He tells her no; to-morrow he intends To hunt the boar with certain of his friends. "The boar!" quoth she; whereat a sudden pale, Now is she in the very lists of love, He will not manage her, although he mount her; To clip Elysium, and to lack her joy. Even as poor birds, deceived with painted grapes,' As those poor birds that helpless 2 berries saw: But all in vain; good queen, it will not be : 1 The allusion is to the picture of Zeuxis, mentioned by Pliny. We may observe that there was no English translation of Pliny so early as the date of this poem. 2 Helpless, that afford no help. "Thou hadst been gone," quoth she, "sweet boy, ere this, But that thou told'st me thou wouldst hunt the boar. O, be advised! thou know'st not what it is "On his bow-back he hath a battle set Being moved, he strikes whate'er is in his way, "His brawny sides, with hairy bristles armed, The thorny brambles and embracing bushes, "Alas! he nought esteems that face of thine, But having thee at vantage, (wondrous dread!) "O, let him keep his loathsome cabin still! Beauty hath nought to do with such foul fiends: 1 Mortal, deadly. Come not within his danger1 by thy will; They that thrive well take counsel of their friends. When thou didst name the boar, not to dissemble, I feared thy fortune, and my joints did tremble. "Didst thou not mark my face? Was it not white? Saw'st thou not signs of fear lurk in mine eye? Grew I not faint? And fell I not downright? Within my bosom, whereon thou dost lie, My boding heart pants, beats, and takes no rest, But like an earthquake, shakes thee on my breast. "For where Love reigns, disturbing Jealousy And in a peaceful hour doth cry, Kill, kill;' As air and water do abate the fire. "This sour informer, this bate-breeding spy, This canker that eats up love's tender spring,3 This carry-tale, dissentious jealousy, That sometime true news, sometime false doth bring, Knocks at my heart, and whispers in mine ear, "And, more than so, presenteth to mine eye The picture of an angry-chafing boar, 1 Danger, power of doing harm. So in the Merchant of Venice, Act IV. Sc. I. : "You stand within his danger." See note on that passage. 2 Bate signifies strife. Mrs. Quickly says that John Rugby is no breed-bate. Under whose sharp fangs on his back doth lie “What should I do, seeing thee so indeed, The thought of it doth make my faint heart bleed, I prophesy thy death, my living sorrow, If thou encounter with the boar to-morrow. "But if thou needs wilt hunt, be ruled by me; Uncouple at the timorous, flying hare, Or at the fox, which lives by subtilty, Or at the roe, which no encounter dare: Pursue these fearful creatures o'er the downs, And on thy well-breathed horse keep with thy hounds. "And when thou hast on foot the purblind hare, 1 Overshoot. The original editions read overshut. This read. ing is retained by Malone. 2 Cranks, winds. So in Henry IV. Part I.: — "See how this river comes me cranking in." 3 Musits. The term is explained in Markham's "Gentlemen's Academy," 1595: "We term the place where she [the hare] sitteth her form; the place through which she goes to relief her musit." "Sometime he runs among a flock of sheep, And sometime sorteth 2 with a herd of deer "For there his smell with others being mingled, The hot scent-snuffing hounds are driven to doubt, Ceasing their clamorous cry till they have singled With much ado the cold fault cleanly out; Then do they spend their mouths: Echo replies, As if another chase were in the skies. "By this, poor Wat, far off upon a hill, And now his grief may be comparéd well "Then shalt thou see the dew-bedabbled wretch "Lie quietly, and hear a little more; 1 Keep, dwell. 2 Sorteth, consorteth. 3 Moralize, comment. |