Even at this word she hears a merry horn,
Whereat she leaps, that was but late forlorn.

As faulcon to the lure, away she flies;

The grass stoops not, she treads on it so light;
And in her haste unfortunately spies
The foul boar's conquest on her fair delight;

Which seen, her eyes, as murder'd with the view, Like stars asham'd of day, themselves withdrew".

Or, as the snail, whose tender horns being hit,
Shrinks backward in his shelly cave with pain',
And there, all smother'd up in shade doth sit,
Long after fearing to creep forth again;

So, at his bloody view, her eyes are fled
Into the deep dark cabins of her head:

Where they resign their office and their light
To the disposing of her troubled brain;

"Trifles light as air,

"Are to the jealous confirmations strong
"As proofs of holy writ."

"-with false bethinking grieves." Here the false concord cannot be corrected on account of the rhyme.

See p. 79, n. 6.
MALONE.

5 The GRASS Stoops not, she treads on it so light ;]
Illa per intactas segetes, vel summa volaret
Gramina, nec teneras cursu læsisset aristas. Virgil.
STEEVENS.

Thus

6 Which seen, her eyes, As murder'd with the view, Like stars asham'd of day, themselves withdrew.] the edition of 1596. The original copy has-" are murder'd," which certainly affords sense; but the other reading, being manifestly an improvement of the passage, I suppose to have come from the hand of the author. MALONE.

7 Or, as the snail, whose tender HORNS being hit,

Shrinks backward in his SHELLY cave with pain,] So, in Coriolanus:

"Thrusts forth his horns again into the world;

"Which were in-shell'd when Marcius stood for Rome." The former of these passages supports Mr. Tyrwhitt's reading of another. See vol. ix. p. 84, and vol. xiv. p. 178. STEEVENS.

Who bids them still consort with ugly night,
And never wound the heart with looks again;
Who, like a king perplexed in his throne,
By their suggestion gives a deadly groan,

Whereat each tributary subject quakes9;
As when the wind, imprison'd in the ground',
Struggling for passage, earth's foundation shakes,
Which with cold terror doth men's minds con-
found2:

This mutiny each part doth so surprise,

That, from their dark beds, once more leap her eyes;

And, being open'd, threw unwilling light3
Upon the wide wound that the boar had trench'd⭑

8 -CONSORT with ugly NIGHT,] So, in Romeo and Juliet : To be consorted with the humorous night." MALONE. 9 Who, like a KING

66

Whereat each tributary SUBJECT QUAKES ;] So, in King

Lear:

Ay, every inch a king:

"When I do stare, see how the subject quakes."

-

STEEVENS.

As when the WIND, IMPRISON'D in the ground, Struggling for passage, earth's foundation SHAKES,] So, in King Henry IV. Part I. :

66

oft the teeming earth

"Is with a kind of cholick pinch'd and vex'd
"By the imprisoning of unruly wind

"Within her womb; which, for enlargement striving, "Shakes the old beldame earth," &c. STEEVENS. 2 Which with cold terror doth men's MINDS confound :] Our author here may have spoken from experience; for about thirteen years before this poem was published (1580,) at which time he was sixteen years old, there was an earthquake in England.

MALONE.

3 unwilling LIGHT] Thus the original copy, 1593. For light, in the edition of 1596, right was substituted, which in that of 1600 was made sight. MALONE.

4

that the boar had TRENCH'D-] Trench'd is cut. Trancher, Fr. See vol. xi. p. 165, n. 7. MALONE.

In his soft flank: whose wonted lily white With purple tears, that his wound wept, was drench'd 5:

No flower was nigh, no grass, herb, leaf, or weed, But stole his blood, and seem'd with him to bleed.

This solemn sympathy poor Venus noteth;
Over one shoulder doth she hang her head;
Dumbly she passions, frantickly she doteth ;
She thinks he could not die, he is not dead :

Her voice is stopp'd, her joints forget to bow; Her eyes are mad, that they have wept till now.

Upon his hurt she looks so steadfastly,
That her sight dazzling' makes the wound seem

three;

And then she reprehends her mangling eye,

That makes more gashes where no breach should be: His face seems twain, each several limb is doubled; For oft the eye mistakes, the brain being troubled.

