaid
The huddling brook to hear his madrigal,
And sweeten’d every muskrose of the dale?
How cam’st thou here, good Swain? hath any ram
Slip’t from the fold, or young Kid lost his dam,
Or straggling weather the pen’t flock forsook?
How couldst thou find this dark sequester’d nook?
Spirit
The huddling brook to hear his madrigal,
And sweeten’d every muskrose of the dale?
How cam’st thou here, good Swain? hath any ram
Slip’t from the fold, or young Kid lost his dam,
Or straggling weather the pen’t flock forsook?
How couldst thou find this dark sequester’d nook?
Spirit
O my lov’d masters heir, and his next joy,
I came not here on such a trivial toy
As a stray’d Ewe, or to pursue the stealth
Of pilfering Woolf; not all the fleecy wealth
That doth enrich these Downs, is worth a thought
To this my errand, and the care it brought.
But O! my Virgin Lady, where is she?
How chance she is not in your company?
I came not here on such a trivial toy
As a stray’d Ewe, or to pursue the stealth
Of pilfering Woolf; not all the fleecy wealth
That doth enrich these Downs, is worth a thought
To this my errand, and the care it brought.
But O! my Virgin Lady, where is she?
How chance she is not in your company?
Elder Brother
To tell thee sadly, Shepherd, without blame
Or our neglect, we lost her as we came.
Or our neglect, we lost her as we came.
Spirit
Ay me unhappy! then my fears are true.
Elder Brother
What fears, good Thyrsis? Prethee briefly shew.
Spirit
Ile tell ye. ’Tis not vain or fabulous,
(Though so esteem’d by shallow ignorance,)
What the sage Poets, taught by th’ heav’nly Muse,
Storied of old in high immortal vers
Of dire Chimera’s and inchanted Iles,
And rifted Rocks whose entrance leads to hell;
For such there be, but unbelief is blind.
Within the navil of this hideous Wood,
Immur’d in cypress shades, a Sorcerer dwels,
Of Bacchus and of Circe born, great Comus,
Deep skill’d in all his mothers witcheries;
And here to every thirsty wanderer
By sly enticement gives his banefull cup,
With many murmurs mix t; whose pleasing poison
The visage quite transforms of him that drinks,
And the inglorious likenes of a beast
Fixes instead, unmoulding reasons mintage
Character’d in the face; this have I learn’t
Tending my flocks hard by i’th hilly crofts
That brow this bottom glade; whence night by night
He and his monstrous rout are heard to howl
Like stabl’d wolves or tigers at their prey,
Doing abhorred rites to Hecate
In their obscured haunts of inmost bowres.
Yet have they many baits, and guilefull spells
To inveigle and invite th’unwary sense
Of them that pass unweeting by the way.
This evening late, by then the chewing flocks
Had ta’n their supper on the savoury Herb
Of Knot-grass dew-besprent, and were in fold,
I sate me down to watch upon a bank
With Ivy canopied, and interwove
With flaunting Hony-suckle; and began,
Wrapt in a pleasing fit of melancholy,
To meditate my rural minstrelsie
Till fancy had her fill. But, ere a close,
The wonted roar was up amidst the Woods,
And fill’d the Air with barbarous dissonance;
At which I ceas’t, and listen’d them a while,
Till an unusuall stop of sudden silence
Gave respit to the drowsie frighted steeds
That draw the litter of close-curtain’d sleep.
At last a soft and solemn breathing sound
Rose like a steam of rich distill’d Perfumes,
And stole upon the Air, that even Silence
Was took e’re she was ware, and wish’t she might
Deny her nature, and be never more,
Still to be so displac’t. I was all eare,
And took in strains that might create a soul
Under the ribs of Death. But O! ere long
Too well I did perceive it was the voice
Of my most honour’d Lady, your dear sister.
Amaz’d I stood, harrow’d with grief and fear;
(Though so esteem’d by shallow ignorance,)
What the sage Poets, taught by th’ heav’nly Muse,
Storied of old in high immortal vers
Of dire Chimera’s and inchanted Iles,
And rifted Rocks whose entrance leads to hell;
For such there be, but unbelief is blind.
