As to make this relation ?

SPI. Care and utmost shifts

How to fecure the Lady from furprifal,
Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad,
Of small 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 grafs
Would fit, and hearken ev'n to extafy,
And in requital ope his leathern scrip,
And fhow me fimples of a thousand names,
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties:
Amongst the reft a small unfightly root,

620

625

But of divine effect, he cull'd me out;

630

The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it,

But in another country, as he faid,

Bore a bright golden flower, but not in this foil:
Unknown, and like efteem'd, and the dull fwain
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;

635

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 use

'Gainst 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 inc hanter though difguis'd,

645

Enter'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 affault the necromancer's hall;

Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood,

And brandifh'd blade, rush on him, break his glass, And thed the luscious 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.

650

655

1 BRO. Thyrfis, lead on apace, I'll follow thee, And fome good Angel bear a shield before us!

The Scene changes to a stately palace, fet out with all manner of delicioufnefs: foft mufic, tables fpread with all dainties. Comus appears with his rabble, and the Lady fet in an inchanted chair, to whom he offers his glass, which fhe puts by, and goes about to rife.

Cом. Nay, Lady, fit; if I but wave this wand, Your nerves are all chain'd up in alabaster,

And you a statue, or as Daphne was

Root-bound, that fled Apollo.

LA. Fool, do not boast,

660

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

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 first behold this cordial julep here,

670

That flames, and dances in his crystal bounds,
With fpi'rits of balm, and fragrant fyrups mix'd.

Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of Thone

675

In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,

Is of fuch power to stir up joy as this,
To life fo friendly, or fo cool to thirst.
Why should you be fo cruel to yourself,
And to thofe dainty limbs which Nature lent
For gentle ufage, and foft delicacy?

But

680

you invert the covenants of her trust, And harshly deal like an ill borrower

With that which you receiv'd on other terms,
Scorning the unexempt condition

685

By which all mortal frailty must subsist,

Refreshment after toil, ease after pain,

That have been tir'd all day without repast,

And timely reft have wanted; but, fair Virgin,

This will reftore all foon.

LA. 'Twill not, falfe traitor,

'Twill not restore the truth and honesty

690

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,
VOL. III.

L

Thefe

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

700

'To a well-govern'd and wife appetite.

705

COM. O foolishness of men! that lend their ears

To thofe budge doctors of the Stoic fur,

And fetch their precepts from the Cynic tub,
Praifing 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 fpinning worms,

710

715

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

:

720

Should in a pet of temperance feed on pulfe,
Drink the clear ftream, 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

And we should serve him as a grudging master,
As a penurious niggard of his wealth,

And live like Nature's baftards, not her fons,

725

Who would be quite surcharg'd with her own weight, And ftrangled with her wafte fertility,

Th'earth cumber'd, and the wing'd air darkt with plumes, The herds would over-multitude their lords,

The fea o'erfraught would fwell, and th' unfought diamonds

Would fo imblaze the forehead of the deep,
And fo bestud with stars, that they below
Would grow
inur'd to light, and come at last
To gaze upon the fun with fhameless 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
Confists in mutual and partaken blifs,
Unfavory in th' enjoyment of itself;
If you let flip time, like a neglected rose
It withers on the stalk with languish'd head.
Beauty is nature's brag, and must be shown
In courts, in feasts, and high solemnities,
Where moft 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 serve to ply
The fampler, and to tease the hufwife's wool.
What need a vermeil-tin&tur'd lip for that,
Love-darting eyes, or tresses like the morn?
L 2

735

740

745

758

There