For pity now she can no more detain him;
The poor fool prays her that he may depart :
She is resolv'd no longer to restrain him;
Bids him farewell, and look well to her heart,
The which, by Cupid's bow she doth protest",
He carries thence incaged in his breast".

Sweet boy, she says, this night I'll waste in sorrow, For my sick heart commands mine eyes to watch. Tell me, Love's master, shall we meet to morrow? Say, shall we? shall we? wilt thou make the match? He tells her, no; to-morrow he intends

To hunt the boar with certain of his friends.

The boar! (quoth she) whereat a sudden pale,
Like lawn being spread upon the blushing rose

1

6 The POOR FOOL-] This was formerly an expression of tenderness. So, King Lear, speaking of Cordelia:

"And my poor fool is hang'd." MALONE. 7-BY CUPID'S BOW she doth PROTEST,] summer Night's Dream :

So, in A Mid

"I swear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow." MALONE. 8 He carries thence INCAGED in his breast.] Thus the editions. of 1593 and 1596. So, in King Richard II. :

"And yet incaged in so small a verge—.”

The edition of 1636, and all the modern copies, read-engaged. This is a thought which Shakspeare has often introduced. So, in As You Like It:

"That thou might'st join her hand in his,

"Whose heart within her bosom is.'

Again, in Love's Labour's Lost:

9

66

Hence ever then my heart is in thy breast.” Again, in King Richard III. :

66

Even so thy breast incloseth my poor heart." MALONE.

- Love's MASTER,] i. e. the master of Venus, the Queen of

love. So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

"Let Love, being light, be drowned if she sink."

Again, p. 47, 1. 8 :

"She's Love, she loves," &c. MALONE.

The boar! (quoth she) whereat a sudden PALE,

Like lawn being spread upon the blushing ROSE,] So, in The Sheepheard's Song of Venus and Adonis, by H. C. 1600:

Usurps her cheek; she trembles at his tale,
And on his neck her yoking arms she throws :
She sinketh down, still hanging by his neck2,
He on her belly falls, she on her back.

Now is she in the very lists of love 3,

Her champion mounted for the hot encounter:
All is imaginary she doth prove,

He will not manage her, although he mount her;
That worse than Tantalus' is her annoy.

To clip Elysium, and to lack her joy.

Even as poor birds, deceiv'd with painted grapes", Do surfeit by the eye, and pine the maw,

"Like lawn being spread upon the blushing rose."

in The Rape of Lucrece:

66

So again,

red as roses that on lawn we lay." STEEVENS. 2-hanging BY his neck,] So the quarto 1593, and 16mo. of 1596. The modern editions, following the copy of 1600, have -on his neck. MALONE.

3 in the very LISTS OF LOVE,]

play called Don Sebastian :

So also John Dryden in his

"The sprightly bridegroom on his wedding night,
"More gladly enters not the lists of love." AMNER.

4 TO CLIP Elysium,] To clip in old language is to embrace.

MALONE.

5 Even AS POOR BIRDS, deceiv'd with PAINTED GRAPES,] Our author alludes to the celebrated picture of Zeuxis, mentioned by Pliny, in which some grapes were so well represented that birds lighted on them to peck at them.

Sir John Davies has the same allusion in his Nosce teipsum, 1599:

"Therefore the bee did seek the painted flower,

"And birds of grapes the cunning shadow peck." MALONE.

Even so she languisheth in her mishaps,
As those poor birds that helpless berries saw":
The warm effects' which she in him finds missing,
She seeks to kindle with continual kissing":

But all in vain; good queen, it will not be :
She hath assay'd as much as may be prov'd;
Her pleading hath deserv'd a greater fee;
She's Love, she loves, and yet she is not lov'd.
Fie, fie, he says, you crush me; let me go;
You have no reason to withhold me so.

Thou had'st been gone, quoth she, sweet boy, ere

this,

But that thou told'st me, thou would'st hunt the

boar.

O, be advis'd: thou know'st not what it is
With javelin's point a churlish swine to gore,
Whose tushes never-sheath'd he whetteth still,
Like to a mortal butcher, bent to kill.

6 As those poor birds that HELPLESS BERRIES saw :] Helpless berries are berries that afford no help, i. e. nourishment.

STEEVENS.

