Against the opposing will and arm of heaven May never this just sword be lifted up;But,for that damned magician,let him be girt With all the griesly legions that troop Under the sooty flag of Acheron,Harpies and Hydras,or all the monstrous forms 'Twixt Africa and Ind,I'll find him out,And force him to return his purchase back,Or drag him by the curls to a foul death,Cursed as his life.
SPIR.Alas!good venturous youth,I love thy courage yet,and bold emprise;But here thy sword can do thee little stead.
Far other arms and other weapons must Be those that quell the might of hellish charms.
He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints,And crumble all thy sinews.
ELD.BRO.Why,prithee,Shepherd,How durst thou then thyself approach so near As to make this relation?
SPIR.Care and utmost shifts How to secure the Lady from surprisal Brought to my mind a certain shepherd lad,Of small regard to see to,yet well skilled In every virtuous plant and healing herb That spreads her verdant leaf to the morning ray.
He loved me well,and oft would beg me sing;
Which when I did,he on the tender grass Would sit,and hearken even to ecstasy,And in requital ope his leathern scrip,And show me simples of a thousand names,Telling their strange and vigorous faculties.
Amongst the rest a small unsightly root,But of divine effect,he culled me out.
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 soil:
Unknown,and like esteemed,and the dull swain Treads on it daily with his clouted shoon;And yet more med'cinal is it than that Moly That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave.
He called it Haemony,and gave it me,And bade me keep it as of sovran use 'Gainst all enchantments,mildew blast,or damp,Or ghastly Furies'apparition.
I pursed it up,but little reckoning made,Till now that this extremity compelled.
But now I find it true;for by this means I knew the foul enchanter,though disguised,Entered 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 assault the necromancer's hall;Where if he be,with dauntless hardihood And brandished blade rush on him:break his glass,And shed the luscious liquor on the ground;But seize his wand.Though he and his curst crew Fierce sign of battle make,and menace high,Or,like the sons of Vulcan,vomit smoke,Yet will they soon retire,if he but shrink.
ELD.BRO.Thyrsis,lead on apace;I'll follow thee;And some good angel bear a shield before us!
The Scene changes to a stately palace,set out with all manner of deliciousness:soft music,tables spread with all dainties.Comus appears with his rabble,and the LADY set in an enchanted chair;to whom he offers his glass;which she puts by,and goes about to rise.
COMUS.Nay,Lady,sit.If I but wave this wand,Your nerves are all chained up in alabaster,And you a statue,or as Daphne was,Root-bound,that fled Apollo.
LADY.Fool,do not boast.
Thou canst not touch the freedom of my mind With all thy charms,although this corporal rind Thou hast immanacled while Heaven sees good.
COMUS.Why are you vexed,Lady?why do you frown?
Here dwell no frowns,nor anger;from these 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 Brisk as the April buds in primrose season.
And first behold this cordial julep here,That flames and dances in his crystal bounds,With spirits of balm and fragrant syrups mixed.
Not that Nepenthes which the wife of Thone In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena Is of such power to stir up joy as this,To life so friendly,or so cool to thirst.
Why should you be so cruel to yourself,And to those dainty limbs,which Nature lent For gentle usage and soft delicacy?
But you invert the covenants of her trust,And harshly deal,like an ill borrower,With that which you received on other terms,Scorning the unexempt condition By which all mortal frailty must subsist,Refreshment after toil,ease after pain,That have been tired all day without repast,And timely rest have wanted.But,fair virgin,This will restore all soon.
LADY.'T will not,false traitor!
'T will not restore the truth and honesty That thou hast banished from thy tongue with lies.
Was this the cottage and the safe abode Thou told'st me of?What grim aspects are these,These oughly-headed monsters?Mercy guard me!
Hence with thy brewed enchantments,foul deceiver!
Hast thou betrayed my credulous innocence With vizored falsehood and base forgery?
And would'st thou seek again to trap me here With liquorish baits,fit to ensnare a brute?
Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets,I would not taste thy treasonous offer.None But such as are good men can give good things;And that which is not good is not delicious To a well-governed and wise appetite.
COMUS.0foolishness 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 sallow Abstinence!
Wherefore did Nature pour her bounties forth With such a full and unwithdrawing hand,Covering the earth with odours,fruits,and flocks,Thronging the seas with spawn innumerable,But all to please and sate the curious taste?
And set to work millions of spinning worms,That in their green shops weave the smooth-haired silk,To deck her sons;and,that no corner might Be vacant of her plenty,in her own loins She hutched the all-worshipped ore and precious gems,To store her children with.If all the world Should,in a pet of temperance,feed on pulse,Drink the clear stream,and nothing wear but frieze,The All-giver would be unthanked,would be unpraised,Not half his riches known and yet despised;And we should serve him as a grudging master,As a penurious niggard of his wealth,And live like Nature's bastards,not her sons,Who would be quite surcharged with her own weight,And strangled with her waste fertility:
