Note 86 — ACT I.
Reading edition
Mr. Lee hath stolen this thought from our author:
"This perfect face, drawn by the gods in council, Which they were long in making."—"Luc. Jun. Brut." "At his birth the heavenly council paused, And then at last cried out, This is a man!"
Dryden hath improved this hint to the utmost perfection:
"So perfect, that the very gods who form'd you wonder'd At their own skill, and cried, A lucky hit Has mended our design! Their envy hinder'd, Or you had been immortal, and a pattern, When Heaven would work for ostentation sake, To copy out again."—"All for Love."
Banks prefers the works of Michael Angelo to that of the gods:
"A pattern for the gods to make a man by, Or Michael Angelo to form a statue."