I once thought that a different meaning was intended to be conveyed; but I now believe, Mr. Steevens is right. So, in The Comedy of Errors:

"So thou

"With urging helpless patience would'st relieve me."

MALONE.

7 The warm EFFECTS] I think we should read affects. So, in Othello :

the young affects

"In me defunct." STEEVENS.

Effects means consequences produced by action. There is clearly no need of change. MALONE.

She seeks to KINDLE with continual KISSING :] So, in Antony and Cleopatra :

"Quicken with kissing :-had my lips that power,

66

Thus would I wear them out." STEEVENS.

9 Like to a MORTAL butcher,] Mortal, for deadly. So, in Othello:

"And you, ye mortal engines," &c. MALONE.

On his bow-back he hath a battle set

Of bristly pikes, that ever threat his foes;
His eyes, like glow-worms, shine when he doth fret';
His snout digs sepulchres where'er he goes;

Being mov'd, he strikes what e'er is in his way,
And whom he strikes, his cruel tushes slay.

His brawny sides, with hairy bristles arm'd,
Are better proof than thy spear's point can enter;
His short thick neck cannot be easily harm'd;
Being ireful, on the lion he will venture:

The thorny brambles and embracing bushes,
As fearful of him, part; through whom he rushes2.

Alas, he nought esteems that face of thine,
To which Love's eyes pay tributary gazes;
Nor thy soft hands, sweet lips, and crystal eyne,
Whose full perfection all the world amazes;

But having thee at vantage, (wond'rous dread!)
Would root these beauties as he roots the mead.

On his bow-back he hath a battle set

Of bristly pikes, that ever threat his foes;

His eyes, like glow-worms, shine when he doth fret ;] In this description Shakspeare had perhaps in view that given by Ovid of the Calydonian boar, slain by Meleager. See Golding's translation, book viii. :

"His eyes did glister blood and fire; right dreadful was to see "His brawned back; right dreadful was his haire, which grew as thicke

“With pricking points as one of them could well by other

sticke:

And, like a front of armed pikes set close in battel ray,

"The sturdie bristles on his back stood staring up alway."

MALONE.

2 The thorny brambles and embracing bushes, As fearful of him, part; through whom he rushes.] Thus Virgil describing the rapid passage of two centaurs through the woods:

dat euntibus ingens

Sylva locum, et magno cedunt virgulta fragore.

STEEVENS.

O, let him keep his loathsome cabin still 3;
Beauty hath nought to do with such foul fiends:
Come not within his danger by thy will;

4

They that thrive well, take counsel of their friends : When thou didst name the boar, not to dissemble, I fear'd thy fortune, and my joints did tremble.

Didst thou not mark my face? Was it not white? Saw'st thou not signs of fear lurk in mine eye ? Grew I not faint? And fell I not downright ? Within my bosom, whereon thou dost lie,

My boding heart pants, beats, and takes no rest,
But, like an earthquake, shakes thee on my breast.

For where love reigns, disturbing jealousy
Doth call himself affection's sentinel;
Gives false alarms, suggesteth mutiny,
And in a peaceful hour doth cry, kill, kill;
Distemp'ring gentle love in his desire,
As air and water do abate the fire.

,

This sour informer, this bate-breeding" spy,
This canker, that eat's up love's tender spring

3 his loathsome CABIN still;] Cabin, in the age of Queen Elizabeth, signified a small mean dwelling place, and was much in The term still is used universally through Ireland, where the word cottage is scarcely ever employed. MALONE.

use.

4 Come not within his danger -] This was a common expres-sion in Shakspeare's time, and seems to have meant, Expose not yourself to one who has the power to do you mischief. See vol. v. p. 120, n. 2. MALONE.

5 And in a peaceful hour doth cry, KILL, KILL;] So, in King Lear:

"And when I have stolen upon these sons-in-law,

"Then kill, kill, kill." STEEVENS.

6 IN his desire-] So the original copy 1593, and the 16mo. 1596. In the edition of 1600, we find with his desire.

MALONE.

7-bate-breeding -] So, in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mrs. Quickly observes that John Rugby is no tell-tale, no