In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,

Is of fuch pow'r to ftir up joy as this,

To life fo friendly, or fo cool to thirst.

be fo cruel to yourself,

Why should
you
And to those dainty limbs which Nature lent
For gentle ufage, and foft delicacy?

invert the covenants of her trust,

And harshly deal like an ill borrower

With that which you receiv'd on other terms,

Scorning the unexempt condition

By which all mortal frailty must subsist,
Refreshment after toil, ease after pain,
That have been tir'd all day without repast,
And timely reft have wanted; but fair Virgin,
This will restore all foon.

LADY.

"Twill not, false traitor,

'Twill not restore the truth and honesty

685

690

That thou haft banish'd from thy tongue with lies.
Was this the cottage, and the fafe abode
Thou toldst me of? What grim afpects are these,
Thefe ugly-headed monfters? Mercy guard me! 695
Hence with thy brew'd inchantments, foul deceiver;

Haft thou betray'd my credulous innocence
With visor❜d falfhood, and base forgery?

And would'st thou feek again to trap me here
With liquorish baits fit to infnare a brute?
Were it a draft for Juno when the banquets,
I would not taste thy treasonous offer; none
But fuch as are good men can give good things,
And that which is not good, is not delicious
To a well-govern'd and wife 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,
Praifing the lean and fallow Abftinence.

700

705

Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth, 710 With fuch a full and unwithdrawing hand,

Κακό γαρ ανδρι δωρ' ονησιν

૪ જુલ. 707. To thofe budge doctors of the

Stoic fur,] The Trinity Manufcript had at firft Stoic gown, which is better; for budge fignifies furr'd: but I fuppofe by Stoic fur Milton intended to explain the other obfolete word, tho' he fell upon a very inaccurate way of doing it.

Warburton.

Covering

710. Wherefore did Nature pour
her bounties forth,
With fuch a full and unwithdraw-
ing hand,

Silius Italicus. XV. 55.

Quantas ipfe Deus lætos gene-
ravit in ufus
Res homini, plenaque dedit bo-
na gaudia dextra? Richardson.

712. Covering

Covering the earth with odors, fruits, and flocks,
Thronging the feas with spawn innumerable,
But all to please, and fate the curious taste?
And set to work millions of spinning worms,
That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair'd filk
To deck her fons, and that no corner might

715

720

Be vacant of her plenty, in her own loins
She hutcht th' all-worshipt ore, and precious gems
To store her children with: if all the world
Should in a pet of temp'rance feed on pulse,
Drink the clear stream, and nothing wear but frieze,
Th'all-giver would be' unthank'd, would be unprais'd,
Not half his riches known, and yet despis'd,
And we should ferve him as a grudging mafter, 725
As a penurious niggard of his wealth,

712. Covering the earth &c] Thefe verfes were thus at first in the Manufcript,

Covering the earth with odors,
and with fruits,
Cramming the feas with spawn in-
numerable,

The fields with cattel, and the air
with fowl, &c.

717. To deck her fons,] So he had written at first, then alter'd it to adorn, and afterwards to deck again.

And

And live like Nature's baftards, not her fons,
Who would be quite furcharg'd with her own weight,
And strangled with her waste fertility,

Th' earth cumber'd, and the wing'd air darkt with plumes,

The herds would over-multitude their lords,

730

The fea o'erfraught would fwell, and th'unfought diamonds

Would fo imblaze the forehead of the deep,

And fo beftud with ftars, that they below
Would grow inur'd to light, and come at laft 735
Το gaze upon
Lift Lady, be not coy, and be not cofen'd
With that fame vaunted name Virginity.
Beauty is Nature's coin, must not be horded,

the fun with fhameless brows.

But