My tongue cannot express my grief for one,
And yet, quoth she, behold two Adons dead!
My sighs are blown away, my salt tears gone,
Mine eyes are turn'd to fire, my heart to lead :

Heavy heart's lead, melt at mine eyes' red fire!
So shall I die by drops of hot desire.

5 WAS drench'd:] The first quarto reads-" had drench'd,” the compositor having caught the word had from the line above. Corrected in the edition of 1600. MALONE.

Dumbly she PASSIONS, frantickly she doteth,] This verb is again used by our author in The Two Gentlemen of Verona : Madam, 'twas Ariadne, passioning

66

"For Theseus' perjury and unjust flight." MALOne.

7 That her sight DAZZLING-] To dazzle is again used as a neutral verb in Love's Labour's Lost:

8

"Study me how to please the eye, indeed,

"By fixing it upon a fairer eye;

66

Who, dazzling so, that eye shall be his head," &c.

MALONE.

mine eyes' RED FIRE!] So the quarto 1593. The edition

-

Alas, poor world, what treasure hast thou lost! What face remains alive that's worth the viewing? Whose tongue is musick now?? what canst thou boast

Of things long since, or any thing ensuing?

The flowers are sweet 1, their colours fresh and trim;

But true-sweet beauty liv'd and died with him 2.

Bonnet nor veil" henceforth no creature wear!
Nor sun nor wind will ever strive to kiss you *:
Having no fair to lose, you need not fear;
The sun doth scorn you, and the wind doth hiss
you":

of 1596 reads "red as fire." In the copy of 1600 red is omitted, and as retained. Such is the process of corruption. MALONE.

9 Whose TONGUE is MUSICK now?] So, in The Comedy of Errors:

"That never words were musick to thine ear." MALONE. THE flowers are sweet-] I suspect Shakspeare wrote-Thy flowers, &c. MALONE.

2

-liv'd and died wITH him.] So the original copy. In that of 1596 we have in for with; which was followed in all the subsequent editions. MALONE.

3 Bonnet NOR veil-] For nor, the reading of the earliest copies, we have, in that of 1600, or, which was adopted in the subsequent editions. MALONE.

4 nor WIND will ever strive to kiss you :] So, in Othello: "The bawdy wind that kisses all it meets." STEEvens. Again, in The Merchant of Venice:

66

Hugg'd and embraced by the strumpet wind." MALONE. 5 Having no FAIR to lose-] Fair was formerly used as a substantive, in the sense of beauty. So, in The Comedy of Errors:

"My decayed fair

"A sunny look of his would soon repair."

It appears from the corresponding rhyme, and the jingle in the present line, that the word fear was pronounced in the time of Shakspeare as if it were written fare. It is still so pronounced in Warwickshire, and by the vulgar in Ireland. MALONE.

the wind doth HISS you:] So, in Romeo and Juliet :
the winds,

""

"Who, nothing hurt withal, hiss'd him in scorn."

6

STEEVENS.

But when Adonis liv'd, sun and sharp air Lurk'd like two thieves, to rob him of his fair:

And therefore would he put his bonnet on,
Under whose brim the gaudy sun would peep,
The wind would blow it off, and, being gone,
Play with his locks"; then would Adonis weep:

And straight in pity of his tender years,

They both would strive who first should dry his

tears.

To see his face, the lion walk'd along

Behind some hedge, because he would not fear him; To recreate himself when he hath sung,

The tyger would be tame 9, and gently hear him; If he had spoke the wolf would leave his prey, And never fright the silly lamb that day.

When he beheld his shadow in the brook,
The fishes spread on it their golden gills;
When he was by, the birds such pleasure took,
That some would sing, some other in their bills
Would bring him mulberries, and ripe-red cherries;
He fed them with his sight, they him with berries.

But this foul, grim, and urchin-snouted boar1,
Whose downward eye still looketh for a grave,
Ne'er saw the beauteous livery that he wore;
Witness the entertainment that he gave:

7 Play with his LOCKS;]

So the quarto 1593, and the copy of 1596. That of 1600 has-lokes. MALone.

because he would not FEAR him ;] Because he would not terrify him. So, in King Henry VI. Part II. :

66

'For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all." MALone. 9 - when he hath SUNG,

1

The TYGER WOULD BE TAME,] So, in Othello:

"She would sing the savageness out of a bear." STEEVENS. urchin-snouted boar,] An urchin is a hedgehog. MALONE.

-