SONG. Who doth ambition fhun, [All together here] Seeking the food he eats, And pleas'd with what he gets, Come hither, come hither, come hither; Here shall be fee No enemy, But winter and rough weather. F42. I'll give you a verfe to this note, that I made yesterday in defpite of my invention. 7 AMI. And I'll fing it. J42. Thus it goes: If it do come to pass, Grofs fools as he, An if he will come to Ami. to live i'the fun,] Modern editions, to lie. JOHNSON. To live i' the fun, is to labour and " sweat in the eye of Phoebus," or, vitam agere fub dio; for by lying in the fun, how could they get the food they eat? TOLLET. 8-ducdame;] For ducdàme, Sir Thomas Hanmer, very acutely and judiciously, reads duc ad me, that is, bring him to me. JOHNSON. If duc ad me were right, Amiens would not have asked its meaning, and been put off with " a Greek invocation." It is evidently a word coined for the nonce. We have here, as Butler fays, "One for fenfe, and one for rhyme."-Indeed we must have a double rhyme; or this ftanza cannot well be fung to the fame tune with the former. I read thus: AMI. What's that ducdàme? F42. 'Tis a Greek invocation, to call fools into a circle. I'll go fleep if I can; if I cannot, I'll rail against all the firft-born of Egypt.' "Ducdame, Ducdame, Ducdame, "Grofs fools as he, "An' if he will come to Ami." That is, to Amiens. Jaques did not mean to ridicule himself. FARMER. Duc ad me has hitherto been received as an allufion to the burthen of Amiens's fong, Come hither, come hither, come hither. That Amiens, who is a courtier, fhould not understand Latin, or be perfuaded it was Greek, is no great matter for wonder. An anonymous correfpondent propofes to read-Huc ad me. In confirmation of the old reading, however, Dr. Farmer obferves to me, that, being at a house not far from Cambridge, when news was brought that the hen-rooft was robbed, a facetious old fquire who was prefent, immediately fung the following stanza, which has an odd coincidence with the ditty of Jaques : "Damè, what makes your ducks to die? "duck, duck, duck. "Dame, what makes your chicks to cry? I have placed Dr. Farmer's emendation in the text. triffyllable. STEEVENS. If it do come to pass, That any man turn afs, Leaving his wealth and eafe, A ftubborn will to please, Duc ad me, duc ad me, duc ad me; Here fball he fee Ducdame is a Grofs fools as he, &c.] See HoR. Serm. L. II. fat. iii : Audire atque togam jubeo componere, quifquis "Ambitione mala aut argenti pallet amore; 66 Quifquis luxuria triftive fuperftitione, "Aut alio mentis morbo calet: Huc proprius me, the firft-born of Egypt.] A proverbial expreffion for highborn perfons. JOHNSON. The phrafe is fcriptural, as well as proverbial. So, in Exodus, xii. 29: "And the Lord fmote all the firft-born in Egypt." STEEVENS. AS YOU LIKE IT. Robert Smirke. Engraved by (harles Taylor from a Drawing by ORLANDO and ADAM. Adam Dear Master I can go no further Farewell hind, Master. Orlando Why how non' Adam live a little If this uncouth Forest yield any thing Savage, London, Published January 11783, by Charles Taylor NC8, Dyers Buildings Helborn, Act II. Scene VI AMI. And I'll go seek the duke; his banquet is [Exeunt feverally. prepar❜d. ADAM. Dear mafter, I can go no further: O, I die for food! Here lie I down, and measure out my grave.1 Farewell, kind master. ORL. Why, how now, Adam! no greater heart in thee? Live a little; comfort a little; cheer thyfelf a little: If this uncouth foreft yield any thing favage, I will either be food for it, or bring it for food to thee. Thy conceit is nearer death than thy powers For my fake, be comfortable; hold death awhile at the arm's end: I will here be with thee presently; and if I bring thee not fomething to eat, I'll give thee leave to die: but if thou dieft before I come, thou art a mocker of my labour. Well faid! thou look'ft cheerly and I'll be with thee quickly. Yet thou lieft in the bleak air: Come, I will bear thee to some shelter; and thou fhalt not die for lack of a dinner, if there live any thing in this defert. Cheerly, good Adam! [Exeunt. 2 Here lie I down, and measure out my grave.] So, in Romeo and fall upon the ground, as I do now, Taking the measure of an unmade grave." STEEVENS. |