Within the navil of this hideous Wood,
Immur’d in cypress shades, a Sorcerer dwels,
Of Bacchus and of Circe born, great Comus,
Deep skill’d in all his mothers witcheries;
And here to every thirsty wanderer
By sly enticement gives his banefull cup,
With many murmurs mix t; whose pleasing poison
The visage quite transforms of him that drinks,
And the inglorious likenes of a beast
Fixes instead, unmoulding reasons mintage
Character’d in the face; this have I learn’t
Tending my flocks hard by i’th hilly crofts
That brow this bottom glade; whence night by night
He and his monstrous rout are heard to howl
Like stabl’d wolves or tigers at their prey,
Doing abhorred rites to Hecate
In their obscured haunts of inmost bowres.
Yet have they many baits, and guilefull spells
To inveigle and invite th’unwary sense
Of them that pass unweeting by the way.
This evening late, by then the chewing flocks
Had ta’n their supper on the savoury Herb
Of Knot-grass dew-besprent, and were in fold,
I sate me down to watch upon a bank
With Ivy canopied, and interwove
With flaunting Hony-suckle; and began,
Wrapt in a pleasing fit of melancholy,
To meditate my rural minstrelsie
Till fancy had her fill. But, ere a close,
The wonted roar was up amidst the Woods,
And fill’d the Air with barbarous dissonance;
At which I ceas’t, and listen’d them a while,
Till an unusuall stop of sudden silence
Gave respit to the drowsie frighted steeds
That draw the litter of close-curtain’d sleep.
At last a soft and solemn breathing sound
Rose like a steam of rich distill’d Perfumes,
And stole upon the Air, that even Silence
Was took e’re she was ware, and wish’t she might
Deny her nature, and be never more,
Still to be so displac’t. I was all eare,
And took in strains that might create a soul
Under the ribs of Death. But O! ere long
Too well I did perceive it was the voice
Of my most honour’d Lady, your dear sister.
Amaz’d I stood, harrow’d with grief and fear;
XVI
The wonted roar was up amidst the Woods,
And fill'd the Air with barbarous dissonance.
And fill'd the Air with barbarous dissonance.
How sweet thou sing’st, how neer the deadly snare!
Then down the Lawns I ran with headlong hast,
Through paths and turnings oft’n trod by day,
Till, guided by mine ear, I found the place
Where that damn’d wisard, hid in sly disguise
(For so by certain signes I knew), had met
Already, ere my best speed could prevent,
The aidless innocent Lady, his wish’t prey;
Who gently ask’t if he had seen such two,
Supposing him som neighbour villager;
Longer I durst not stay, but soon I guess’t
Ye were the two she mean’t; with that I sprung
Into swift flight, till I had found you here,
But furder know I not.
Second Brother
O night and shades,
How are ye joyn’d with hell in triple knot
Against th’unarmed weakness of one Virgin,
Alone and helpless! Is this the confidence
You gave me, Brother?
How are ye joyn’d with hell in triple knot
Against th’unarmed weakness of one Virgin,
Alone and helpless! Is this the confidence
You gave me, Brother?
Elder Brother
Yes, and keep it still;
Lean on it safely; not a period
Shall be unsaid for me: against the threats
Of malice or of sorcery, or that power
Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm:
Vertue may be assail’d, but never hurt,
Surpriz’d by unjust force, but not enthrall’d;
Yea, even that which mischief meant most harm,
Shall in the happy trial prove most glory.
But evil on it self shall back recoyl,
And mix no more with goodness, when, at last
Gather’d like scum, and setl’d to it self,
It shall be in eternal restless change
Self-fed and self-consum’d. If this fail,
The pillar’d firmament is rott’nness,
And earths base built on stubble. But com, let’s on
Against th’opposing will and arm of Heav’n
May never this just sword be lifted up;
But for that damn’d magician, let him be girt
With all the greisly legions that troop
Under the sooty flag of Acheron,
Harpyies and Hydra’s, or all the monstrous forms
’Twixt Africa and Inde, Ile find him out,
And force him to restore his purchase back,
Or drag him by the curls, to a foul death,
Curs’d as his life.
Spirit
Lean on it safely; not a period
Shall be unsaid for me: against the threats
Of malice or of sorcery, or that power
Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm:
Vertue may be assail’d, but never hurt,
Surpriz’d by unjust force, but not enthrall’d;
Yea, even that which mischief meant most harm,
Shall in the happy trial prove most glory.
