Till, breathless, he disjoin'd, and backward drew
The heavenly moisture, that sweet coral mouth,
Whose precious taste her thirsty lips well knew,
Whereon they surfeit, yet complain on drought:
He with her plenty press'd, she faint with dearth,
(Their lips together glew'd,) fall to the earth.

Now quick Desire hath caught the yielding prey,
And glutton-like she feeds, yet never filleth";
Her lips are conquerors, his lips obey,

Paying what ransom the insulter willeth;

Whose vulture thought doth pitch the price so high,

That she will draw his lips' rich treasure dry.

And having felt the sweetness of the spoil,
With blind-fold fury she begins to forage;
Her face doth reek and smoke, her blood doth boil,
And careless lust stirs up a desperate courage;
Planting oblivion, beating reason back,

Forgetting shame's pure blush, and honour's

wreck.

Hot, faint, and weary, with her hard embracing,
Like a wild bird being tam'd with too much handling,
Or as the fleet-foot roe, that's tir'd with chasing,
Or like the froward infant, still'd with dandling,

Now quick Desire hath caught THE yielding prey, And glutton-like she feeds, yet never filleth ;] So, in Antony and Cleopatra:

"Other women cloy the appetite," &c.

The 16mo. 1600, arbitrarily reads—“ her yielding prey." MALONE.

9 Forgetting shame's pure blush,] Here the poet charges his heroine with having forgotten what she can never be supposed to have known. Shakspeare's Venus may surely say with Quartilla in Petronius: "Junonem meam iratam habeam, si unquam me meminerim virginem fuisse." STEEVENS.

He now obeys, and now no more resisteth, While she takes all she can, not all she listeth'.

What wax so frozen but dissolves with temp'ring, And yields at last to every light impression 2? Things out of hope are compass'd oft with vent'ring, Chiefly in love, whose leave exceeds commission : Affection faints not like a pale-fac'd coward,

3

But then woos best, when most his choice is froward.

When he did frown, O, had she then gave over *,
Such nectar from his lips she had not suck'd.
Foul words and frowns must not repel a lover;
What though the rose have prickles, yet 'tis pluck'd3:
Were beauty under twenty locks kept fast,

Yet love breaks through, and picks them all at last.

While she takes all she can, not all she listeth :] Thus Pope's Eloisa:

66

Give all thou canst, and let me dream the rest."

66

AMNER.

And yields at last to every light IMPRESSION?] So, in King Henry IV. Part II. : I have him already tempering between my finger and my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him." STEEvens. It should be remembered that it was the custom formerly to seal with soft wax, which was tempered between the fingers, before the impression was made. See the note on the passage just cited, vol. xvii. p. 174, n. 1. MALONE. 3 whose LEAVE-] i.

4

e. whose licentiousness. STEEVENS. had she then GAVE Over,] Our poet ought to have written" had she then giv'n over;" but in this instance he is countenanced by many other writers, even in later times.

MALONE.

5 What though the rose have prickles, yet 'tis pluck'd:] Thus the original copy 1593, and that of 1596. The sexto-decimo of 1600, arbitrarily reads:

"What though the rose have pricks, yet is it pluck'd." which has been followed in the modern editions. MALONE.

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',

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,] So, in A Midsummer Night's Dream :

MALONE.

Thus the editions

"I swear to thee by Cupid's strongest bow." He carries thence INCAGED in his breast.] 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:

"Hence ever then my heart is in thy breast."

Again, in King Richard III. :

"Even so thy breast incloseth my poor heart." MALONE. 9-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:

66

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 neck 2, 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 joy1.

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." So again, in The Rape of Lucrece :

2

- red as roses that on lawn we lay."

STEEVENS.

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,] So also John Dryden in his play called Don Sebastian :

"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.

6

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 :

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,

"Thus would I wear them out." STEEVENS.

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

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