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As to make this relation ?

SPI. Care and utmoft fhifts

How to fecure the Lady from furprifal,

Brought to my mind a certain fhepherd lad,
Of small regard to fee to, yet well skill'd
In every virtuous plant and healing herb,
That spreads her verdant leaf to th' morning ray:
He lov'd me well, and oft would beg me fing;
Which when I did, he on the tender grass
Would fit, and hearken ev'n to extafy,
And in requital ope his leathern fcrip,
And show me fimples of a thoufand names,
Telling their strange and vigorous faculties:
Amongst the reft a fmail unfightly root,
But of divine effect, he cull'd me out;

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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 foil:
Unknown, and like efteem'd, and the dull fwain
Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;

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And yet more med'cinal is it than that Moly

That Hermes once to wife Ulyffles gave ;
He call'd it Hæmony, and gave it me,
And bad me keep it as of fovran use

'Gainft all inchantments, mildew, blaft, or damp, 640 Or ghaftly furies' apparition.

I purs'd it up, but little reckoning made,
Till now that this extremity compell'd :
But now I find it true; for by this means

I knew the foul inc hanter though disguis'd,

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Enter'd

Enter'd 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 affault the necromancer's hall;
Where if he be, with dauntless hardihood,

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And brandish'd blade, rush on him, break his glass, And fhed the luscious liquor on the ground,

But seise his wand; though he and his curs'd crew
Fierce fign of battel make, and menace high,
Or like the fons of Vulcan vomit smoke,
Yet will they foon retire, if he but shrink.

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1 BRO. Thyrfis, lead on apace, I'll follow thee, And fome good Angel bear a shield before us!

The Scene changes to a stately palace, fet out with all manner of delicioufnefs: foft mufic, tables fpread with all dainties. Comus appears with his rabble, and the Lady fet in an inchanted chair, to whom he offers his glafs, which he puts by, and goes about to rife.

COм. Nay, Lady, fit; if I but wave this wand, Your nerves are all chain'd up in alabaster, And you a statue, or as Daphne was

Root-bound, that fled Apollo.

LA. Fool, do not boast,

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Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind
With all thy charms, although this corporal rind.
Thou haft immanacled, while Heav'n fees good. 665

COм. Why

COм. Why are you vext, Lady? why do you frown?
Here dwell no frowns, nor anger; from thefe 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
Brifk as the April buds in primrofe-feafon.
And firft behold this cordial julep here,

That flames, and dances in his crystal bounds,
With spirits of balm, and fragrant fyrups mix'd. ·
Not that Nepenthes, which the wife of Thone
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,

Is of fuch power to ftir up joy as this,
To life fo friendly, or so cool to thirst.
Why should you be fo cruel to yourself,
And to thofe dainty limbs which Nature lent
For gentle ufage, and foft delicacy?

But

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

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With that which you receiv'd on other terms,

Scorning the unexempt condition

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By which all mortal frailty must fubfist,

Refreshment after toil, eafe after pain,

That have been tir'd all day without repaft,

And timely rest have wanted; but, fair Virgin,
This will reftore all foon.

LA. 'Twill not, falfe traitor,

'Twill not restore the truth and honefty

That thou haft banish'd from thy tongue with lies.
Was this the cottage, and the fafe abode

Thou toldft me of? What grim afpects are these,
VOL. III.

L

690

Thefe

Thefe ugly-headed monsters? Mercy guard me! 695
Hence with thy brew'd inchantments, foul deceiver;
Hast thou betray'd my credulous innocence
With visor'd falfhood, and base forgery?
And would'st thou seek again to trap me here
With liquorish baits fit to infnare a brute ?
Were it a draft for Juno when she banquets,
I would not tafte thy treasonous offer; none

But fuch as are good men can give good things,
And that which is not good, is not delicious

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To a well-govern'd and wife appetite.

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COм. O fcolifhnefs 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 fallow Abftinence.
Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth,
With fuch a full and unwithdrawing hand,
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,

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That in their green shops weave the smooth-hair'd filk
To deck her fons, and, that no corner might
Be vacant of her plenty, in her own loins
She hutcht th' all-worshipt ore, and precious gems
To ftore her children with if all the world
Should in a pet of temperance feed on pulfe,
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,

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And

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

And live like Nature's baftards, not her fons,

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Who would be quite surcharg'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,

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

Would fo imblaze the forehead of the deep,

And fo bestud with stars, that they below
Would grow inur'd to light, and come at laft
To gaze upon the fun with fhameless brows.
Lift, Lady, be not coy, and be not cofen'd
With that fame vaunted name Virginity.
Beauty is Nature's coin, muft not be horded,
But must be current, and the good thereof
Confifts in mutual and partaken blifs,
Unfavory in th' enjoyment of itself;

If

you let flip time, like a neglected rofe

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It withers on the stalk with languish'd head.
Beauty is nature's brag, and must be shown

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In courts, in feafts, and high folemnities,
Where moft may wonder at the workmanship;
It is for homely features to keep home,

They had their name thence; coarse complexions
And cheeks of forry grain will serve to ply
The fampler, and to tease the hufwife's wool.
What need a vermeil-tinctur'd lip for that,
Love-darting eyes, or treffes like the morn?
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There

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