From whence doth fpring the true Promethean fire s
Why, univerfal plodding prifons up
The nimble spirits in the arteries;
As motion and long-during action tires
The finewy vigour of the traveller.
Now, for not looking on a woman's face,
You have in that forfworn the use of eyes;
And study too, the caufer of your vow.
For where is any author in the world,
Teaches fuch beauty as a woman's eye?
Learning is but an adjunct to ourself,
And where we are, our learning likewife is.
Then, when ourselves we fee in Ladies eyes,
Do we not likewife fee our learning there?
O, we have made a vow to ftudy, Lords;

And in that vow we have forfworn our books:
For when would you, my Liege, or you, or you,
In leaden contemplation have found out

Such fiery numbers, as the prompting eyes
Of beauty's tutors have enrich'd

you with ?
Other flow arts entirely keep the brain;
And therefore finding barren practisers,
Scarce fhew a harveft of their heavy toil.
But love, firft learned in a Lady's eyes,
Lives not alone immured in the brain:
But with the motion of all elements,
Courses are swift as thought in every power;
And gives to every power a double power,
Above their functions and their offices.
It adds a precious feeing to the eye:
A lover's eyes will gaze an eagle blind!
A lover's ear will hear the lowest found,
When the fufpicious head of thrift is ftopt.

(32) A lover's car will bear the loweft found,

When the fufpicious bead of theft is flop'd]

(32)

Love's

I have ventur'd to substitute a word here, against the authority of all the printed copies. There is no contraft of terms, betwixt a lover and a thief: but betwixt a lover and man of thrift there is a remarkable antithefis. Nor is it true in fact, I believe, that a thief, harden'd to the profeffion, is always fufpicious of being apprehended; but he

may

Love's feeling is more foft and fenfible,
Than are the tender horns of cockled fnails.

Love's tongue proves dainty Bacchus gross in taste;
For favour, is not love a Hercules ?

Still climbing trees in the Hefperides. (33)
Subtle as Sphinx; as fweet and mufical
As bright Apollo's lute, ftrung with his hair:

And when love speaks the voice of all the gods, (34) Mark,

may fleep as found as an honefter man. But, according to the ideas we have of a mifer, a man who makes lucre and pelf his fole object and purfuit, his fleeps are broken and disturb'd with perpetual appre henfions of being robb'd of his darling treasure: confequently his ear is upon the attentive bent, even when he fleeps beft. (33) For valour is not love a Hercules,

Still climbing trees in the Hefperides?]

I have here again ventur'd to tranfgrefs against the printed Books. The poet is here observing how all the fenfes are refin'd by love. But what has the poor fense of smelling done, not to keep its place among its brethren? then Hercules's valour was not in climbing the trees, but in attacking the dragon gardant. I rather think, the poet meant, that Hercules was allured by the odour and fragrancy of the golden apples. So Virgil speaks of a particular fruit, upon which the commentators are not agreed.

Et, fi non alium late jactaret odorem,

Laurus erat:

Georg. II.

Befides, fetting afide the allufion of Hercules to the fruit, lovers think fo grateful an odour tranfpires from their miftreffes, that from every pore (as Nat Lee has exprefs'd it) a perfume falls. To these fragran cies the Claffics frequently allude.

Idem. lib, i. Od. 13.

For Badius Afcentius, explaining Cervicem roseam, says, i e. fragrans

tem, aut formofam.

So likewife Virgil, describing the fragrancy of Venus,

avertens rofeâ Cervice refulfit, Ambrofiaqua Come divinum Vertice Odorem Spiravêre.

(34) And ruhen love speaks, the voice of all the gods,

Make beaven drowy with the barmony.]

Eneid. I.

As this is writ and pointed in all the copies, there is neither fenfe, nos concord; as will be obvious to every understanding reader. The fine

and

Mark, heaven drowsy with the harmony!
Never durft poet touch a pen to write,

Until his ink were temper'd with love's fighs;
O, then his lines would ravish savage ears,
And plant in tyrants mild humility.

From womens eyes this doctrine I derive:
They fparkle ftill the right Promethean fire,
They are the books, the arts, the academies,
That fhew, contain, and nourish all the world;
Elfe none at all in ought proves excellent.
Then fools you were, these women to forfwear:
Or, keeping what is fworn, you will prove fools.
For wifdom's fake (a word, that all men love)
Or for love's fake, (a word that loves all men ;)
Or for mens fake, (the author of these women;)
Or woman's fake, (by whom we men are men ;)
Let us once lofe our oaths, to find ourselves;
Or else we lose ourselves, to keep our oaths.
It is religion to be thus forfworn,

For charity itself fulfils the law;

And who can fever love from charity?

King. Saint Cupid then! and, foldiers, to the field! Biron. Advance your standards, and upon them, Lords; Pell mell, down with them; but be first advis'd, In conflict that you get the fun of them.

