Self-fed, and self-consumed: if this fail,

The pillared firmament is rottenness,

And earth's base built on stubble. But come, let's on! Against the opposing will and arm of Heaven

May never this just sword be lifted up;

But for that damned magician, let him be girt
With all the grisly legions that troop

Under the sooty flag of Acheron,

600

Harpies and Hydras, or all the monstrous forms 605

"Twixt Africa and Ind, I'll find him out,

And force him to restore his purchase back,

Or drag him by the curls to a foul death,

Cursed as his life.

SPIRIT.

Alas! good venturous youth,

I love thy courage yet, and bold emprise ;
But here thy sword can do thee little stead;
Far other arms and other weapons must

Be those that quell the might of hellish charms:
He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints
And crumble all thy sinews.

ELDER BROTHER.

610

Why, prithee, shepherd, 615

How durst thou then thyself approach so near
As to make this relation?

SPIRIT.

Care and utmost shifts

How to secure the lady from surprisal,

Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad,
Of small regard to see to, yet well skilled
In every virtuous plant and healing herb
That spreads her verdant leaf to the morning ray.
He loved me well, and oft would beg me sing;

620

Which when I did, he on the tender grass
Would sit, and hearken even to ecstasy;
And in requital ope his leathern scrip,
And show me simples of a thousand names,
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties.
Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,
But of divine effect, he culled me out;

625

630

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 soil:
Unknown, and like esteemed, 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 wise Ulysses gave.
He called it hæmony, and gave it me,
And bade me keep it as of sovran use

635

'Gainst all enchantments, mildew blast or damp, 640 Or ghastly furies' apparition.

I pursed it up, but little reckoning made,
Till now that this extremity compelled:
But now I find it true; for by this means

I knew the foul enchanter, though disguised, 645
Entered 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 assault the necromancer's hall;
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood

650.

And brandished blade rush on him; break his glass
And shed the luscious liquor on the ground,
But seize his wand. Though he and his cursed crew
Fierce sign of battle make, and menace high,
Or like the sons of Vulcan vomit smoke,
Yet will they soon retire, if he but shrink.

655

ELDER BROTHER.

Thyrsis, lead on apace, I'll follow thee; And some good angel bear a shield before us! The Scene changes to a stately palace, set out with all manner of deliciousness: soft music, tables spread with all dainties. COMUS appears with his rabble, and the LADY set in an enchanted chair, to whom he offers his glass, which she puts by, and goes about to rise.

COMUS.

Nay, lady, sit; if I but wave this wand, Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster, And you a statue, or as Daphne was,

Root-bound, that fled Apollo.

LADY.

Fool, do not boast;

Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind

660

With all thy charms, although this corporal rind Thou hast immanacled while Heaven sees good. 665

COMUS.

Why are you vexed, 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 670
Brisk as the April buds in primrose-season.
And first behold this cordial julep here,

That flames and dances in his crystal bounds,
With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed.

Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone

675

In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
Is of such power to stir up joy as this,
To life so friendly, or so cool to thirst.
Why should you be so cruel to yourself,

And to those dainty limbs, which Nature lent

680

For gentle usage and soft delicacy?

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

With that which you received on other terms;
Scorning the unexempt condition

By which all mortal frailty must subsist,
Refreshment after toil, ease after pain,

That have been tired all day without repast,
And timely rest have wanted; but, fair virgin,
This will restore all soon.

LADY.

685

"Twill not, false traitor!

'Twill not restore the truth and honesty

691

That thou hast banished from thy tongue with lies.
Was this the cottage and the safe abode

Thou told'st me of? What grim aspects are these,
These ugly-headed monsters? Mercy guard me! 695
Hence with thy brewed enchantments, foul deceiver !
Hast thou betrayed my credulous innocence
With vizored falsehood and base forgery?
And wouldst thou seek again to trap me here
With lickerish baits fit to ensnare a brute?
Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets,
I would not taste thy treasonous offer; none
But such as are good men can give good things;
And that which is not good is not delicious
To a well-governed and wise appetite.

COMUS.

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 sallow Abstinence.

700

705

Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth 710

With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,
Covering the earth with odours, fruits, and flocks,
Thronging the seas with spawn innumerable,
But all to please and sate the curious taste?
And set to work millions of spinning worms,

715

That in their green shops weave the smooth-haired silk,'

To deck her sons: and, that no corner might

Be vacant of her plenty, in her own loins

720

She hutched the all-worshipped ore and precious gems
To store her children with. If all the world
Should in a pet of temperance feed on pulse,
Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze,
The All-giver would be unthanked, would be un-
praised,

Not half his riches known, and yet despised:

And we should serve him as a grudging master, 725
As a penurious niggard of his wealth;

And live like Nature's bastards, not her sons,
Who would be quite surcharged with her own weight,
And strangled with her waste fertility;

The earth cumbered, and the winged air darked with plumes,

730

The herds would over-multitude their lords,
The sea o'erfraught would swell, and the unsought

diamonds

Would so emblaze the forehead of the deep,
And so bestud with stars, that they below
Would grow inured to light, and come at last
To gaze upon the sun with shameless brows.
List, lady; be not coy, and be not cozened.
With that same vaunted name Virginity. ·
Beauty is Nature's coin, must not be hoarded,

735