But evil on it self shall back recoyl,
And mix no more with goodness, when, at last
Gather’d like scum, and setl’d to it self,
It shall be in eternal restless change
Self-fed and self-consum’d. If this fail,
The pillar’d firmament is rott’nness,
And earths base built on stubble. But com, let’s on
Against th’opposing will and arm of Heav’n
May never this just sword be lifted up;
But for that damn’d magician, let him be girt
With all the greisly legions that troop
Under the sooty flag of Acheron,
Harpyies and Hydra’s, or all the monstrous forms
’Twixt Africa and Inde, Ile find him out,
And force him to restore his purchase back,
Or drag him by the curls, to a foul death,
Curs’d as his life.
Spirit
Alas ! good ventrous youth,
I love thy courage yet, and bold Emprise;
But here thy sword can do thee little stead:
Farr other arms and other weapons must
Be those that quell the might of hellish charms;
He with his bare wand can unthred thy joynts
And crumble all thy sinews.
I love thy courage yet, and bold Emprise;
But here thy sword can do thee little stead:
Farr other arms and other weapons must
Be those that quell the might of hellish charms;
He with his bare wand can unthred thy joynts
And crumble all thy sinews.
Elder Brother
Why, prethee, Shepherd,
How durst thou then thy self approach so neer
As to make this relation?
How durst thou then thy self approach so neer
As to make this relation?
Spirit
Care and utmost shifts
How to secure the Lady from surprisal
Brought to my mind a certain Shepherd Lad
Of small regard to see to, yet well skill’d
In every vertuous plant and healing herb
That spreds her verdant leaf to th’morning ray.
He lov’d me well, and oft would beg me sing,
Which when I did, he on the tender grass
Would sit, and hearken even to extasie;
And in requitall ope his leather’n scrip,
And shew me simples of a thousand names,
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties.
Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,
But of divine effect, he cull’d me out;
The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it,
But in another Countrey, as he said,
Bore a bright golden flowre, but not in this soyl:
Unknown, and like esteem’d, and the dull swayn
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;
And yet more med’cinal is it then that Moly
That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave;
He call’d it Hœmony, and gave it me,
And bad me keep it as of sov’ran use
’Gainst all inchantments, mildew blast, or damp,
Or gastly furies apparition;
I purs’t it up, but little reck’ning made
Till now that this extremity compell’d,
But now I find it true; for by this means
I knew the foul inchanter though disguis’d,
Enter’d the very lime-twigs of his spells,
And yet came off: if you have this about you
(As I will give you when we go), you may
Boldly assault the necromancers hall;
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood
And brandish’t blade rush on him, break his glass,
And shed the lushious liquor on the ground;
But sease his wand: though he and his curst crew
Feirce signe of battail make, and menace high,
Or like the sons of Vulcan vomit smoak,
Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink.
How to secure the Lady from surprisal
Brought to my mind a certain Shepherd Lad
Of small regard to see to, yet well skill’d
In every vertuous plant and healing herb
That spreds her verdant leaf to th’morning ray.
He lov’d me well, and oft would beg me sing,
Which when I did, he on the tender grass
Would sit, and hearken even to extasie;
And in requitall ope his leather’n scrip,
And shew me simples of a thousand names,
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties.
Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,
But of divine effect, he cull’d me out;
The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it,
But in another Countrey, as he said,
Bore a bright golden flowre, but not in this soyl:
Unknown, and like esteem’d, and the dull swayn
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;
And yet more med’cinal is it then that Moly
That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave;
He call’d it Hœmony, and gave it me,
And bad me keep it as of sov’ran use
’Gainst all inchantments, mildew blast, or damp,
Or gastly furies apparition;
I purs’t it up, but little reck’ning made
Till now that this extremity compell’d,
But now I find it true; for by this means
I knew the foul inchanter though disguis’d,
Enter’d the very lime-twigs of his spells,
And yet came off: if you have this about you
(As I will give you when we go), you may
Boldly assault the necromancers hall;
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood
And brandish’t blade rush on him, break his glass,
And shed the lushious liquor on the ground;
But sease his wand: though he and his curst crew
Feirce signe of battail make, and menace high,
Or like the sons of Vulcan vomit smoak,
Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink.
Elder Brother
Thyrsis, lead on apace, Ile follow thee;
And som good angel bear a sheild before us!
And som good angel bear a sheild before us!
