Her which the amorous queen endeavours in vain to overcome. fascinations are useless, yet she perseveres in her advances, and twines her arms around him. "Look, how a bird lies tangled in a net, So fastened in her arms Adonis lies, Pure shame and awed resistance made him fret, The lady altogether is sufficiently reprehensible; but the youthful coyness and boyish scorn of Adonis are delightfully painted. He is insensible to every blandishment; and her boastings and intreaties are equally wasted. Nevertheless, she still pursues her object, and vaunts her power over the "God of War." "Over my altars hath he hung his lance, His battered shield, his uncontrolled crest; Thus him, that over-rul'd, I over-sway'd; Oh be not proud, nor brag not of thy might, Bid me discourse, I will enchant thine ear, Not gross to sink, but light, and will aspire." During the colloquy the horse of Adonis escapes, and as the description of this steed has been much celebrated, we will not exclude it from our pages. It is the second stanza of the following which is commonly found in quotation: "Look when a painter would surpass the life, Round-hoof'd, short-jointed, fetlocks shag and long, Sometimes he scuds far off, and there he stares; And where he run, or fly, they know not whither. Adonis pursues his courser in vain, and at last sits down fatigued, which Venus perceiving, approaches full of vexation. "O! what a sight it was wistly to view Now was she just before him as he sat, And like a lowly lover down she kneels” And proceeds to caress him; but her caresses have no more effect upon him than her words, though they are eloquent at times. "O learn to love, the lesson is but plain, And, once made perfect, never lost again"—— She says, and listens for his reply: but his countenance augurs nothing but ill. "Once more the ruby-colour'd portal open'd, Or as the wolf doth grin before he barketh, His meaning struck her, e'er his words begun." He is determined, he says, to hunt the boar on the morrow. She is apprehensive, and argues at considerable length in order to persuade him to other amusement. For our own parts, we confess that her description of the hunted hare (which, by the bye, has more of pathos than any thing else in the poem) would tend rather to keep us at home, were we addicted to the low vice of harrier hunting. The following is the lady's advice :-it shows more love than taste. "But if thou needs will hunt, be rul'd by me, Or at the fox, which lives by subtilty; Or at the roe, which no encounter dare, Pursue these fearful creatures o'er the downs, Then shalt thou see the dew-bedabbled wretch -: Turn and return, indenting with the way. And being low, never reliev'd by any." The lady's eloquence is exerted in vain, and her love is avoided and despised. How beautiful the boy's scorn is: "If Love hath lent you twenty thousand tongues, With this he breaketh from the sweet embrace leaving the "distressed" queen of Love behind him-who thus surveys his flight. The reader will see at once the perfection of the picture. "Look how a bright star shooteth from the sky, So glides he in the night from Venus' eye. Which after him she darts, as one on shore Till the wild waves will have him seen no more, Whereat amaz'd, as one that unaware But we must come to a conclusion. The story ends, as is well known, with the death of Adonis. He is killed by the tusked boar; and the following is his queen's lament. "Alas! poor World, what treasure hast thou lost! Bonnet, or veil, henceforth no creature wear; The sun doth scorn you, and the wind doth hiss you. But when Adonis liv'd, sun and sharp air Lurk'd, like two thieves, to rob him of his fair. And therefore would he put his bonnet on, Play with his locks, then would Adonis weep: They both would strive who first should dry his tears." This has more than enough of conceit, it must be ad mitted. What follows is of sterner stuff, and full of passion. It is now, indeed, that the Queen of Paphos speaks, the amorous and vindictive beauty, foiled in love (by Death) and resolute to inflict on the many, the pains and penalties which were incurred by one offender. Let the reader admire a lady's justice. We are ourselves inveterate admirers of" the sex:" nevertheless, we do not wish that these fair creatures should be troubled either with the balance or the sword. "Since thou art dead, lo! here I prophecy, That all love's pleasures shall not match his woe. It shall be fickle, false, and full of fraud, It shall be sparing, and the fool of riot, Pluck down the rich, enrich the poor with treasures; It shall be raging mad, and silly mild, Make the young old, the old become a child. It shall suspect, where is no cause of fear; And most deceiving when it seems most just: It shall be cause of war and dire events, Sith in his prime, death doth my love destroy, Thus weary of the world away she hies, |