As to make this relation ?
SPI. Care and utmost shifts
How to fecure the Lady from furprifal,
Brought to my mind a certain fhepherd lad,
Offmall regard to fee to, yet well skill'd
In every virtuous plant and healing herb,
That spreads her verdant leaf to th' morning ray:
He lov'd me well, and oft would beg me fing;
Which when I did, he on the tender grass
Would fit, and hearken ev'n to extasy,
And in requital ope his leathern fcrip,
And show me fimples of a thousand names,
Telling their ftrange and vigorous faculties:
Amongst the rest a small unfightly root,
But of divine effect, he cull'd me out;
The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it,
But in another country, as he said,
Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this foil:
Unknown, and like efteem'd, and the dull swain
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;
And yet more med'cinal is it than that Moly
That Hermes once to wife Ulyffes gave;
He call'd it Hæmony, and gave it me,
And bad me keep it as of fovran usfe
'Gainft all inchantments, mildew, blaft, or damp, 640 Or ghaftly furies' apparition.
I purs'd it up, but little reckoning made,
Till now that this extremity compell'd:
But now I find it true; for by this means
I knew the foul inchanter though difguis'd,
Enter'd the very lime-twigs of his fpells,
And yet came off: if you have this about you, (As I will give you when we go) you may Boldly affault the necromancer's hall;
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood,
And brandish'd blade, rush on him, break his glass,
And fhed the lufcious liquor on the ground,
But feife his wand; though he and his curs'd crew
Fierce fign of battel make, and menace high,
Or like the fons of Vulcan vomit smoke,
Yet will they foon retire, if he but shrink.
I BRO. Thyrfis, lead on apace, I'll follow thee,
And fome good Angel bear a shield before us!
The Scene changes to a ftately palace, fet out with all manner of deliciousness: foft mufic, tables spread with all dainties. Comus appears with his rabble, and the Lady fet in an inchanted chair, to whom he offers his glafs, which fhe puts by, and goes about to rife.
COм. Nay, Lady, fit; if I but wave this wand,
Your nerves are all chain'd up in alabaster,
And you a ftatue, or as Daphne was
Root-bound, that fled Apollo.
Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind
With all thy charms, although this corporal rind
Thou haft immanacled, while Heav'n fees good. 665
COм. Why are you vext, Lady? why do you frown? Here dwell no frowns, nor anger; from these gates Sorrow flies far: See here be all the pleasures That fancy can beget on youthful thoughts, When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns Brifk as the April buds in primrose-season. And firft behold this cordial julep here,
That flames, and dances in his cryftal bounds,
With fpi'rits of balm, and fragrant fyrups mix'd,
Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of Thone
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
Is of fuch power to ftir up joy as this,
To life fo friendly, or fo cool to thirst.
Why fhould you be fo cruel to yourself,
And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent
For gentle ufage, and soft delicacy?
you invert the covenants of her truft,
And harshly deal like an ill borrower
With that which you receiv'd on other terms,
Scorning the unexempt condition
By which all mortal frailty must subsist,
Refreshment after toil, ease after pain,
That have been tir'd all day without repaft,
And timely rest have wanted; but, fair Virgin,
This will restore all foon.
LA. 'Twill not, false traitor,
'Twill not restore the truth and honesty
That thou haft banish'd from thy tongue with lies.
Was this the cottage, and the safe abode
Thou toldst me of? What grim aspects are these,
Thefe ugly-headed monsters ? Mercy guard me! 695
Hence with thy brew'd inchantments, foul deceiver;
Haft thou betray'd my credulous innocence
With vifor'd falfhood, and bafe forgery?
And would't thou feek again to trap me here
With liquorish baits fit to infnare a brute ?
Were it a draft for Juno when the banquets,
I would not taste thy treasonous offer; none
But fuch as are good men can give good things,
And that which is not good, is not delicious
To a well-govern'd and wife appetite.
COм. O foolishness of men! that lend their ears
To those budge doctors of the Stoic fur,
And fetch their precepts from the Cynic tub,
Praising the lean and fallow Abftinence.
Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth,
With fuch a full and unwithdrawing hand,
Covering the earth with odors, fruits, and flocks,
Thronging the feas with spawn innumerable,
But all to please, and fate the curious taste ?
And fet to work millions of spinning worms,
That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair'd filk
To deck her fons, and, that no corner might
Be vacant of her plenty, in her own loins
She hutcht th' all-worshipt ore, and precious gems
To ftore her children with: if all the world
Should in a pet of temperance feed on pulfe,
Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze,
Th' all-giver would be' unthank'd, would be unprais'd,
Not half his riches known, and yet despis'd,
And we should ferve him as a grudging master, 725 As a penurious niggard of his wealth,
And live like Nature's bastards, not her fons,
Who would be quite furcharg'd with her own weight, And strangled with her waste fertility,
Th' earth cumber'd, and the wing'd air darkt with The herds would over-multitude their lords,
The sea o'erfraught would swell, and th' unfought diamonds
Would fo imblaze the forehead of the deep,
And so bestud with stars, that they below
Would grow inur'd to light, and come at last
To gaze upon the fun with shameless brows.
Lift, Lady, be not coy, and be not cofen'd
With that fame vaunted name Virginity.
Beauty is Nature's coin, must not be horded,
But must be current, and the good thereof
Confifts in mutual and partaken blifs,
Unfavory in th' enjoyment of itself;
If you let flip time, like a neglected rofe
It withers on the stalk with languish'd head.
Beauty is nature's brag, and must be fhown
In courts, in feafts, and high folemnities,
Where most may wonder at the workmanship;
It is for homely features to keep home,
They had their name thence; coarse complexions
And cheeks of forry grain will ferve to ply
The fampler, and to tease the hufwife's wool.
What need a vermeil-tinctur'd lip for that,
Love-darting eyes, or treffes like the morn ?
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