198

VII.

Lo, in the orient when the gracious light
Lifts up his burning head, each under eye
Doth homage to his new-appearing fight,
Serving with looks his facred majefty;
And having climb'd the fteep-up heavenly hill,
Refembling trong youth in his middle age,
Yet mortal looks adore his beauty ftill,
Attending on his golden pilgrimage3;

But when from high-moft pitch, with weary car,
Like feeble age, he reeleth from the day,
The eyes, 'fore duteous, now converted are
From his low tract, and look another way:
So thou, thyself out-going in thy noon,
Unlook'd on dieft, unless thou get a fon.

VIII.

Musick to hear, why hear'ft thou mufick fadly?
Sweets with fweets war not, joy delights in joy.
Why lov'st thou that which thou receiv'ft not gladly?
Or elfe receiv'ft with pleasure thine annoy?

2 And baving climb'd the fleep-up heavenly bill,

Refembling frong youth in his middle age,] Perhaps our authour had the facred writings in his thoughts: "in them hath he fet a tabernacle for the fun, which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course. It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again; and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." MALONE. 3 Yet mortal looks adore bis beauty still,

Attending on his golden pilgrimage;] So, in Romeo and Juliet :
"Madam, an hour before the worshipp'd fun

"Peer'd forth the golden window of the east,-." MALONE. Mufick tobear, &c.] Thou, whom to hear, is mufick, why, &c. I have fometimes thought Shakspeare might have written-Mufick to ear, &c. i. e. thou, whole every accent is mufick to the ear. So, in the Comedy of Errors:

"That never words were mufick to thine car."

Hear has been printed inftead of ear in the Taming of the Shrew; or at least the modern editors have fuppofed fo. See Vol. III. p. 275, D. 7. MALONE.

If the true concord of well-tuned founds,
By unions marrieds, do offend thine ear,
They do but fweetly chide thee, who confounds
In fingleness the parts that thou should'st bear.
Mark, how one ftring, fweet husband to another,
Strikes each in each, by mutual ordering;
Refembling fire and child and happy mother,
Who all in one, one pleafing note do fing:
Whose speechlefs fong, being many, feeming one,
Sings this to thee, thou fingle v ilt prove none.”

IX.

Is it for fear to wet a widow's eye,

That thou confum'ft thyfelf in fingle life?
Ah! if thou iffuelefs fhalt hap to die,

The world will wail thee, like a makeless wife;
The world will be thy widow, and still weep,
That thou no form of thee hast left behind,
When every private widow well may keep,
By children's eyes, her husband's fhape in mind.
Look, what an unthrift in the world doth spend,
Shifts but his place, for ftill the world enjoys it;
But beauty's wafte hath in the world an end,
And kept unus'd, the ufer fo destroys it.

5 If the true concord of well-tuned founds,

By unions married,] So, in Romeo and Juliet, quarto, 1599:
"Examine ev'ry married lineament,

"And fee how one another lends content."

Again, in Troilus and Creffida:

"The unity and married calm of states-,"

Milton had perhaps thefe lines in his thoughts when he wrote a

"And ever against eating cares

"Lap me in loft Lydian airs,

"Married to immortal verfe,

"Such as the meeting foul may pierce,

"In notes with many a winding bout

"Of linked fweetnefs long drawn out." MALONE.

6 like a makelefs wife;] As a widow bewails her loft husband. Make and mate were formerly fynonymous. So, in Kyng Appolyn of Thyre, 1510: "Certes, madam, I fholde have great joy yie ye had fuch a prynce to your make."

Again, in The Tragicall Hyftory of Romeus and Juliet, 1562:

Betwixt the armes of me, thy perfect-loving make." MALONE.

No love toward others in that bofom fits,
That on himself fuch murderous fhame commits 7.

X.

For fhame! deny that thou bear'ft love to any,
Who for thyself art fo unprovident.

Grant if thou wilt, thou art belov'd of many,
But that thou none lov'ft, is most evident;
For thou art so poffefs'd with murderous hate,
That 'gainst thyself thou stick'ft not to confpire;
Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate3,
Which to repair fhould be thy chief defire.
O, change thy thought, that I may change my mind!
Shall hate be fairer lodg'd than gentle love?
Be, as thy prefence is, gracious and kind,
Or to thyself, at least, kind-hearted prove:
Make thee another felf, for love of me,
That beauty ftill may live in thine or thee.

As faft as thou shalt wane,

XI.

fo faft thou grow'st

In one of thine, from that which thou departeft;

And that fresh blood which youngly thou beftow'ft,
Thou may'ft call thine, when thou from youth converteft,
Herein lives wisdom, beauty, and increase;

Without this, folly, age, and cold decay:

If all were minded fo, the times fhould cease,

And threescore years would make the world away.