Long. Now to plain-dealing, lay these glozes by; Shall we refolve to woo these girls of France ?

and eafy emendation, which I have inserted in the text, I owe to my ingenious friend Mr. Warburton. His comment on heaven being drewfy with the barmony is no leís ingenious; and therefore, I'll fubjoin it in his own words. "Mufick, we must observe, in our author's time had a very different ufe to what it has now. At prefent, "it is only employ'd to raife and inflame the paffions; then, to calm "and allay all kind of perturbations. And, agreeeble to this obferva • tion, throughout all Shakespeare's plays, where mufick is either actually used, or its power defcrib'd, 'tis always faid to be for these "ends. Particularly, it was most frequently us'd at the Couchee of the great. I eaven being made drowsy with the barmony, therefore "I take to mean, footbing their cares, and lulling them to ref. For the Claffical deities, like earthly grandees, are fubject to the most violent perturbations of human paffions".

King. And win them too; therefore let us devife Some entertainment for them in their tents.

Biron. First, from the park let us conduct them thither; Then homeward every man attach the hand

Of his fair miftrefs; in the afternoon

We will with fome ftrange paftime folace them,
Such as the fhortness of the time can fhape:
For revels, dances, masks, and merry hours,
Forerun fair love, ftrewing her way with flowers.
King. Away, away! no time fhall be omitted,
That will be time, and may by us be fitted.
Biron. Allons! allons! fown cockle reap'd no corn;(35)
And juftice always whirls in equal measure;
Light wenches may prove plagues to men forfworn;
If so, our copper buys no better treasure. [Exeunt.

A C T. IV.
SCENE, the Street.

Enter Holofernes, Nathaniel and Dull.

HOLOFERNES.

Atis, quod fufficit.

Nath. I praife God for you, Sir, your reafons at dinner have been sharp and fententious; pleafant without fcurrility, witty without affectation, audacious without impudency, learned without opinion, and ftrange without herefy: I did converse this quondam-day with a companion of the King's, who is entituled, nominated, or called, Don Adriano de Armado.

(35) Alone, alone, fow'd cockrel.] The editors, fure, could have no idea of this paffage. Biron begins with a repetition in French of what the King had faid in English; away, away! and then proceeds with a proverbial expreffion, inciting them to what he had before advis'd, from this inference; if we only for cockle, we shall never reap corn, i. e. if we don't take the proper measures for winning thefe Ladies, we shall never atchieve them. Mr. Warburton.

Hol.

Hol. Novi heminem, tanquàm te. His humour is lofty, his discourse peremptory, his tongue filed, his eye ambitious, his gate majestical, and his general behaviour vain, ridiculous, and thrafonical. He is too piqued, too fpruce, too affected, too odd, as it were; too peregrinate, as I may call it.

Nath. A moft fingular and choice epithet.

[draws out his table-book. Hol. He draweth out the thread of his verbofity finer than the ftaple of his argument. I abhor fuch phanatical phantafms, fuch infociable and point-devife companions; fuch rackers of orthography, as do fpeak dout fine, when he should fay doubt; det, when he fhould pronouce debt; d, e, b, t; not d, e, t: he clepeth a calf, cauf: half, hauf; neighbour vocatur nebour; neigh abbreviated ne: this is abominable, which we would call abhomidable: (36) it infinuateth me of infamy Ne intelligis Domine, to make frantick, lunatick ?

Nath. Laus deo, bone, intelligo.

Hol. Bone?

bone, for benè; Prifcian a little fcratch'd; 'twill serve.

(36) It infinuateth me of Infamy: Nè intelligis, Domine, to make frantick, lunatick ?

Nath. Laus Deo, bene intelligo.

Hol. Bome boon for boon prefcian; a little fcratch, 'twill serve.] This play is certainly none of the best in itself, but the editors have been fo very happy in making it worse by their indolence, that they have left me Augeas's ftable to cleanfe: and a man had need have the Arength of a Hercules to heave out all their rubbish. But to bufinefs; why should infamy be explain'd by making frantick, lunatick? It is plain and obvious that the poet intended, the pedant fhould coin an uncouth affected word here, infanie, from infania of the Latines. Then what a piece of unintelligible jargon have these learned criticks given us for Latine? I think, I may venture to affirm, I have reftor'd the paffage to its true purity.

Nath. Lans Deo, bone, intelligo.

The Curate, addreffing with complaifance his brother pedant, fays, bone, to him, as we frequently in Terence find bone vir; but the pedant thinking, he had mistaken the adverb, thus defcants on it.

Bone bone for bene. Prifcian a little fcratch'd: 'twill ferve. alluding to the common phrafe, Diminuis Prisciani caput, apply'd to fuch as fpeak falfe Latin,

Enter