THE RAPE OF LUCRECE. FROM the besieged Ardea all in post, And girdle with embracing flames the waist Haply that name of chaste unhapp❜ly set 1 To praise the clear unmatched red and white Where mortal stars, as bright as heaven's beau ties, With pure aspects did him peculiar duties. For he the night before, in Tarquin's tent, Unlocked the treasure of his happy state; 1 Let, forbear. In the possession of his beauteous mate; O, happiness enjoyed but of a few! Beauty itself doth of itself persuade Of that rich jewel he should keep unknown Perchance his boast of Lucrece' sovereignty 2 Suggested this proud issue of a king; For by our ears our hearts oft tainted be: Braving compare, disdainfully did sting His high-pitched thoughts, that meaner men should vaunt That golden hap which their superiors want. 1 Done. The word is here used as in a previous passage of the Venus and Adonis: "Wasted, thawed, and done, As mountain snow melts with the midday sun." 2 Suggested, tempted. But some untimely thought did instigate When at Collatium this false lord arrived, Virtue would stain that or 2 with silver white. But beauty, in that white intituled,3 From Venus' doves doth challenge that fair field: 1 Blasts is here used as a verb neuter. It is so used in the poem ascribed to Raleigh, entitled "The Farewell: " "Tell age, it daily wasteth; Tell honor, how it alters; 2 Or. The line usually stands thus: "Virtue would stain that o'er with silver white.” The original has ore. Malone has suggested, but he does not act upon the suggestion, that "the word intended was perhaps or, i. e. gold, to which the poet compares the deep color of a blush." We have no doubt whatever of the matter. The lines in the subsequent stanza complete the heraldic allusion : "Then virtue claims from beauty beauty's red, Their silver cheeks, and called it then their shield.” 3 Intituled, having a title to, or in. Which virtue gave the golden age to gild Their silver cheeks, and called it then their shield; When shame assailed, the red should fence the white. This heraldry in Lucrece's face was seen, This silent war of lilies and of roses To those two armies that would let him go, Now thinks he that her husband's shallow tongue this earthly saint, adored by this devil, Little suspecteth the false worshipper; 1 The object of praise which Collatine doth possess. 1 For unstained thoughts do seldom dream on evil; So guiltless she securely gives good cheer For that he colored with his high estate, But she, that never coped with stranger eyes, 2 Writ in the glassy margents of such books; hooks; 3 Nor could she moralize his wanton sight, More than his eyes were opened to the light. He stories to her ears her husband's fame, Won in the fields of fruitful Italy; And decks with praises Collatine's high name, With bruised arms and wreaths of victory; Her joy with heaved-up hand she doth ex press, And, wordless, so greets Heaven for his success. 1 Parling, speaking. 2 See Romeo and Juliet. Illustrations of Act 1. 3 Moralize, interpret. |