7 That on bimself such murderous shame commits.] So, in Romeo and

Juliet:

"And here is come to do fome, villainous shame

"To the dead bodies." MALONE.

Seeking that beauteous roof to ruinate, &c.] This is a metaphor of which our author is peculiarly fond. So, in The Comedy of Errors: "Shall love in building grow fo ruinate?"

Again, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

O thou, that doft inhabit in my breast,

"Leave not the manfion fo long tenantlefs,

"Left, growing ruinous, the building fall,
"And leave no memory of what it was.

"Repair me with thy prefence, Silvia." STEEVENS.

Let

Let those whom nature hath not made for store,
Harsh, featureless, and rude, barrenly perish:
Look, whom she best endow'd, she gave thee more;
Which bounteous gift thou fhould'ft in bounty cherish':
She carv'd thee for her feal, and meant thereby,
Thou should'ft print more, nor let that copy

XII.

When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And fee the brave day funk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,

die*.

And fable curls, all filver'd o'er with white 3;
When lofty trees I fee barren of leaves,
Which erft from heat did canopy the herd +,
And fummer's green all girded up in fheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and briftly beard.

9 —for ftore—1 i. e. to be preserved for ufe. MALONE. Look, rubom she best endow'd, she gave thee more; Which bounteous gift thou should't in bounty cherish :] On a furvey of mankind, you will find that nature, however liberal fhe may have been to others, has been ftill more bountiful to you. The old copy reads-fhe gave the more; which was evidently a misprint. MALONE. 2 Thou should ft print more, nor let that copy die.] So, in Twelfth

Night:

"Lady, you are the cruelleft the alive,

"If you will lead thefe graces to the grave,

"And leave the world no copy." MALONE.

3 And fable curls, all filwer'd o'er with white;] The old copy reads: or filver'd o'er with white.

Or was clearly an error of the prefs. Mr. Tyrwhitt would read :-are filver'd o'er with white. MALONE.

So, in Hamlet:

"His beard was, as I've feen it in his life,

"A fable filver'd." STEEVENS.

4 When lofty trees I fee, baren of leaves,

Which erft from beat did canopy the berd,] So, in A MidsummerNight's Dream:

66a bank

"Quite over-canopy'd with lufcious woodbine." MALONE. 5 And fummer's green all girded up in fheaves,

Borne on the bier with white and briftly beard;] So, in A MidSummer-Night's Dream:

66

-and the green corn

"Hath rotted, ere his youth attain'd a beard," C.

Then

Then of thy beauty do I question make,

That thou among the waftes of time must go,
Since fweets and beauties do themselves forfake,
And die as fast as they fee others grow;

And nothing 'gainst time's fcythe can make defence,
Save breed, to brave him, when he takes thee hence,

XIII.

O, that you were yourfelf! but, love, you are
No longer yours, than you yourself here live:
Against this coming end you thould prepare,
And your sweet femblance to fome other give.
So fhould that beauty which you hold in lease,
Find no determination: then you were
Yourfelf again, after yourfelf's decease,

When your fweet iffue your fweet form fhould bear.
Who lets fo fair a houfe fall to decay,

Which husbandry in honour might uphold,

6 Save breed, to brave him-] Except children, whofe youth may fet the feythe of Time at defiance, and render thy own death less pain. ful. MALONE.

7 Against this coming end you should prepare,

And your feet femblance to fome other give.] This is a fentiment that Shakspeare is never weary of expreffing. We meet with it again in Venus and Adonis:

"By law of nature thou art bound to breed,

"That thine may live, when thou thyfelf art dead;

And fo in fpite of death thou doft furvive,

"In that thy likenefs ftill is left alive." MALONE.

8 that beauty which you bold in leafe,

Find no determination :] So Daniel, in one of his Sonnets, 1592; "-in beauty's leafe expir'd appears

"The date of age, the calends of our death."

Again, in Macbeth:

"But in them nature's copy's not eterne."

Determination in legal language means end. See Vol. V. p. 403 n. I; and Vol. VI. p. 84, n. *. MALONE.

So, in Macbeth:

"our high-plac'd Macbeth

"Shall live the leafe of nature." STEEVENS.

Which husbandry in boncur might uphold,] Husbandry is generally fed by Shakspeare for economical prudence. So, in King Henry V: "For our bad neighbours make us early ftirrers,

"Which is both healthful and good busbandry." MALONE. Against